Flying Geese Tutorial

  

I'm continuing on my quilt and this week's lesson was on Flying Geese. This is one of the most common techniques found in quilting and I struggled with the directions that I had. 

I read several tutorials and watched videos online about how to assemble this unit and not a single tutorial I found explained it how my directions wanted me to do it. It would have been easy to follow one of these tutorials, but I already had my fabric cut to the proper size triangles as by my recommended instructions. 

So I powered on and through a little trial and error, I finished my Flying Geese unit by using the 3 Triangle Method...which I doubt is the easiest, but it's what I was told to do. Here is my tutorial on how to make a Flying Geese unit, using the 3 Triangle Method.  

Step 1: Start by pinning one of your sky pieces to your goose piece, right sides facing each other.

Line up your edges, so that they are even and pin in the bottom corner. You want the bottom the to be exactly even. The top point will overlap the background fabric.

If you are left-handed you may want to pin the opposite side first. 

Step 2: After all of your pieces are pinned you can start sewing. 

I chose to start at the top with the overlapped corner and sew to the bottom pinned corner. Making sure the keep a steady 1/4 inch seam.

Avoid putting the top point directly under the needle as the machine will try to pull the point under the throat plate.

 Step 3: Chain Sewing

I had no idea what chain sewing is until last week. I am sure glad that I gave it a try, it is a time saver...and thread saver.

When you have sewn to the end of the triangle, just keep going. Stop at the end of the fabric, but do not lift your presser foot. Place a new triangle against the presser foot and slowly press your pedal. The presser foot will feed in the new piece. Continue until all are finished. 

Step 4: Clip apart and stack your chain sewing. 

I am not much for finger pressing, so I set my seams with an iron. Use the cotton setting without any steam. 

Avoid moving the iron back and forth, so you do not stretch your fabric. 

I would combine Steps 4 and 5 to save time. No need to set all of your seams before you press them open. Completing these in one step will save you time. I just wanted to make sure that I included all of the pictures. 

Step 5: Gently lift the sky piece and nudge the iron towards the center. On the reverse side the seam should go out towards the sky piece.

After the sky piece is nudged open you can lift the iron and set it on the seam. Again, avoid moving the iron back and forth. 

Repeat on all pieces. 

Step 6: Now that you have sewn and pressed your fabric, you are ready to start pinning your second sky piece.

I like to set it up assembly line style and crank them all out at once...leaving them complete for the next time I decide to work on them . 

These photos were taken over several days, it would be nearly impossible for me to do all of this in one sitting. 

Step 7: I chose to pin my pieces at both ends, so that the edges would stay lined up as I shuffled them around.

Just like in Step 1, keep your bottom edges aligned perfectly and the top point will form a V with the point that is already sewn. 

Step 8:  More Chain sewing.

Still keeping a 1/4 inch seam, I started by sewing at the bottom corner this time.

I removed the pin before I slid it under the presser foot. Making sure to keep the edges aligned as I began to sew. 

Sew all units and Repeat Steps 4 & 5 before beginning Step 9.

Step 9. The Flying Geese units are always twice as wide as they are tall. 


You can use a straight ruler to trim the unit. I didn't have a thin enough ruler, so I used a 6 1/2 inch square. 


The finished piece will measure 3 1/2  x 6 1/2, allowing for a quarter inch seam. 


To trim the fabric you must be able to find the middle. The 3 1/4 inch  mark on the center and the dotted line under that mark should be on the point of the triangle. The triangle point will always be 1/4 inch from the fabric edge. 


Hold your ruler firmly and trim the top and one side. Then rotate your fabric on its side. 

Step 10: Now that your fabric is rotated you want to place the ruler on top of your fabric. The 6 1/2 inch mark will be placed along the bottom edge and the 3 1/2 inch mark should line up with your already trimmed edge. 


When your ruler is all lined up, hold firmly and trim the top and side. 


This should leave you with a perfect 3 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch rectangle. 

 

Let the Quilting Begin

    I've made the commitment. I've bought the fabric and tools...let's see if I can stick with this. When it's all over hopefully I'll have a beautiful quilt and be able to sew a straight line with a perfect quarter inch seam allowance.
 

The pattern that we are making has two blocks, the plain variable star and the star in star. I am only making a lap sized quilt; this is what it will look like when finished. 

The construction in our basement is almost finished and I want this to match the earthy tones that we have chosen.  


I had a lot of fun choosing fabric and even had some help from Nick.

 Choosing what fabric would fill each piece of the block was probably the hardest part. Being the visual learner that I am, I had to draw it all in Corel and fill in the colors to get a good idea of what the finished product will look like.


Now comes the measuring and cutting. I opted not to pre-wash all of my fabric and began by ironing the piece I was going to cut. 


It didn't take as long as I had thought to get all of the block pieces cut. I worked on it for about 3 hours and had it all labeled and bagged.


I played with some of my scraps and started to sew a fun scrappy block for a pillow...the more I sewed the more un-square it became. The seams match up which is a plus and it's pretty...just not square. So I'm a little hesitant about jumping in and getting started. I don't want to mess and of my pieces up.


  I read all of my lesson today and feel like I've been pointed in the right direction about where to begin. So tomorrow I am heading to Sew Sisters a little early and hopefully will be able to sew some Flying Geese. I need four for each block, hopefully that will be an easy task to complete and I will be able to move on to Lesson 4 for next Tuesday's Class.

Lazy Monday

It's a lazy Monday and President's Day here at my house. It is rainy and cloudy here in the Midwest today and I'm cuddled up in bed with my pups catching up on my DVR. 

This weeks photo challenge at i heart faces is to take a photo with your phone and since I'm bundled in bed I snapped this of me and my dog Tuco.

What better way to start the day than with a little Link Love! I've been crafting up a storm this past week. I've been prepping for two baby showers, making gifts, and I started my first quilt. I am so happy that I can share some of the wonderful tutorials that I've used from some incredible websites and blogs. More to come on my quilting endeavor...As a first time quilter, I am hoping to learn a lot and blog a mini series on it.

I made the Frayed Rosette from You Can Make This as a bow for the personalized burp cloths I made with my Silhouette Machine. The burp cloths are a super easy beginner project a pattern can be found at Prudent Baby. I used a patterned fleece remnant that I found at my local Joann's Store. I made the Felt Dahlia Flower Brooch from Holidash, but put a covered button in the center. I attached a hair clip and clipped it on a headband that I found on clearance at The Children's Place after Christmas. 

I made the Top Knot Baby Hat that I found at Prudent Baby out of a pale pink remnant I picked up at Wal-Mart for .98 cents. The personalized onsie and burp cloths were made with ThermoFlex Plus Heat Transfer Vinyl and my Silhouette Machine. I embellished the onsie with a button that had laying around, it matched perfectly.  

I hope that Baby Rainey and her Mama like her personalized gifts. I had a great time crafting them this week. 

Epiphanie Camera Bag Giveaway!!

Visit i HEART faces to enter to win a beautiful Epiphanie bag. 

Visit there websites and check out all the great things they have!

Goodbye Snow

Goodbye snow, goodbye winter, goodbye yucky wet slush...here are some snowy photos that I haven't had a chance to post. The sun has been shining here in the Midwest and I am proud to say that the snow in my yard is almost gone. It has been in the 50's and 60's the past few days and I hope that it continues...I am going to need lots of sunshine to dry up all the soupy mud and muck that is covering my beautiful yard.

 The stray kitty that has found a home in our garage likes to walk across the ice. He's always leaving prints.

 Always lots of colorful birds at the feeders.

 This furry guy likes to eat his nuts and seeds upside down.

 He's always entertaining and visits frequently.

 There are a lot of young Cardinals around the yard. This beauty was eating right under our picture window.

 I love the contrast of this little guy against the snow. Some days there are 3 or 4 birds and others there are 50 birds. I love them all and I'm so excited for spring.

Work

It's been a busy week and I am proud to say that I actually worked 3 days this week...3 days at a real grown-up job. I haven't worked a real day at a real job in almost 4 years. I'm pretty proud of myself and I really enjoyed it.

I worked as a substitute teacher's aid at a local high school. It has been almost a year since I had been in a classroom setting for school...I kind of missed it. Though I had never done any observing in a high school, it was a really neat experience and I hope that I can sub again soon.

Seeing how I want to be a teacher and will be starting school in the fall to complete my final 2 semesters before student teaching. I think that it has really widened my perspective as to what I might want to teach. Maybe I will put my sub application in at some local elementary schools this week. I could use something to occupy some of my days and a paycheck here and there doesn't hurt.