Piecing Flying Geese Units

Last night in crumb piecing class, a couple of ladies were interested in making flying geese.  I did not give a good demo so I decided to write some instructions out. 

Flying Geese units have many uses.  Four can form an Evening star or a pinwheel and 8 form a Dutch Puzzle block. 

There are various ways to make the flying geese.  I like using a rectangle and 2 squares. 

Usually the side of the square including ½” seam allowance is the same length as the short side of the rectangle with the long side of the rectangle 2 times the finished size of the square plus ½” seam allowance.   For example: a 2” square finishes at 1 ½” times 2 = 3” plus ½” seam allowance = 3 ½” so the rectangle would be cut at 2” by 3 ½” and 2 squares at 2”. 

 

 Sew on the diagonal of the square, flip and trim back layers.  Then add a square on the other corner, sew the diagonal and follow the same steps.  To use them in a pinwheel block, sew the geese to plan rectangles as below.

Four together make a 6" finished pinwheel block.