Idea: Pairie Point Flying Geese

SewCalGal's was giving away a copy of the "Prairie Point Pizzazz", by Karen Sievert (deadline has passed) - this is another way to flying geese!

 

Tips: Getting Ready: Geese

Traditional Geese

Traditonal

I made four geese following the directions in Gwen's books:  2-2.5" squares, 1-4.5" by 2.5" rectangle.

To 'save' the extra triangles I sewed them down too before cutting off from the goose.  The results are an odd size and would need to be trimmed up.  I think using a smaller seam would give a results with a better size.

I also experimented with cutting one of the geese in half and trimming to get two HST - this is a lot of work - I don't like this method for getting HST. And I think it's to much work to get one goose block - I like the way I've been doing it better - two cuts and get two geese!

One seam geese by other attendee.

Additional Methods to Try:

• Sophie's four geese at one time - each with the same color arrangement  
• One seam method by Ricky Tims  The other woman attending the workshop zipped up her geese in a flash she said with that method - I forgot to try that method out.....
• Michelle's Liberated Flying Geese Tutorial  A very liberated way that I will try soon!

My Way

My Way Geese - Freehand

Original My Way Geese - Directions

Then I went back to making a few geese 'my way'.  I now take two pieces of fabric the same size, then free hand cut a triangle.  Swap the fabric and sew it up! (I used to do with two different sizes of triangles but Benta's  comment on my original post pointed out I could be making two geese at the same time if I used the same size rectangles - so that's what I do now!

I like this way as I always have enough seam so I would not loose the points, and there is enough side fabric that I could more the triangle around.

Note: The way I originally did the cuts ended up with triangles that were different sized and shaped - very wonky... (and pleasing to me!)

Since my other parts for the workshop are not done in a wonky fashion though I thought I should try again - but this time use a ruler so the shapes would be consistent and in the center of the fabric.....

My Way Geese done with ruler.

I meant to take notes, but forgot to.  I think I started with 6 inches by 3 or 2.5 inches.

I just eyeballed the center of the fabric, but used the ruler to cut the triangle.  The first cut I went beyond the ruler to the edge of the fabric.

When was sewing I matched the edges of the fabric for the first seam - but for the second seam I pulled the side piece up so when the seam start the fabric would be at least 1/4 inch.

I like the way these look - need to move the ruler down to be sure I have 1/4 inch at the top all the time - and perhaps 5.5 would be better width as I don't need so much fabric at the side of the block.  But since I didn't write down the measurements I started with I really can't say.  Arranged this way would be an interesting design to put at the edge or sashing of a quilt.... Could make two with the same arrangement for the the geese and then it would be a square on point - could be very dramatic!

I decided to try again using 2.5 by 4.5 fabric....

My Way Geese with ruler and traditional size.

These are very cute.  They are smaller than the traditional size, but I really like them.  This I think will be the size I make for the workshop!

It's fun to have a variety of geese though - don't this look neat?  In fact, I think I will skip making HST for the workshop and instead try to make a bunch of these - they  would perhaps make neat sawtooth variation!

Assorted geese lined up.

Geese arranged for sawtooth replacement.

Geese as a design

Geese arranged for sawtooth edge

It's funny, Leah today was discussing the importance of testing before doing a big project (and I realized I have never washed my batting, or checked to see if the pencil would bleed thru, and am not really sure how I'm going to get my Wonky Shoo Fly or LibRR connected so they are quilts) but I did explore different ways to get my parts made.  The directions in Marston/Moran books for flying geese just seemed so time consuming (and traditional!) - I had to find quicker ways to get the parts in order...

It's been awhile since I first played with my liberated geese - but I was very pleased with the method.  Used in my LibRR but gave the rest of the geese away to a BlockLotto lady who was ill.  The first time I made a batch using the BlockLotto directions there were so much wasted fabric I didn't like making them that way at all.

 

More Get Well Flying Geese and How I Made Them!

Michelle, another lady in the BlockLotto, had an operation in October that was taking longer to recover from than expected.  She is back to sewing already, but I wanted to make her some blocks anyway.  Since I finished the December challenge already I was able to do this sewing.  As I finished the first block, I remembered that the last time I had trouble making the blocks.  To solve it so I could send the blocks to Mary Jame in a timely manner I used much larger pieces of fabric than were really needed - and ended up with a bunch of scraps that I didn't think I would be able to use...

This time I made time to figure out a way to do Flying Geese so I end up with more usable pieces of fabric.  Here are the Get Well Geese I made for Michelle (scroll down to see my notes of how I made them!)

The technique that I ended up figuring out, The June Dodge Method for Get Well Geese*, was a variation of the directions for the December 2010 block - trees.  When I was using the original liberated directions I just ended up with scraps - this way I end up with a mini-reversed goose or point.  (The original directions are very clearly written - it's just that I'm not following them correctly I'm sure.) Anyway,  I'm quite please with myself for figuring out this new way to do the Get Well Geese!

Step One:  Cut background fabric about 1 inch taller and wider than the desired size of the block.  Cut colored goose fabric roughly the same height as the background fabric but narrower.
Step Two:  With right sides facing the same direction, cut a point in the fabric. Be sure to have the tip so when it's sewn together the point tip will show.
Step Three: Move the fabric - you have a full sized set and the mini set.
Step Four: You can either place the bottom of the goose fabric so it lines up to the sky fabric (see normal size for example)  - this will make the end result so it's not even when the sewing is done).  OR (see mini size for example) Bring the goose fabric so it is below the sky by 1/4 inch (then when sewn the bottom will be even). Sew the two pieces together.
Step Five:  Press toward the dark fabric and see how the different placement of the fabric affected the result. Normal size the bird is higher, Mini the bird is flush with the sky.
Step Six:  Place the fabric for the second seam.  For both of these the bird part is not below the sky, so neither of them are going to line up evenly once they are sewn.
Step Seven:  Sew second seam and press - see how the different placement of the parts affects the result.  In both of these examples the outside sky fabric is below the center bird fabric.
Step Eight:  Trim to square up and get to desired size. DONE!

Here I thought I knew what I was doing so I did three blocks at one time...

But I must have cut the length too short as for all of these I had to sew on a piece to get the block to be 6.5 inches.  It was just 1/8 inch off but I had to add a wider piece so there would not be extra bulk at the seam when quilting...  The extra seam, I think, will disappear once the project is quilted... or will add charm to the liberated quilt project!

After figuring out and using this June Dodge Method for Get Well Geese*, I have mini-reversed units all ready to use in a project myself later on!

* Ha ha!