The Geesey Quilt: How it all comes together!

Subscribers to We Quilt This City know that the Spring 2023 large quilting project is the Stitched in Color Geesey Quilt. We’re big fans of Stitched in Color and the inimitable Rachel Hauser, and we jumped at an opportunity to collaborate.

Rachel does a great job with the Geesey instructions, and she also has a quilt sew-a-long series on her blog which contains a ton of helpful tips on assembling this quilt. (You can check out her sew-a-long here.) However, when it comes to making Flying Geese Units, we really like using Deb Tucker’s Studio 180 Wing Clipper Tool. So, the following tips apply specifically to making Flying Geese using this tool.

The Spring 2023 WQTC collection contains 12 fabrics, and our Spring Geesey Kit provides ½ yard of each. This is enough fabric to make 240 flying geese units using the Wing Clipper Tool. Rachel’s Geesey pattern calls for only 230 geese. Either you will have a few extra to put aside for another project, or you can do as we did and make your quilt one row longer (24 x 10) for a finished width of 60” and length of 72”.

Deb Tucker’s Wing Clipper method uses one large square (7.5”) and 4 small squares (each 4”) to make 4 Flying Geese Units at once. The center triangles in the unit are made from the large 7.5″ square, and side triangles are made from the small 4″ squares. From each ½ yard of fabric you should cut 5 large squares and 20 small squares, so that you end up with an even variety – 20 geese with each fabric as the center piece, and 20 with each fabric as the side triangles.

We recommend sorting through your pieces and choosing attractive combinations before you start sewing. We took each set of 5 large squares and matched them with 8 small squares of one fabric, 8 of another fabric and 4 of a third fabric, looking for combinations that varied in degree of contrast. See an example of this below:

The Wing Clipper Tool comes with instructions on how to assemble your flying geese. Deb Tucker also has a video tutorial that we highly recommend. You can watch it below:

Flying Geese units can be tricky. You’re sewing two bias cuts together, so there is a lot of opportunity for accidental stretching, and you have to end up with an accurate seam allowance at the end of the point. What’s more, Deb Tucker’s method really requires you to ‘trust the process’ because it’s difficult to picture how the units will come together until you’ve made it to the end.

If you’ve used other Studio 180 rulers, you know that the general idea is to sew units a little big and then trim them down to perfection. While the Wing Clipper Tool also adheres to this approach, these Geese units are not that oversized. Some of our Geese ended up a little skimpy. As such, we suggest experimenting with some scrap fabric before you get in production mode. Use pins and double check the alignment of the small and large squares so that your cut line goes right through the diagonal of all three.

We followed Stitched in Color’s pattern instructions, and first sewed identical pairs of geese together (points facing the same direction) to make square blocks and less units to keep track of.

From there, it’s whatever looks good to you! We made runs of identical geese, which helps the quilt look more organized and less random. But maybe you prefer a more random look! Orienting the runs of geese so that they point up, down, left or right gives the quilt a sense of motion. It’s fun! Use a design wall or some empty floor space to lay out you’re units, and don’t be afraid to move things around until you’re happy.

The Geesey Quilt PDF pattern is available for purchase on the Stitched in Color website – you can find it here. And remember, if you’re a subscriber to our Spring 2023 collection, you can apply your special coupon code to get 10% off this pattern! You can also purchase our Spring Geesey Quilt Kit here. This kit features the 12 fabrics included in the Spring 2023 WQTC collection, and – as usual – subscribers can apply their code to get 10% off the kit too!

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