No-waste Flying Geese

I have made flying geese units by flip and sew, and by Marti Michell's method using her templates and both require sewing along a bias edge, and cutting off triangles (wasting fabric). Then I found this in a McCall's tutorial. 

The no-waste Flying Geese

1

Step 1

You need one large square and four small squares in a contrasting colour.

Sorry, here comes the Maths ...

Calculate the sizes of the squares according to this formula:

large square (geese): length of finished unit + 1 1/4"

small squares (sky) : width of finished unit + 7/8"

Example: to make 4 identical flying geese with these measurements:

Length of finished unit: 3"

Width of finished unit: 1 1/2"  

you will need:

1 Large square (geese)  3 + 1 1/4" = 4 1/4"

4 Small squares (sky)  1 1/2 + 7/8"= 2 1/4"

**  If you'd prefer metric, click here for Vireya's metric maths.  **

2

Step 2

Draw a diagonal on the back of all the small squares

3

Step 3

Pin 2 of the small squares, right sides together, onto the large square, as show in the photo. Make sure that the two diagonal lines form a continuous line and that the corners of the squares are aligned precisely

4a

4b

Step 4

Sew 1/4 " on each side of the line.

5

Step 5 

Cut along the drawn line.

6

Step 6

Fold the small triangles back and press.

7

Step 7

Pin the remaining small squares to each of the units, as shown in the photo.

8

Step 8

Sew each side of the drawn line, as at step 4. The two units can be chained pieced.

Cut along the drawn lines, as at step 5

Step 9

Fold back the small triangles, press and cut off the dog ears.

9

Voilà. Four flying geese units

and a tiny pile of dog ears.



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Happy Sewing

Marly.