It has been just over a year since I have made a quilt with only Flying Geese units so I thought it might be fun to revisit and play with this traditional patchwork block. And it is of course a good excuse to play with fabric, color, and layouts.
As previously mentioned, piecing Flying Geese units has not always been my strong point, but I have had more success by over-sizing my units and trimming with a Bloc-Loc Flying Geese ruler. The process is still the same with each flying geese unit being made from 1 rectangle and 2 squares (as shown in this tutorial), but over-sizing and trimming means greater accuracy which in turn makes sewing together the units into a quilt top much easier. The finished Flying Geese units for this quilt each measure 2.5 inches x 5 inches.
The fabrics used include recently released designer quilting cottons, stash fabrics, as well as beautiful Liberty of London Tana Lawn floral prints. These have been contrasted with a range of neutral solid fabrics (Kona Cottons). In this instance I have used the Not That White Kona Kona Bundle - 12 different neutral fabrics - perfect for adding interest to the background of this quilt.
QUILT STATS
200 Flying Geese Units
Flying Geese unit measure 3" x 5.5" (including seam allowances)
approximately 100 different printed fabrics
up to 10 different neutral solid fabrics
quilt top measures 50 inches x 50 inches
Next up - basting, quilting and binding. I am looking forward to seeing (and feeling) the texture that the quilting will add to this quilt top.
Rita
RELEVANT LINKS:
Bloc Loc Rulers available from The Fat Quarter Shop
A Flock of Flying Geese Quilt I
A Flock of Flying Geese Quilt II
Dreamin' Vintage Flying Geese Quilt
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Gotta love those HST's! Great idea for a sweet piece.
ReplyDeleteLove this quilt, can't wait to see it all finished.
ReplyDeleteAnother RPQ classic! I love it!!
ReplyDeleteJust lovely. I like the mix of solid neutrals for the background. Can't wait to see the finished quilt. Although I was very skeptical of using the "oversize and trimming of blocks" technique, I am now a convert thanks to your recommendation. The Bloc-Loc rulers work really well. I thought it would take a bit more time, but after piecing a quilt this way, I am not so sure. In the end it actually seems to save a lot of time as the blocks piece together very accurately resulting in saved time in the final construction phase. Thanks for passing on so many wonderful tips Rita. I never would have tried that technique if I hadn't seen your recommendation.
ReplyDeleteFlying Geese is one of my all time favorites! It was one of my first blocks with points that I tried as a new quilter. Beautiful quilt!
ReplyDeleteThank you for telling us about your tricks with the flying geese. I am working on a project right now and having a lot of problems with them. How much bigger are you cutting your squares/rectangles before assembly/trimming?
ReplyDeleteFascinating to look at with the different but ordered directions each pair takes and the wonderful riot of colour pulled together with the still, but not static whites.
ReplyDeleteyes, I thought the same as ^Kathy. i love the random use of other lighter neutrals for the back ground. The colors are happy and the arrangement is soothing
ReplyDeleteFlying geese units are fun to make, once to you get the method down. you are a machine :-D
These kind of quilts are good for your brains.... keeps the dementia at bay hahaha
I just love Your Flying Geese Quilt. The material is so very pretty. Love your Quilt.
ReplyDeleteHappy Quilting
Linda K
I love all your stuff,especially the straight line quilting. Tonight, I've been straight line quilting, and it looks pretty good but could be better. How do you get yours to look SO GOOD. Could you tell us your method - walking foot? stitch length? what order you quilt, up & down first? diagonally? how do you get the spacing correct? do you eyeball it or mark it? My stitches look wobbly?I need to master the walking foot. Basting with pins or spray? I would love to learn from your experience. Thanks,
ReplyDelete