2018 will be a big year for geese in my local quilt guild. Our President's Challenge theme for the year is "Wingin' It", so I'm expecting we'll see a number of quilts and other projects that feature Flying Geese Units.

There are many tools on the market to help you make these units accurately, and you are welcome to use any of them.  For our "Christmas Geese" block, I'll be using the Stitch-and-Flip technique.

This block finishes at 6" x 6".

 

For each 6.5" x 6.5" (unfinished) block, you will need:

One 2.5" x 2.5" dark green square (may be a fussy cut)

Eight 1.5" x 2.5" light green rectangles

Eight 1.5" x 2.5" red rectangles

Thirty-two 1.5" x 1.5" white squares

That's right, there are 49 pieces in this little block. Sometimes it's really better not to count.

 

Step 1 is to make the sixteen flying geese units.

1a: I like to use a straight edge and a #4 hard lead pencil to draw a light diagonal line on the back of each of the 1.5" white squares. If you prefer, you can fold each square diagonally and press to establish that diagonal line.

1b: Place a white square on the right end of a rectangle, so that the diagonal line runs from the center top of the rectangle to the lower right corner. Sew on the drawn/pressed line, then trim 1/4" to the outside of the seam. I like to press my seams open. You can press toward the upper right corner if you prefer. Repeat until you have white corners on the right edge of all of the rectangles.

NOTE: When sewing the squares to the rectangles, always start at the upper center of the rectangle and sew into the lower corner. This will prevent your sewing machine from trying to "eat" the corners of your work.

1c: Repeat the previous step, putting white corners on the upper left of each of the rectangles.

You now have sixteen 1.5" x 2.5" flying geese units - eight green and eight red.

Step 2: Sew the flying geese units into pairs. You will have four pairs of red geese and four pairs of green geese.

Step 3: Lay the dark green center square down, and arrange the pairs of flying geese units around it as shown.

Step 4: Sew the units into three rows, then sew the rows together to complete the Christmas Geese block.

This block finishes at 6" x 6".

If you have time before Santa arrives to head over to my blog, "Seams Like a Plan", I'll give you the pieces needed to make this block in a 12" finished size, and a pattern for using both to make a lap-size quilt. It's my gift to you!

Merry Christmas, my quilty friends.

Anne Wiens
Sweetgrass Creative Designs