Flying Geese

I was a very good girl on Sunday and spent most of my sewing time making sleeves. I am entering a couple of quilts in the Fair and they need sleeves. Also FOTY 2017, now finished will need a sleeve. Since I was doing finishing tasks anyway, I made a sleeve for it as well.

Flying Geese - Mid May 2015
Flying Geese – Mid May 2015

Partway through the drudgery, I decided to branch away from my UFOs and project lists. I decided to start on a new, fresh quilt project that I designed. I decided I would set the Flying Geese from the exchange I did. the photo, left, is a selection of the FGs I made and received in the exchange.

I did the Flying Geese Exchange with a friend in 2015. We might have started in 2014. I don’t really remember. I have been hoarding these FGs since then waiting for the right time to start.

I thought a lot about designs and looked at many inspirational photos of Flying Geese blocks. I was particularly enamored of a block shown by Moda that has its roots in the Dutchman’s Puzzle block, a block I like very much and is usually in my sampler quilts.  I created the design on my way home from the North Coast while DH drove. I was inspired by the Round and Round quilt by Camille Roskelly and have incorporated her reimagining of the Friendship Star block into my design. I am really excited about it, especially now that some FGs are on the design wall.

Flying Geese Exchange Quilt - starting design work
Flying Geese Exchange Quilt – starting design work

So, as I was working on the sleeves, which, have I mentioned, can be quite tedious, I did little tasks on the FGEQ (not sure what I will name this quilt yet). First, I got out the boxes of FGs. Then I printed the design, then with FOTY 2017 off the design wall, I started following my design to put FGs in place on the design wall. The photo doesn’t make it look like much, but getting all the FGs on the design wall helped me realize that I needed also to put the HSTs on the design wall. I thought I could hold off, but I needed to do it.

Flying Geese with Friendship Star blocks
Flying Geese with Friendship Star blocks

Using my Triangle Technique, I starting making HSTs. I just thought I would make a few to get the idea, but the more I made, the more I wanted. This quilt is evolving in such an exciting way. The layout of the Flying Geese does work! That is really great. The Friendship Star blocks really fit in. They look great.

I used some Queen Street fabrics I had leftover from my Queen Street mania from a few years ago and the BAMQG IRR. I have started in on a selection of those for the blue area. I am thinking of a color wheel kind of effect, though I don’t know if I will put them in color order.

There will be a lot of fiddly sewing and, perhaps some partial seams to get this baby together. I posted the last picture on IG and got some great responses. I can’t wait to see how it looks with more finished.

Right now I know I have to face the following challenges:

  • Sizing everything. Math isn’t my forte and I think I have selected a size HST that will fit with the FGs, but one can never be sure.
  • Right now it looks like I have more than plenty Flying Geese. What do to with the extras will be something to consider. I’d like to use them all, but that may not be possible. There could be possibilities for a half border or something.
  • Perhaps I should double up the FGs so they stand out more? That is a ‘make visual decisions visually’ problem and I will have to look and see.
  • How big? I want to put more Friendship Star blocks in the corners. Will that make the quilt too big?

 

Author: JayeL

Quiltmaker who enjoys writing and frozen chocolate covered bananas.

One thought on “Flying Geese”

  1. This quilt looks like fun! I like the addition of the Friendship Stars. If you have spare Flying Geese, you could always use them on the back to frame your label. That would be cute.

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