Hello,
Lately, I have been making many flying geese and I thought that I would share with you the method that I use to make accurate flying geese.
You can click on the images to supersize them to see more detail.
This tutorial will yield 4 - 3.5" X 6.5" unfinished flying geese.
1. Cut 4 small squares, at 4" square. These are the background.
2. Cut 1 large square, at 7.5" square. This makes the geese.
Layer 2 small squares in the corners of the large square, right sides together. Aligning the corners carefully.
Take your Magic Wand Tool (you can find it here) on the diagonal and then draw two lines on either side.
It will look like the above. Or you can draw one line down the center from corner to corner.
Pin the squares in place on either side of the lines.
Now sew directly on the line on one side.
Turn it around and then sew down the opposite side.
Your block will look like this. You may want to press it now so it lays flat.
Then take a ruler and cut it directly down the middle between the stitching lines for a perfect 1/4" seam.
Press the small background squares open so that the seams are pressed towards the small squares.
Now take the remaining 2 small squares and place them in the lower corner of the geese fabric. Right sides together. Aligning the corners carefully.
Take your Magic Wand Tool (you can find it here) and place it on the diagonal into the corners of the small square.
Draw two lines on either side of the magic wand.
Pin the small square on either side of the lines.
Sew directly on the line on one side.
Turn block around and sew down the opposite side directly on the line.
It will now look like this, you may want to give it a press so it is laying flat.
Take your ruler and cut it on the diagonal between the 2 stitched lines.
Your pieces will look like the above. Take all four pieces and press the background fabric open so that the seams are pressed towards the background fabric.
You now have four flying geese that are not quite complete. They will need a tiny amount of trimming.
Take the Wing Clipper Tool (you can find it here) and align it with the correct dimensions and trim the right and top sides.
As you can see there is very little waste.
Now turn the geese unit a complete 1/2 turn and then align the ruler with the correct lines and dimensions and trim away the right and the top sides
You now have 4 very accurate 6.5 X 3.5 inch flying geese.
The nice thing about trimming down instead of trying to get the correct dimensions on the first try is that you ALWAYS have the size that you need and it is accurate.
The Wing Clipper Tool allows you to accurately cut flying geese from as small a 1/2" X 1" up to 5" X 10".
You can find both the Magic Wand and Wing Clipper Tools in my shop along with some companion patterns as well. Just click here.
I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial.
Don't forget to return here on the 25th to get Block number 3 of the Blogger's Block of the Month!
Until Next Time...
