Piecing Flying Geese – Four at a time and other options
Flying Geese are patchwork units made from three right-angle triangles.
The goose is the larger blue quarter-square triangle in the middle of the unit. The two smaller
pink half-square triangles are the “sky”.
Seam allowances are showing in the flying goose unit to the left. These are the important
characteristics.
 Note the quarter-inch seam allowance above the tip of the goose.

Also note the angles where the pink and blue join in the lower corners. If we measure
the angles in degrees, those are 45 degree angles. The seams go through the middle of
the 90-degree lower corners.
Four Geese at a Time
This method starts with one large square and four small squares of fabric. You won’t cut the squares into triangles until after you have done
some sewing. Measurements are the same as for traditional piecing of flying geese. There is no waste fabric, and fabric grain lines come out
true. You don’t have to remember how to align triangles. Is it faster than traditional piecing? Maybe, maybe not. You have to take the time to
draw lines. It feels faster because you work on four at a time!
I learned this technique from a specialty ruler, Flying Geese x 4 by Lazy Girl Designs. The ruler can be used to make flying geese in sizes from
3/4" x 1 1/2" thru 3 1/2" x 7". It is not a ruler to help with squaring up finished units. The ruler helps you cut your squares to size, and includes a
clear instruction sheet for the technique. The same information is readily available on the internet but the ruler is handy and portable, no
internet connectivity required.
http://www.lazygirldesigns.com/products/item/Flying_Geese_Ruler/269/c48
Lisa Witteman
1
May 2010
Here are a couple nice online versions of instructions. I don’t think I can improve on these online instructions, so I won’t write my own detailed
version.
http://blockaday.com/making-your-geese-fly/
http://piecefulkwilter.blogspot.com/2010/02/no-waste-flying-geese-tutorial.html
http://www.patchpieces.com/files/flyinggeese.pdf
Other Construction Options
You may want to explore these other options for constructing flying geese.
 There are specialty rulers for cutting the sky and goose triangles for flying geese from strips instead of squares. The rulers are designed so
that grain lines come out correctly, and one of points of each triangle is blunted to make it easier to match the triangles. Fons and Porter
makes a ruler of this type.
http://www.shopfonsandporter.com/productdetail/FPR7846.htm
You can also use the more general purpose rulers the EZ Angle and the Companion Angle to get the same result. This online quilt
pattern includes instructions.
http://quiltville.com/myblueheaven.shtml
 Eleanor Burns Flying Geese technique is described in the video link below. This technique makes oversize units that are trimmed to size.
There is some fabric waste. The technique produces four geese. Her video demonstrates using either a standard ruler with a 45 degree line
or her specialty ruler for squaring up.
http://www.quiltinaday.com/television/video-flyinggeeseruler.asp
The video gives cutting instructions for geese that finish 4 x 8. The rulers are packaged with a booklet of photographs and instructions. I
purchased the mini set of these rulers. The accompanying booklet gives cutting sizes to correspond to the rulers in the package. To give
you an idea of how much fabric is used by this technique, here are the cutting sizes I have available. Remember that 4 geese result from
the combination of a large and small square.
Lisa Witteman
2
May 2010
Finished size
Large square (sky)
Small square (geese)
¾ “ x 1 ½”
4 ½“
3”
1” x 2”
5”
3 ½”
1 ½” x 3”
6”
4 ½”
2” x 4”
7”
5 ½”
4” X 8”
11”
9 ½“
Here’s a blog tutorial with good pictures and description.
http://quiltingpassion.com/tutorials/geese/DoubleSquareMethod.html
 One-seam dimensional flying geese is an unusual technique. There are no triangles involved. It was popularized when Ricky Tims
demonstrated it on The Quilt Show. I have not tried it myself, but it appears to be a fast easy way to make flying geese units. You would
need extra fabric to make your geese this way. Here are links to the Ricky Tims video, and a blog tutorial with written instructions and
photos.
http://thequiltshow.com/blog_videos/Flying_Geese.html
http://piecemealquilts.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/one-seam-flying-geese-tutorial.pdf
 Paper piecing geese yields consistent, accurate results. Extra fabric is needed for this technique, and time is needed for removing
foundation paper. Paper pieced blocks can be constructed so that grain lines are parallel to block edges, but extra care and concentration is
needed to accomplish it. It won’t happen automatically.
Here’s a link for printing templates for various sizes of flying geese, and a second link with some basic paper piecing instructions.
http://www.quilterscache.com/B/BlankPPTemplatesPage.html
Lisa Witteman
3
May 2010
http://www.quilterscache.com/StartQuiltingPages/startquiltingthree.html
There are many online tutorials for paper piecing. If this particular tutorial doesn’t answer your questions, there are many available.
Here’s one with more text and photographs.
http://www.karencombs.com/pplesson.htm
Lisa Witteman
4
May 2010