Simply Red for May

This month we talked about flying geese at the Simply Red Stitch Therapy meeting.

There is a great method for making the geese with no waste in the Simply Red book, but I used my latest favorite method: The Quilt in a Day flying goose ruler. Click that link to see Eleanor demo the ruler!

 The size ruler needed is found in both the Mini Set and on the Small ruler.
Even though I've covered this method before,  I will show it again in case you missed it.

Center your smallest square of fabric on the larger square and mark a center line and the stitching lines a quarter inch to either side of the center line. I use my Ultimate Marking pencil and the Quick QTR. 2 ruler from Quilter's Rule. (The flying goose ruler packaging will tell you the sizes you need to cut)
Throw in a few pins to keep everything secure.

After sewing on the stitching lines, press to set the seam and cut on the center line.

You get 2 pieces that look like this--don't worry, this is all going to work out!
Press these units open with the seam allowance toward the larger triangle. 

Layer the two units right sides together, matching the outer corners and light fabric to dark fabric. The center seams will not match up! I'm showing these slightly askew so you can see that.
Mark stitching lines across the previous seams, corner to corner. Again, throw in a few pins for security. 

After stitching,  press to set your seam, and cut on the center line.

Fold these units matching the corners and snip on the fold line up to the seam allowance. It's okay if you snip through the seam, but try not to go too deeply. This snip releases the seam so you can press the seam allowance in opposite directions. 

See how that snip allows you to press the goose seam allowance toward the background?
You now have 2 of these units pressed nice and flat.

Using the appropriate flying goose ruler, match the ruler lines to the flying goose and cut around the ruler. Using a rotating mat is helpful. 

From the two units, you will get four geese. You can see there is some waste--but look at that perfect that flying goose! They are a dream to piece into your blocks because of how accurate they are--sooo worth the small amount of wasted fabric. 

 These are the next two blocks to work on until next month:

Page 10

Page 11

Some show and tell from Monday's meeting: 

Mary's green version--just a couple more borders!

Brenda's blue blocks.

Twiyla's (?--I'm pretty sure I didn't spell that correctly--sorry!)  grey and (I think we decided to call them tomato) red blocks!

Sandi is ready to have her Simply Red quilted. She used a Jo Morton border print for the outer border.