What Are Flying Geese?
Flying Geese are rectangular patchwork quilting components that are twice as long as they are tall, each with a peaked triangle at its center. Small triangles flank opposite ends of the peak. The quilt blocks shown on this page are made entirely from flying geese. Flying geese are used in hundreds of patchwork quilt blocks and also are a wonderful choice when you want to sew patchwork borders or add other types of accents to a quilt. The quick-pieced technique is perfect when you need just a couple of geese, when adding triangles to the ends of long strips of fabric, or when you want to use small pieces of fabric to make a scrap quilt. But the no-waste method is the way to go when you need multiple identical geese. You can sew somewhat scrappy geese with this method by varying the four small squares that are sewn to the larger square.
Cut the Fabric
True Flying Geese are rectangular units, twice as wide as they are high. Quilt patterns should tell you the finished size of all geese that are used.
The “Peak” Fabric
Cut a square that’s 1 1/4 inches larger than the finished width of your flying geese.
For geese that finish at 3x6 inches, cut a square that measures 7 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches.
Fabric for Side Triangles
Cut four small squares that are 7/8 inch larger than the finished height of your flying geese.
For geese that finish at 3x6 inches, cut four squares that measure 3 7/8 x 3 7/8 inches.
Make 4 No-Waste Flying Geese
Finish Sewing
Cutting Instructions for a Few Popular Sizes
Geese That Finish at 2x4 Inches
(1) 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches large square(4) 2 7/8 x 2 7/8 inches small squares
Geese That Finish at 3x6 Inches
(1) 7 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches large square(4) 3 7/8 x 3 7/8 inches small squares
Geese That Finish at 4x8 Inches
(1) 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches large square(4) 4 7/8 x 4 7/8 inches small squares
The no-waste flying geese cutting chart gives instructions for geese in more sizes.
More Techniques
Use rotary cutting techniques or templates to cut shapes and sew individual pieces together to create the geese. Sew using foundation (paper) piecing, a popular method that’s especially helpful when you’re working with small patchwork.
