Monday, July 27, 2009

Goosey, Goosey, Gander

I've been making geese. Lots and lots of flying geese. So I thought I would show you my method of choice. I know there are tons of ways to make flying geese but this one has brought me the most success. First I get my strips cut or in this case I pulled them out of my bin full of 2 1/2" strips. Next I pull out my Nifty Notions Quarter Square ruler. I love these rulers! In case you may have forgot. And I start cutting. First with the ruler right side up I cut out a triangle. I forgot to take a picture when I first started so I already have a 45 degree angle on the end. When I start a strip I usually use the 1/2 square ruler and save the triangle for later. Then I flip my ruler and cut another triangle. These are the geese part of your flying geese unit.
When I cut the sky part of the unit I use my Nifty Notions 1/2 triangle and I use the strip folded in half. This gives me both sides of the sky in one cut.
Here are the geese I still need to sew all laid out. I've made 170 and have about 180 to go. Am I crazy or what. If I'm not now I may be by the time I'm done.
First take one of your geese and place a sky piece on top. Just line up that flat edge and sew. Very slick.
Sew and press open.
Next place the other sky piece on the other side lining up that flat edge again.
Sew and press and there you have a lovely flying geese unit.
Here are a few of the sewn geese.
That become these units.
That become this border.
That go on this quilt.

23 comments:

Stina said...

Ohhh.. Sweetie.. that is a fabulous QUILT!!! ANd all scraps.. how good looking..:o))
And thanks for the tip on the geese... :o))

Needled Mom said...

That is a spectacular looking quilt.

Quilt Pixie said...

that baby's going to need a lot of geese! but its beautiful :-)

audreypawdrey said...

That is going to be gorgeous! Thanks for sharing your geese method.:)

*karendianne. said...

Oh my gosh you totally did a sneak-up-on-me here! I'm going along with the post when all of a sudden here's ROCKIN' Quilt!

How fun is that!!!

Outloud I said: "Oh, you!!!"

Teresa said...

A fabulous quilt. Thanks for sharing your technique.

Shari said...

Anyway you make them, flying geese are great... your method is very efficient and doesn't waste any fabric!

loulee said...

Thats a lotta geese.

Rose Marie said...

A great quilt and the border is fantastic .... great idea!

jacquie said...

thanks for sharing this...i think i need this ruler thingy!

Peg - Happy In Quilting said...

Love how you do the triangles Em...and what an awesome quilt.

A Spoonful Of Sugar said...

What a fantastic quilt - love your technique for cutting the triangles - less wastage that the method I used.

quiltmom said...

Great little technique for flying Geese em- I love this quilt - this is the one from the Nickel Quilts book ?
Thanks for sharing.
Regards,
Anna

Granny Lyn said...

oooohhhhh, how I love the scrappiness all over that quilt!!! I can't wait to see the borders on!!

I also love the placement of the geese, with a wave effect...

now, when you're done, does that mean that your "goose is cooked"??? (sorry, couldn't help it)

Judy said...

That method is great! Awesome quilt.

Wanda said...

lots and lots of geese!!! Great method and beautiful quilt!!

hetty said...

Thanks for sharing that method. I never like to waste a lot of fabric, so this is great! I love geese and your border looks fantastic. The rest of the quilt however, is out of this world! Absolutely awesome! Great scrappy! I love it.

Nanette Merrill and daughters said...

I find your method much more time saving than Thangles for geese. I wonder if that tool would make trapezoids? hmm

Carin said...

Great quilt! Its beautiful.

Ginger Patches said...

Love it!!! I can't wait to see it all finished :)

Quilter Going Bananas said...

Great Tutorial! Thanks for sharing.
And that quilt? Wowza! It's gorgeous!

Julie said...

Beautiful quilt, love all the colours.

Jenny said...

Great blog, great tutorial!