Flying Geese for the not-so-precise
Hey there Quilty Friends! It’s been a hot minute, but you know how life can be! Today I wanted to talk a little about Flying Geese, my favorite blocks to make 😉
I know that Flying Geese can be super tricky, especially if your seam allowances end up being too small. Gah! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to trim my birds only to find I have less than an eighth of an inch to work with! Who’s with me?
Now, I’m no pro, but think I’m pretty good at cutting fabric precisely-ish, but sometimes even the best cutters don’t get it right! Amirite?!
There are a million different tutorials and math worksheets out there, so this is not a reinvention of the wheel here, but simply the math that seems to keep me out of trouble!
One of my all time favorite tutorials is by Alderwood Studios and, truth be told, I learned how to make my FGs from her. Feel free to hop on over to her site to see what she has to say about these lovely birds.
The Traditional equations for 4-at-a-time FGs have a lot of 3/8″ measures and 7/8″ measures. Gross! I can’t deal and I’m definitely not that precise! I’m not a traditional girl after all so this method does not work for me.
The modified version is GREAT and I highly recommend this simplified version for all you super precise quilty friends! That method basically looks like this:
Finished Width + 1 ½” = your large square
Finished Height + 1″ = your four small squares
For example: If you want a 4″ x 8″ FINISHED goose, you would start with a 9 ½” large square and four 5″ smaller squares. This method will yield four 4 ½” x 8 ½” geese.
For all of you slightly less precise quilty friends, here’s how I cope with my quilty inadequacy. JK! No quilt shaming here! Here’s my quilty preference:
Finished Width + 2″ = your large square
Finished Height + 1 ¼” = your four small squares
When you’re done, you’ll have a beautiful pile of scraps like this one! Check out my Flying Geese Tutorial here and I hope it proves helpful friends! Happy quilting!
XOXO, Ceci
