Easy Way to Make Folded Flying Geese

Hi there and welcome to The Crafty Quilter! My name is Julie, and I am so excited to be participating in the Dots on Dots Blog Hop.

If this is your first time here, you'll find some great tutorials, a few good recipes and a tip or two to help your quilting and crafting go a little smoother.

I love anything and everything craft-related, but my true love is quilting.  I have been quilting for 14 years and I work and teach at a local quilt shop, The Granary, in Sunnyvale, California.  I have four children (2 still at home), 2 cats, 1 dog, 1 tortoise and my husband and I just celebrated our 28th anniversary!

My project is a 12 1/2″ (unfinished) pinwheel block made with lots of dots!  The "kicker" is the flying geese unit – it's made with just ONE seam.  I can't wait to show you how easy it is.

To start you'll need to cut the following pieces for one block:

• Light fabric: (12) 2 1/2″ squares: (8 for the flying geese and 4 for the corner squares), and (4) 2 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ rectangles
• Dark fabric:  (4) 2 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ rectangles, (4) 2 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ rectangles

One-seam flying geese instructions (I'm switching colors on you):

1.  Start with (2) 2 1/2″ squares of light fabric and (1) 2 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ rectangle of dark fabric.  Fold the rectangle in half, forming a "short" square:

2.  Sandwich the folded rectangle in between the two 2 1/2″ squares so that the fold of the rectangle is along the top and the raw edges along the bottom and both sides are even.  The folded edge of the rectangle should be 1/4″ down from the top edges of the 2 squares.

3.  Pin along the right edge and sew a 1/4″ seam from the top edge to the bottom.

4.  Unfold the top square, exposing the folded rectangle inside.  Using your fingers, spread the rectangle bottom edges from left to right forming a triangle.  Press. (I pressed mine so that the seam allowance in the back is pressed open).

Voila! A flying goose using just one seam!  It should measure 2 1/2″ x 4 1/2″.  This technique creates a dimensional flying geese unit and once it's sewn into the block, the bottom edge will be secured.

Make 4 flying geese units.

Now let's make the pinwheel block:

5. Stitch a 2 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ light rectangle to a flying geese rectangle.

6. Press toward the plain rectangle.  Repeat for a total of 4 units which should each measure 4 1/2″ square.

7.  Arrange the 4 units as shown below:

8.  Pin each of the two units together, making sure the diagonal folds of the flying geese line up.  Pin and sew.

9.  Press towards the lighter half:

10.  Join the two rows together, making sure the center seams match up.

11.  Press.  I pressed mine so that one side of the seam went up and the other down.  This causes the four seams that converge in the center to spiral and they lie flatter.

12.  Add the corner squares and rectangles to complete block:

If you're like me, you may have a wee bit of polka dots in your stash.  I think we should use up some more of those dots, don't you?

If you'd like to make this block into a cute little baby blanket, you'll need to make 4 pinwheel blocks and add some sashings and borders.  Here's what mine looks like:

Here's what you'll need:

• Sashing (black dot):  1/3 yard; cut into (12) 2 1/2″ x 12 1/2″ rectangles
• Corner stones (multi dot): 1/8 yard (or scraps); cut into (9) 2 1/2″ squares
• Flange (red dot): 1/8 yard; cut into (4) 7/8″ wide strips
• Outer Border (large multi dots): 2/3 yard; cut into (4) 4 1/2″ wide strips
• Corner Squares (orange dot):  1 fat quarter; cut into (4) 4 1/2″ squares

Because of the colors in my border fabric (the large multi dots), I needed to add some red and orange to my quilt top.  I decided to go with a flange to get the red accent and orange in the corner squares.

If you're not sure what a flange is or how it's done, you can take a look at an earlier tutorial I did for adding a flange.

Steps for Dottie Pinwheel Baby Quilt:

1.  Arrange 4 pinwheel blocks, sashing and corner stones as shown below (minus cute dog):

2.  Sew pieces into rows and press towards black dot (sashing) fabric.

3.  Sew rows together:

4.  Add flange using the (4) 7/8″ wide strips.  See my tutorial here for complete instructions.

5.  Add borders and corner squares.  I always cut my borders to fit my quilt top, rather than sewing on a long strip of fabric and lopping off the excess.  The way I do this is by taking 2 border strips and laying them across the center of the quilt top, lining up the raw edges on the left side.  On the other side, use a small cutting mat and ruler to cut the excess border length, even with the right edge of the quilt top.

Since we're adding corner squares, you'll need to repeat that process for the other two sides.

6.  Lay out your pieces: quilt top, borders and corner squares.  Sew together the side borders with the quilt top and the top/bottom borders with the corner squares.

7.  Press all seams towards the border fabric.  Attach top and bottom border units, making sure to match seams at the corner squares.

You're finished with the quilt top!  It should measure 38″ square.  Add your favorite batting and backing (minkie or flannel, perhaps?) and quilt this puppy!  I stopped at phase 1 – piecing the quilt top.  I'm a stinker that way 🙂

I hope you'll follow along on our "hop" and visit today's other participants.  Here is the line-up:

September 13th

For the full schedule, click on the link below:

Thanks for joining me today!  I hope you'll come back to visit again soon!

~Julie

wadekness1949.blogspot.com

Source: https://thecraftyquilter.com/2012/09/dottie-pinwheel-block-with-one-seam-flying-geese/

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