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Quilt Patterns

Adventures In Quilting- Flying Geese

May 30, 2018July 8, 2020 Post a comment

Hi friends!

Wow! I can’t believe how long it has been since I posted here. Getting ready for Quilt Market took up so much of my time I was unable to do anything else.

But I’m back!

Today is another Adventures in Quilting with Kate and Tammy post.

 

For this post, I wanted to chat about Flying Geese since 2 of my new patterns use them. Now I know some people aren’t a huge fan of FG units, but I really do love them.

 

And my favorite way of making FG units is the “no waste, 4 at once method”.  This method works great when you need a lot of the same size and fabric FG units. 

Here is a quick tutorial:

To make 4 FG units, once you know what size units you are making,  you will need one large square of your geese fabric (that is the center fabric) and 4 smaller squares of your background fabric (the side triangles).

For the Geese fabric- cut the fabric into a square that is 1¼” larger than the finished width of your Flying Geese block.

For the Background fabric, cut 4 squares ⅞” larger than the finished height of your Flying Geese block.

 Now onto sewing:

Layer the geese fabric square with 2 background squares as shown. 

Draw a diagonal line corner to corner across the background squares.

Sew ¼” away from the diagonal line on both sides. Cut along the diagonal line. 

Press to small triangles.

Using one section, layer a background square as shown. Draw a diagonal line corner to corner on the square. Sew ¼” away from the diagonal line on both sides. Cut along the diagonal line. Press to small triangles

Repeat with the second section. You will have 4 Flying Geese units.

Easy peasy!

 

I used this method in my quilt Up and Down! Here it is in with a white background.

Up and Down, a quilt design by Kate Colleran

 

And here it is with a black ground.

batik quilt
Up and Down in Batiks

 

Now using this method, I had a few FG units left over. So in the pattern I include instructions on how to use the leftovers to make a smaller leftover quilt!

flying geese quilt
leftover quilt!

 

My other new pattern, which uses FG units of different sizes and some HST units, is called  In and Out. I showed this quilt earlier in the month.

This is an EQ mockup of the original quilt made by Northcott in their Banyan Batiks line called Ikat Sketch. 

In and Out, a quilt design by Kate Colleran

 

This version I made using Kathy Doughty’s new fabric line Horizons from Free Spirit. Love how different this one is from the original!

flying geese quilt
In and Out quilt in Horizon fabrics

 

So do you like flying geese? What is your favorite method of making them? Tammy is talking about FG units on her blog today and she is using a different method to get those units made. So be sure to click here to pop over to her blog and check it out!

Today and tomorrow I am taping a new class for Craftsy- more info on that soon! But for now…

happy quilting!

Kate

p.s. Did I tell you I am teaching a coupe of classes at AQS Quilt week in Paducah this fall? Click here to check out the classes. Right now registration is only open to AQS members; general registration opens June 5th.

adventures in quiltingflying geese quiltflying geese unitsIn and Out quiltnew quilt patternsUp and Down quilt
About Kate

About Kate

Hi! I'm Kate Colleran, a designer who creates quilt patterns, fabric and surface designs. I lecture and teach about quilting. Welcome to my online home!

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