How to Make a Traditional Flying Geese Quilt Block

A Traditional Method of Making a Flying Goose Block

This is a traditional method of making Flying Geese Blocks. In this method, you sew a square on one side of a rectangle using a diagonal seam, then flip it over to create one side of the Flying Goose block. Press to the square. After you have double-checked to make sure everything lines up properly, cut off the excess underneath that square. Then repeat the process for the other side.

To use this method, cut a rectangle for the goose (shown in yellow) and two squares for the sky (shown in blue.) Cut the squares for the sky the same size as the height of the unfinished rectangle. Remember that the finished size will be 1/4″ smaller all the way around the rectangle due to the seam allowance. In other words, a 2-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ rectangle and (2) 2-1/2″ squares will be needed to make a 2″ x 4″ finished goose.

Draw a line on the diagonal on the wrong side of the sky square (shown in blue below.) Lining up the corners of the square with the edges of the goose rectangle (shown in yellow below), pin carefully and sew on the drawn line as shown. Cut off the excess and press. Do the other side, overlapping the first square. Press and trim all dog ears.

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Make a test block first.  If you are comfortable with the procedure, you can chain stitch these by doing the first step of all the blocks before going on to the second step.