Tag Archives: Antique quilts

Gaggles OF Flying GEESE quilt blocks

Gaggles Of Flying Geese Quilt Blocks

Hello Dear Friends and Readers, hoping this post finds you all well. Before I talk about today‘s quilting post I thought I would say thank you for all the lovely comments and emails you send me. I really do enjoy reading them and love to see your completed projects too! And a big welcome to my new subscribers.

Today I’m sharing the progress of my New Scrappy Flying Geese so far. I’m still delighted with the speed at which I can put these together. What is more, it is a “no waste“ technique. I would just like to reiterate especially to newcomers to my page, that my purpose is to try to aid you to use the fabric you already have and create projects which are easily reproducible. With this philosophy I hope to keep you inspired and hopefully save you some money too!

Quilts including Flying Geese units have been around for a long time. I’ve observed one recently in an antique quilt which apparently date back to at least 1850 (although the block may not have been specifically named as such). I really love them, however I have put off making them in the past because I wanted to develop a better more time efficient method, which is what I did when I posted Susie’s NEW Flying Geese some time back. I will include a link below. These units can be simply made. You will not need to buy any special rulers or cut blocks to something something and 1/8” of an inch. I think this matters for ease of making and enjoyment.

Included in this post will be my tips on putting the units together for a good result. They can be utilised in many different ways, including blocks and borders, that is really up to you.

And just because they are scrappy, doesn’t necessarily mean that it must be in many fabrics, for example, if you have scraps of solids or a certain colour way then you could use them. It is also an awesome unit for a two colour/fabric quilt. If you have some left over Charm Squares then you are ready!

Here is the link to the units.

Susie’s NEW Flying Geese Quilt Blocks Scrappy Style

I‘ve got a nice stack of units ready to use now.

This bag has a good amount of Flying Geese Units ready to be sewn together.

I have decided to sew them into units of four all going in the same direction, ie lengthwise. I started with sewing into pairs and then sewing the pairs into a set of four.

These sets measure 8 1/2“ x 4 1/2“.

I learned my lesson years ago when making this quilt.

Japanese Inspired Strip Quilt

It is very easy for bowing to occur over long lengths. Therefore it is better to make smaller units and then join them later.

I recommend sewing them together with the large triangle on the top. This should help avoid stretching of the units. This will however depend on your machine and how well the feed dogs work to keep two pieces of fabric aligned.

Today I am sewing with my Singer 66 treadle today. I needed to loosen the upper pressure screw to help avoid this problem. It’s important that the two units stay as aligned as possible in order to keep the geese points in line.

susies-scraps.com
Gaggles of Flying Geese Quilt Blocks

The next tip is to really concentrate on keeping the seam allowance as even as possible. I noticed it was easy to drift a little toward the end of sewing two units together. When multiplied, this could lead to significant bowing of the units. Not to say that would be all wrong. It would be awesome if you were making an improvisational quilt. Check out this old beauty here.

soulsgrowndeep.flying-geese-variation

The next thing I discovered is that theses units are amazing to press. All the seams face upwards for a lovely finish.

Im quite pleased with how the points are turning out. I dont think I‘ve lost many. I think they look pretty sharp. These units are not sewn together. I still have some more to make.

susies-scraps.com
Gaggles of Flying Geese

Hopefully you are feeling inspired to sew today.

susies-scraps.com
Gaggles of Flying Geese Quilt Blocks,

Now they are ready to be included into a quilt. How I will set them…..I will let you know. 😊

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like

Floral Coins Quilt Antique Style

Scrappy Yankee Puzzle Block Made Easy

Happy Sewing,

Susie