The Flying Geese block has long been a staple in quilt design. When I saw the explosion of colors in the fabrics presented to me for my first quarter project as a 2023 #BenartexAmbassador, I saw flying geese. Lots of them! It’s a simple block that packs a lot of punch. Let me take you through Part One of a Flying Geese Tutorial. We’ll start with a photo of a finished block and then begin to go through the steps to make four-at-a-time flying geese. The block in the bottom of this photo is a completed flying geese unit. Can you believe those colors! The pink is from the Marbella collection by Paula Nadelstern for #Benartex, and the print is from her Needle Stars collection.

To build the geese, you start with one large block and two smaller blocks. Draw a line diagonally down the center of each smaller block for reference. Pin the smaller blocks to the larger blocks as shown.

The next step I like to call Ladies in Waiting. As you can see, there is a stitching line sewn one quarter inch from either side of the drawn lines. These blocks are waiting to be cut apart.

The slicing and dicing begins when the blocks are cut apart on the drawn diagonal lines. Now there twice as many triangles as there were squares.

We go on to Pressing the Sweethearts. When the small triangles are pressed over the large triangles a heart shape is formed. Just like magic!

I am waiting for more yardage to arrive before I get to part two of this tutorial. I hope this has been a pleasingly colorful experience and that you stay tuned!