All things considered, the phrase “Giant” is subjective. At 8.5″x16.5″ (unfinished), these blocks are on the large side. The leftover, or off-cut, Half-Square Triangles (hereafter referred to as HSTs), are also on the bigger side. That’s okay. The Quilts For Survivors colors are black and white, while the Quilts of Valor quilt uses your choice of red OR flag blue along with white. Both QFS and QoV have guidelines for allowable prints, so choosing solids or batiks just makes things more simple. We’re using the stitch and flip method for our flying geese blocks.
Fabric Requirements:
1 white fat quarter, preferably solid
1 black (red or flag blue) fat quarter, preferably solid
Cutting instructions:
White – (2) 8.75″x16.75″ rectangles
Black (red or blue) – (4) 8.75″ squares
Instructions:
Step 1: With a marking pencil and ruler, draw a line diagonally from one corner to the opposite corner on the wrong side of all 4 of your 8.75″ colored squares. Make sure to off-set the ruler to allow for a chunky pencil. The line needs to be exactly in the middle of the corner.Step 2: Lay one of your colored squares, right sides together, onto your white rectangle, as indicated. Pin, if necessary. Sew on the marked line.Step 3: Cut a scant quarter inch away from your sewn line. These two triangles will form our bonus HSTs. Without stretching the diagonal edge of these two triangles, sew a quarter-inch seam along the long edge of the triangles. Open, press and square to 7.5″ (unfinished). On your flying geese block, flip the stitched colored segment up and away from the white rectangle. Press.Step 4: Repeat with a second colored square. Align your marked line from the outer lower corner of your rectangle and the upper middle of the rectangle. Because we cut our pieces an extra 0.25″ larger than normal, the overlap at the “Point” or “^” in the center of your block might feel larger than you’re used to. Pin, if necessary. Sew on the marked line. Repeat Step 3 for this side of the block.Step 5: You now have a Flying Geese block that needs trimmed and (2) 7.5″ trimmed HSTs. You’ll repeat Steps 1-4 to create another pair of HSTs and additional flying geese block! Now to trim the Geese. It’s not hard, but there are a few differences when squaring up that we have to consider.Step 6: Our goal is a 8.5″x16.5″ (unfinished) block. Because the center point of the triangle is a focal point, we halve our width measurement (8.25″ here) and align the 8.25″ line in the center of our point, at the top of our block. This ensures we don’t cut too much off of one side of the block and the point will be in the center of our completed block. We also want to leave 0.25″ above the point so it is nice and crisp when we assemble the blocks later. Lastly, use the 45-degree line on your ruler to keep the side of your white triangle nice and straight. You can see it running parallel to the right side of my triangle in the photo above. Trim the top and right sides when you have located all of these guideline anchors.Step 7: Turn your block upside down, with the right sides of your fabric facing up. Find your 8.25″ center and 0.25″ allowance on your point again, now on the bottom of the block. Line up the 45-degree line again. You may need to flip your ruler, etc. Before trimming the former-left and former-bottom of our block, we have one more measuring anchor. Find the 0.25″ and 16.25″ width points on your ruler and align them to the diagonal seams like above, creating a 0.25″ perfect square with the seam allowance. This flying geese block was a little scant on the width, but the little squares formed by those dots on the left and right of the block will ensure that my white triangle will have crisp points on the lower two corners with a perfect 0.25″ seam allowance when sewn to another block. Trim the excess from the remaining two sides of the block.
Well done!
While Flying Geese appear to be simple blocks, with just two seams, you can see that they require a little care – especially when this big! Your sets of blocks are greatly appreciated and I know the recipients will be grateful for your time and donation. I will share the finished quilts’ layouts at the sew day and collect your information if you wish to be recognized for contributing.
One Comment
Pingback: