Easy Flying Geese Tutorial...

Hello again cute people!

Today I'm going to show you how to make flying geese segments without cutting triangles...

instead...

you will cut squares and rectangles!

How do you know which size to

cut them you ask?

Well...this is how you figure it out!

You need to know the FINISHED size only 

of the flying goose that you

are going to make...so get your graph paper out and do the math like I showed you in

THIS POST.

For the block I am doing today...

the finished size of the block is 6" x 6".

That means the flying goose segment measures

1 1/2" x 3" FINISHED...so

 I will add my 1/2" seam allowance

to the finish size for a measurment of

2" x 3 1/2"...
That is the size I cut my rectangle!

Now what size do you cut your squares???
You will cut 2 squares (one for each corner)

The math is easy on this one...

you will ALWAYS cut the squares the small measurment of the cut rectangle...so that means you will cut 2" x 2" squares.

Lay a square onto one side of the rectangle with right sides together and stitch accurately from corner to corner.

I always clothesline my pieces to save time ...and thread!

So when the block that I'm making has more than one goose in it...

I run them through the machine

one right after the other...

that's how I roll...

and that's how geese fly:)

Give them a quick press to set the seams...

Trim off the excess leaving about a

1/4" seam allowance...

...and press towards the small triangle.

Make sure that you "press" instead of iron so that you don't end up with a wonky goose!

It should look like this ...one side complete!

Now lay the other square on the other side with RST and...

 Stitch from corner to corner...

paying close attention which direction

that you need to stitch

so that it becomes a goose...

not an ugly duckling...

whoops:(

Other side of my geese clothesline stitched:)

You know the drill...give em a quick press...

A quick trim...

And press towards the small triangle.

Yay!...it should look like this.

An accurate 2" x 3 1/2" unfinished flying goose made without cutting triangles:) 

Now lay your block back out on your

mini design board

and stitch it together.

Sew...what do you think?

Does this look easy peasy to you?

Will you try it?

6" x 6" finished block.

Fabric used = Sew Cherry

If you want...

tomorrow I will show you how to

make a "square in a square"

without cutting triangles

Interested?

Just let me know.

Have a quilty kind of day my friends:)

xx

Lori 

Easy Half Square Triangle Tutorial...

Good morning!...are you ready for

another tutorial?

In my tute yesterday I said I would show you how I know what size to rotary cut the half square triangles in the blocks instead of using templates.

First of all...you need to know that I cut squares...not triangles.

           Go check it out and then
               come back here...

I'll wait:)

Okay...now that you know why I cut squares...lets get down to business!

  

 All of the squares in the block finish

at 2" x 2".

That means that I cut all of them

2 1/2" x 2 1/2"

to allow for seam allowance..

And when I say all of them...I mean that I also cut a 2 1/2" square for

each triangle too...

Like this.

Then I stitch them from corner to corner...

At the same time...by clothesline stitching.

I cut them apart and give them a

quick press to set the stitches...

Then I trim off the excess and leave an approximate 1/4" seam allowance.

Like this:)

No stretching out of shape because of

cutting triangles out on the bias...

I sewed it across the bias BEFORE cutting.

I heart this method:)

I know what you're thinking...

"That's some wasted fabric, Miss Lori"!

But remember I have cut my squares

from a 2 1/2" strip.

If I had cut squares and cut them in

half for triangles...

or used templates...

I would also have wasted a little fabric too.

Being able to cut a strip across the

width of your fabric,

 saves fabric in the end...

by not having to chop into your

precious fabric piece with

all kinds of odd ball measurements.

Although...

sometimes I do save my cut off triangles.

I save them if I can cut at least

a 1 1/2" square or larger out of them...

 and then I do.

If they are smaller than that...

I throw them out:)

I save my squares that I have cut from the leftovers for small projects.

You would be suprised how much I use them!

As you can see from the above photo...the leftover triangles from this block are

too small for me to save:(

Anyhoo...

when I press my half square triangle open...

it measures exactly

2 1/2" x 2 1/2" square...

because that is what size I cut

both of the squares that I stitched

from point to point.

I just simply made 1 half square triangle

 out of 2 squares.

Easy peasy math...easy peasy cutting...

easy peasy sewing:)

I lay the HST back out on my

mini design board after pressing...

And make sure that all four HST are facing

the right way..because I will sew them however they are laid out...haha

Now that it's turned into a simple 9 patch...it's a cinch to 

sew it together!

And that's how I do it!...

Yellow = Annies Farm Stand

Blue = Caramel Town

Red = Sew Cherry

Now that you know how to figure out what size to cut your squares when making HST...you can draft alot more blocks for rotary cutting!

Next post I will show you

how to draft/rotary cut/sew

a block that has flying geese.

Have a quilty weekend my friends:)

xx

Lori 

No Templates Tutorial!...

I have had several emails asking different questions about how I draft the quilt blocks so I thought I would share how I do it

in a tutorial...

"Drafting a quilt block 101"

You can draft so many traditional

quilt blocks (but not all)

for rotary cutting instead of templates by using very simple math.

Now don't get me wrong, templates are a part of quilting and there are so many blocks and quilts made with templates....

But for me, when there is a way to rotary cut/use a ruler instead...

that's usually what I do.

I'm probably much too comfortable with my

rotary cutter and rulers:)

But that's just me!

If you happen to be one of the many who love to use templates only...go for it!

I'm just talking about me here.

Okay...with that being said...on to the tute.

First of all...let me say that I am so not a math whiz...it's just that I have been quilting and designing for many years and I have learned a thing or two that I would be happy to pass on to you:)

The first thing you need is graph paper.

For this quilt I am making now I am using a

5" x 8" pad.

I got mine at Office Max. 

I'm sure you could use any old paper but let me tell you that drafting blocks

becomes alot easier when using

graph paper...trust me!

I heart drawing on graph paper...

we always had it around the house

when I was a girl because my Dad

designed rockets for a living

and he always had a large supply on hand.

Also...I would suggest using a pencil...of course we all need to erase!

I love a .05 mechanical pencil to do

all of my drawing.

           Okay...lets get started!

The first thing you will need to know is what is the FINISHED SIZE of the block you are drafting....always go by the finished size ...not unfinished...  

I will show you how to draft the block in the top photo of this post...

the finished size is 6"x 6".

  

Next you will need to decide what each square of the graph paper will represent.

I've decided on mine that one square

will equal 1/2 inch...

so now I draw a square that is

12 x 12 squares.

Because  each square equals 1/2 inch....

I have just drawn the outside of a

6" finished block.

    

                        

You can see by the picture of the block in the photo that this block is divided in half...so go ahead and draw a line down the center both ways.

If it's easier you can draw a little grid on the top of the block reminding you where the inch marks go.

Now you need to figure out the finished size of the large squares....I labeled mine "A".

Because you know that the

finished size of the block is 6"...

and you know that half of 6 is 3...

and you know that each square is 1/2"...

you know that the

large "A" squares finish at 3". 

Because you know that you will need to add 1/2" to the 3" square for seam allowance

 (1/4" for each side both ways)...

you have your cutting measurment

for "A"... which is 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"!! 

Okay...on to small squares.

I labeled 4 squares that I will cut

from the same fabric "B".

How do you know what size to cut them?

1. Count your small squares on the graph paper.

2. There are 3 that equal 1/2".

3. The finished size "B" square is

1 1/2" x 1 1/2".

4. Add 1/2" for seam allowance.

5. Cutting size for "B" will be 2" x 2".

I now know that the remaining squares

will be cut 2" x 2".

I label two of them "C" that will be from

the same fabric....

and two of them "D" that will be cut from 

 the same fabric.

I cut them out and placed them on my

mini design board...

and stitched it together.

My block measures 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" square right now because it's unfinished...

but it will measure 6" x 6" square after

it is sewn into the quilt.

Fabrics used;

Red Gingham, Green Dots & Pink Cherries =

Sew Cherry

Red and White Seed Catalogue =

Annies Farm Stand

When each block is complete...

I put my drafted block into a sheet protecter.

The binder that I bought to use for this project came from Office Max.

The binder is a new size by Avery and it's half size...meaning it fits half of a sheet of  standard 8 1/2" x 11" paper.

Love it!!!!

The sheet protecters fit in the binder perfectly!!!

Genius.

They should have thought of this a long time ago for us quilters....just think of all the patterns out there that are sized perfectly for this...thank you Avery:)

Okay...do you feel like you can draft a quilt block for rotary cutting now?...I hope so.

In my next post I will teach you how to draft half square triangles along with the method I use to sew them together!...

With what you have learned today...you should be able to draft any blocks that consist of squares and rectangles!

Have fun and I'll type at ya later:)

xx

Lori