Ampersand Quilters - Jan 2011

Last Saturday was the first session of the year for my quilting group. This month we were trying to perfect the art of making a Flying Geese pattern (the more practised patch-workers amongst us were doing Drunkards Path).
We were doing a square named Toad in the Puddle, although none of us could quite get the toad reference.

This design needed 4 fabrics so I chose some that I thought would go quite nicely. I was wrong. The end result reminds me of some sort of space invaders game. Maybe even Emperor Zurg.

The way we created the flying geese sections (a rectangular panel made up of one large triangle, and two smaller triangles) was so done in such an unexpected way, that I thought I'd share it here.

This time around I've chosen to do it in just 3 colours, and this is all the material you need:

• from fabric A (the one with birds) two 3 7/8" squares, and one 7 1/4"

• from fabric B (the camping one) two 5 1/2" squares. If you were wanting to use a fourth colour for this pattern, make one of these squares out of a different fabric.

• from fabric C (flowery one) eight 3" squares and one 4 3/4" square

So starting with the fabric B squares, lay them down with two of the 3" squares on opposite corners. Draw a line down the centre and then two lines a scant 1/4" either side. 

Sew down the outer lines and then cut down the centre one (similar to how I made sections in candy shop). When I first ironed them flat I thought I'd messed up, but this shape is correct. I have nicknamed them 'fox faces', but that's just me. 

So the next stage is to lay another 3" square over the nose of the fox face, as it were. Draw the three lines again as before, sew and cut.

Once this shape has been opened up and ironed, it is now a flying geese section. Simples.

After cutting each square of fabric A diagonally down the middle to create eight triangles, then it's just a case of sewing all the pieces into three sections (as shown below) and then eventually into one big block.