Flying Geese for my Bee Mates

June is coming up, and that means that I am Queen Bee for the Canadians Quilt Bee 2015.

June is a busy time in my household and, I suspect, many of my bee mates' as well.  So it is with "quick and easy" in mind that I chose Flying Geese as my block.

But first...

The Colour Inspiration

Inspiration can come from all sorts of places.  For me, it is my favourite running dress.   (I pause to put in a free publicity plug here: if you run, bike, play tennis, do yoga, or just like to walk around town in stylish sportsy clothes, nuu-muu are the cutest and most awesome athletic dresses you will find).

Instead of using a fancy schmancy palette generator, I just went to the Kona website and copied swatches here.  It does not mean that you need to use these exact colours.  These are just here as a guide, and because it was fun to do!

Top: Basil, Wasabi, Emerald, Grass Green, Sage

Bottom: Chartreuse, Black, Pickle, Leprechaun, Glacier

You can also use whites and light grays, but I did not include swatches because they are too hard to see.

Types of Fabrics

Solids, tone on tone, small prints, flowers, stripes, geometrics...   I would prefer if it did not include other colours in any meaningful way.  Large prints probably would not be the best choice, but if you find one that you think works, go for it.  Here is my first fabric pull, I am sure I will uncover more once I start digging.

Requirements

I am asking my bee mates for two sets of four geese.  For each set of four, you need four matching 3 7/8" squares and one contrasting 7 1/4" square.

The second set can be identical as the first, or it can be reversed, or it can use one common fabric and one different, or if can be all different.

The Method

I used the quick method that makes four identical geese at the same time.  There are many, many tutorials available using this method, including this one or that one, so no need to re-do another one. Just watch out because some tutorials use slightly different formula for sizes which will result in small inaccuracies.

In a matter of minutes, you will have four geese.  Cut the little "ears" and press.  They should all be 3 1/2" x 6 1/2".  Two of my geese came a little big, so I had to trim them a bit.

The Layout

Once you have one set, sew two geese together in the same direction like this:

Then, sew these two sets together any way you like!  Here are some options:

  

  

 

 

Repeat with the second set, but please do not sew the two sets together so I can have some flexibility in the layout.

Parting words

I've been wanting to make these flying geese for a long time, but I have to admit they scared me a little.  I can't believe I waited that long! These are very, very easy to make.  I am glad that being the June queen bee provided me the incentive to give it a try.