Welcome! Today we are going to learn how to make Flying Geese.
There are several different ways to make flying geese and I plan to go over all the different ways. This particular technique is called the Stitch-and-Flip Method.
Flying Geese
A flying geese is when you have a triangle in the middle and a different fabric on each of those corners. It ends up being a rectangle, and more often than not, it’s twice as wide as it is tall.
I’ve always used flying geese to add points to the stars, but I soon learned that the actual “flying geese” is the triangle in the middle. Which totally makes sense if you’re actually referring to geese flying south in their triangle formation.
Stitch-and-Flip Flying Geese
The Stitch-and-Flip Method is a very traditional method and can be used on a variety of different things. If you’re not using it for flying geese, a quilter might call it “Snowballing”.
The idea is that you you’re cutting off the corner of fabric and replacing it with a new color. Creating a curved affect.
It’s super simple and can be done with a couple of triangles and a rectangle background piece. This will create one flying geese. (A lot of times we need multiple of flying geese that look the same, so you’ll just need to cut accordingly.)
When doing the stitch-and-flip method, you will start with a background fabric that you want your unfinished flying geese to be. We want our unflinished geese to be 3 1/2″ x 6 1/2″. This means, we **shouldn’t** have any trimming to do, though it’s good to .
So let’s get started!
Cut List
- 1- 3 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ background fabric
- 2- 3 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ colored fabric
Draw a diagonal line on both of the colored fabric from one corner to the opposite corner.
Lay one colored square, right side down, on the background rectangle. The line should go from a corner to the middle.
Stitch right along the line you drew.
Fold the colored square right at the stitched line so that it lines up perfectly with the background corner. Finger press, then press with an iron.
Open colored fabric up and trim the background and other half of the colored fabric 1/4″ from the stitched line. Fold colored fabric back over so it’s once again rectangle shaped.
Lay the second colored piece, right side down, on the rectangle. The line should be going in the opposite direction of the first one, going from the top corner, to the bottom middle.
Stitch right along the line.
Fold the colored square right at the stitched line so that it lines up perfectly with the background corner. Finger press, then press with an iron.
Open colored fabric up and trim the background and other half of the colored fabric 1/4″ from the stitched line.
Fold colored fabric back over so it’s once again rectangle shaped.
Measure and Trim
Measure your flying geese. If done precisely, it should measure 3 1/2″ x 6 1/2″. If it’s off a little bit, just trim it so it’s that size.
Questions
If you have any questions, please go watch the YouTube video. I go into much more detail in the video, and you can watch it and follow along.
If you have questions after that, drop them in my comment section below, or on the comment section of the video and I will come and answer them.
How to Make Any Size Block
What if you want a different size of your block? With this particular block, it’s super easy.
Take your unfinished Flying Geese size and cut out a rectangle in that size. This will be the triangle in the middle, so plan your color accordingly.
For the two squares, you will take the short size, or the height of the block, and cut out 2 squares in that size.
For example: if you want your flying geese to be 4 1/2″ x 2 1/2″, you will cut your rectangle 4 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ and your two squares 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
Beginner Skill Builder Sampler Quilt
If you are sewing along with me and making Beginner Skill Builder Sampler Quilt you will need to make 4 of these flying geese. I made mine all the same color, but you are welcome to sew them with different colors. Next week is tip week and we’re going to learn how to cut Half-Square Triangles, so make sure you check back next week.
Tag me!
I would love to see your progress. Just tag me at #theashleytomlinson or #ashley_sunnymade and I’ll be able to see you on social media.
I want to see how they turn out!
Happy sewing!
