February’s Block of the Month is a precursor of spring in South Florida. Blocks will be due at the March meeting, giving the winner an opportunity to piece and assemble the quilt for April. April in South Florida signals our ‘snowbirds’ to start heading back North for the summer. This block is symbolic of flying geese heading North-Safe travels for our winter residents.
The block is a scrappy modern take on flying geese. Find your teal or turquoise or aqua scraps (think Miami Marlins and Miami Dolphins), some solid white fabric and some grey scraps and make up some of these easy blocks. Use 1/4” seams throughout. The block finishes at 12 1/2” square.
A very easy tutorial for the block can be found here . The tutorial is well written and easy to follow - I strongly suggest you use it, or you can follow the instructions provided below.
To make the block you’ll need:
12 2 1/2” squares of teal or aqua or turquoise
6 2 1/2” by 6 1/2” pieces of solid white
6 2 1/2” by 6 1/2” grey scraps
Decide how you want to lay out and match up your scraps and then prep your squares by drawing a diagonal pencil line across the back of each square. You’ll be matching a white strip with a grey strip later.
Lay the square on either a white or a grey strip, right sides together, and sew on the diagonal line you drew, and then trim a 1/4” seam. Greys will be on one side, whites on the other. Be sure to watch which way you sew the diagonal - they are opposite directions depending on whether you’re using the grey or the white strip at the time (ask me how I know!). Press the resulting ‘goose’ flat and repeat until you have all 12 squares sewn.
Now, pair up your strips and sew the ‘geese’ together. Press the resulting seam OPEN so the geese lay flat.
Decide the order you’d like and then match up the center seams and sew the strips together to create the block. Easy peasy and you’re done!
The block is a scrappy modern take on flying geese. Find your teal or turquoise or aqua scraps (think Miami Marlins and Miami Dolphins), some solid white fabric and some grey scraps and make up some of these easy blocks. Use 1/4” seams throughout and know that the block finishes at 12 1/2” square.
“When geese fly together, each goose provides additional lift and reduces air resistance for the goose flying behind it. This enables the flock to fly 70% farther with the same amount of energy. ”
