Sunday, September 03, 2017

Quilter's Recipe Box Unit 9 - Flying Geese - Apple Pie Block

Happy Labor Day!  We are out of town enjoying some family time, but I was smart and got my block done in advance so I could write my post :)  The unit I will demonstrate this month is Flying Geese.  It is made using the same sew and flip technique used to make the Square in a Square and Lozenge units, so it should be very easy to make.  The block is Apple Pie from EQ7.  So you could say that this block is as easy as pie!  (Hahaha - very funny, Pamela!)
To make this block you will need to cut the following:

Focus Fabric: Cut one square 3 ½ x 3 ½.
Color 2: Cut eight rectangles 2 x 3 1/2 inches.
Color 3: Cut four rectangles 2 x 3 /2 inches
Background Fabric: Cut sixteen squares 2 x 2 and four rectangles 2 x 3 ½ inches.

To make the Flying Geese units, you will need to mark the reverse of the 2 inch background squares with a diagonal line.  Or if you have a laser light for your machine, you can just get right to sewing!
Sew one square to each rectangle on the diagonal line.  It's helpful to sew just a hair to the right of your line - the laser light actually makes a pretty wide line, so I just sew on the edge of the line.  This gives you a little extra fabric to make up for the thickness of the thread when you flip the fabric over.
Trim the corner off 1/4 inch from the seam line.  As you can see, I sewed one triangle on the opposite corner of the rest.  It really doesn't matter which one you sew first, but I usually try to do them all the same!

And press your triangle corners out.

Next, sew the second background square in the same way as the first.

Here is a tip for cutting the extra fabric off - if you leave them lined up close to the edge of the mat, you can hold the ruler off the front edge and easily slide it down and adjust it for each block unit - you can zip through cutting them super fast this way!

 Now that you have your Flying Geese sewn, it's time to sew them into pairs.  Sew with the pointed seam on the top so you can see where you are going.
 Sew your seam just a hair above the point instead of straight through it.
 Press your seam allowance away from the point and you will have a perfect point every time!
 Arrange your four geese around the center square like so.

 Then sew four split square units and place them on the sides of the block.

Sew it all together and you have Apple Pie!

The complete set of Quilter's Recipe Box unit patterns is available here in my Etsy shop.

I hope you enjoy making this block!  Make sure you check in every Monday for more great blocks this month using the Flying Geese Unit.

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