Tutorial: Create Flying Geese Paper Pieced Patterns

I love using paper foundation piecing for flying geese blocks. The blocks make up so quickly, and they always finish with perfect points.

When a pattern shows other techniques that don't work quite as well for me, I always sketch out my own paper foundation pieced block patterns, and photocopy them.

You can draw your own paper pieced flying geese blocks,  too - in any size you need. It's easy, and there's very, very little math involved. Most flying geese blocks are twice as tall as they are wide, so you basically need to multiply the width of your block by 2 to get the height.

Start with a rectangle. Make it twice as tall as it is wide.

The most commonly used flying geese block sizes for quilts are:

1" x 2"

1 1/2" x 3"

2" x 4"

2 1/2" x 5"

3" x 6"

Size doesn't make any difference in the process for making the blocks. My examples are for making 2" x 4" blocks. This is a great size for practice, but you can adjust when you are making other sizes you might need for your quilts.

Now, get a ruler, a sharp pencil, and some graph paper. 

And, away we go! 

Make a single block

Step 1:  

• Draw a rectangle twice as tall as it is wide on your graph paper. Mine is 2" x 4", but the same formula works for all sizes.
• Measure halfway down the right hand side of the rectangle and make a mark. This is the same measurement as is the width of your rectangle.
• Draw lines from the mark you just made to either corner on the left hand side of the paper. The lines you have drawn are the lines that you will sew on when sewing the block and assembling the quilt.

Step 2:

• Add 1/4" seam allowance all around.  This outer line will be the line you cut on when you trim the block down for sewing into your quilt.
• Write in numbers to show the order of adding fabrics. The large triangle, usually made with a darker color of fabric, is number 1. The smaller triangles made with background fabrics will be numbers 2 and 3. It makes no difference which of the smaller pieces is attached first.

But what if you want to put two blocks into a set so you can sew two at the same time? 

Make a set of two blocks

Step 1: 

• Draw a single block just like you did before. 
• Now attach another block right next to it. Each block will be twice as tall as it is wide.

Step 2: 

• Add 1/4" seam allowance all around.  Once again, the outer line will be the line you cut on when you trim the set of blocks down for sewing into your quilt, and the inner lines are the lines you stitch on.
• Write in numbers. The larger triangles for each block are always added first, the smaller triangles next. Number the first block with numbers 1, 2, and 3, and the second block with numbers 4, 5, and 6.

Longer Sets 

Sets of three or more blocks

Follow the same procedure that you used to draw two blocks to make sets of three blocks, 6 blocks, or as many as you can fit on your graph paper.

• Start with side by side blocks, then add 1/4" seam allowance around the entire set.
• Write numbers in sequential order, block by block. Make sure that the large triangle is always given the first number in its block.

That's it!  Photocopy as many copies as you need and begin sewing! 

How to measure the fabric pieces for your block sections.

There is always some unavoidable waste with paper foundation piecing, but if the fabric pieces are cut relatively close to the finished size and shape, the waste can be minimal. 

Whether sides are cut on the bias or not is relatively unimportant with paper foundation piecing. I've tried to make the measuring for fabric pieces as easy as possible by cutting the large triangles as quarter square triangles and the background triangles as half square triangles. 

Photo A: half square triangles for small background segments

Photo B: Quarter square triangles for larger segments of the block

The Formula

Yes, there is a formula, but it's pretty easy to follow. 

For the smaller triangles (photo A above) :

• Begin with a square 1 1/4" longer than the width of the block.
• For a 2" x 4" block, you would add 1 1/4" to 2", the shorter measurement of the block. 

1 1/4" + 2" = 3 1/4"

• The square should be cut 3 1/4" on either side. 
• Cut in half once diagonally. You will have two triangles, enough for one block.

For the larger triangles (photo B above) :

• Begin with a square 1 5/8" larger than the height of the block. 
• For a 2" x 4" flying geese block, add 1 5/8" to 4", the longer measurement of the block. 

1 5/8" + 4" = 5 5/8"

• The square should be cut 5 5/8" on either side. 
• Cut in half diagonally, and then cut in half diagonally again. You will have four triangles, enough for four blocks.

I've made a chart to simplify it even more.

Chart for cutting common size triangles for paper foundation pieced flying geese blocks.

Size of Block     Cut square for               Cut square for

                           two, small, half             four, large, quarter

                           square triangles:           square triangles:

                          

1 ½” x 3”            2 ¾” x 2 ¾”                 4 5/8” x 4 5/8” 

2” x 4”                3 ¼” x 3 ¼”                  5 5/8” x 5 5/8” 

2 ½” x 5”            3 ¾” x 3 ¾”                 6 5/8” x 6 5/8”

3” x 6”                4 ¼” x 4 ¼”                  7 5/8” x 7 5/8” 

4” x 8”                5 ¼ x 5 ¼”                    9 5/8” x 9 5/8”

And that's everything you need to know! Make all the paper foundation pieced flying geese blocks you like, in any size you like.