My Favorite Flying Geese Technique

After my posts about flying geese (door quilt and red & white blocks for Clare's leukemia project), several people asked about my flying geese tool. It's a 'no math' ruler from Lazy Girl Designs. You can get one here or here or here or here (I've also seen a couple on ebay). Basically it has cutting lines for the two sizes of squares to make seven sizes of flying geese from 3/4"x1.5" to 3.5"x7".


First cut five squares - one large, four small. These five squares will result in four flying geese units. For 2"x4" finished units, the large square is 5 1/4" and the small squares measure 2 7/8".


Place two of the small squares on the large square right sides together. Draw a line down the center of the small squares, then sew 1/4" from each side of this line.


Cut down the line you drew.


Iron the seam allowance towards the little triangles.


Place each of the remaining small squares on these pieces right sides together. Draw a line down the center of the small squares, then sew 1/4" from each side of this line.


Cut down the lines you drew.


Iron the seam allowances toward the little triangles once again.


Voila!


For four finished flying geese measuring 1"x2", the large square measures 3 1/4" and the small squares measure 1 7/8". For four finished flying geese measuring 3"x6", the large square is 7 1/4" and the small squares are 3 7/8".

I know there are lots of ways to make flying geese - this is just the easiest way for me! If you give it a try, I'd love to hear from you!