In my first Sawtooth Star post, I mentioned I'd do a tutorial to help you work out measurements for flying geese units, but then I decided to ditch the math lesson and provide a quick and easy cheat sheet for various sizes instead. Ah! The flying geese block is just a little slice of heaven, isn't it? - so simple, so versatile and so easy to sew. They're used in lots of gorgeous blocks like the Sawtooth Star, they look fantastic in borders, and rows of flying geese set into a quilt is simply stunning. There are a few methods for sewing flying geese blocks (and I'll link a couple of fantastic tutorials at the end of the post), but I prefer sewing them one at a time, left triangle first and then the right, before trimming them to size. It may be more time consuming than other methods, but I enjoy the slow rhythm of chain piecing a bunch of these blocks. I do cut my smaller triangles slightly larger than required because they're cut diagonally from a square, and no matter how carefully we cut it can still result in wonky units. This little extra ensures you don't lose any points or 1/4" seams. Once the sewing is done you will need to trim them to size, but there's minimal waste and a perfect flying geese block every time. Flying Geese Bloc Loc Square Up Rulers makes trimming accurate and easy and a rotating mat makes the whole process fast and painless, but of course you can trim them carefully without any fancy tools. My cheat sheet includes the cutting requirements for eleven sizes which should make it a great reference to have for all your future projects. To download my cheat sheet simply click on the link or right click on the photo below and save it to your computer. For each flying geese unit you require one large print triangle (four are cut from one square) and two small background triangles, and then simply follow the diagrams below to construct your block: There are other methods for sewing flying geese blocks which are possibly quicker, and I've found some great tutorials for you to try as well. Karen at Connecting Threads has two methods - a sew and flip corner tutorial using rectangles and squares, and a sew two at once tutorial using only squares. You can follow both tutorials HERE. Karen also has a tutorial for using the flying geese ruler method which you can follow HERE. Scrapish.com has a tutorial for sewing four flying geese units at once using squares, and there's a cheat sheet included to make it easier for you. You can follow the tutorial HERE. And for paper piecing lovers Triangles on a Roll make it super easy and accurate. There's also a tutorial you can follow HERE. And there you have it - lots of ways to make sewing your next batch of flying geese units quick, easy, accurate and fun! Enjoy! Happy sewing :)
