Ultimate Beginner Quilt Block 7: Flying Geese Zig Zag

Welcome to block 7 of the Ultimate Beginner Quilt sew-along: Flying Geese Zig Zag. I’m sewing along with the Fat Quarter Shop and two of my nieces who are making their first quilts. You can find the free pattern plus lots of information and inspiration at the Fat Quarter Shop’s blog.

Here’s my Flying Geese Zig Zag block. Once again, I used a mix of Moda’s Day in Paris and Grunge fabric lines. Unfortunately, I’m having some difficulty capturing the brilliant chartreuse colors in my photos. Hopefully, I’ll have better lighting when I show off the final quilt. (The top is all done, and I’m working on a pieced backing. I love the modern vibe of the finished quilt top!)

Flying Geese Zig Zag

Mark Diagonal Lines in Batches

When I make a quilt with a lot of flying geese, half-square triangles, or folded corners, I don’t like to draw hundreds of diagonal lines. There are several ways to skip that step. For Block 6, I mentioned that I used the Simple Folded Corners Ruler. I used the same ruler to make these blocks. However, my niece doesn’t have a quarter-inch foot on her sewing machine, so she needed to mark diagonal lines. I showed her that she could either use a Frixion pen and draw lines individually or stack four squares and crease them with a Hera marker. Guess which method she chose. The speedy one, of course! Hera marker for the win.

Hera marker
Use the Hera marking tool to create sharp creases for marking stitching lines or quilting guidelines.

My niece Ms. M finished assembling blocks five and six, so we’re ready to tackle Flying Geese Zig Zag during our next sewing session. I have to brag a bit because her blocks came together perfectly. It’s really fun to see her enjoy the process.

Complete quilt blocks 5 + 6
Ms. M’s quilt blocks look great!

Flying Geese Quilts

There are so many beautiful quilts that incorporate the flying geese block. Recently I became enamored with Fall Flight by Taunja at Carried Away Quilting. Taunja shared a fabulous version of her Pumpkin Sky pattern on Instagram. Check it out: a white pumpkin on a deep blue background. It’s stunning!

Fall Flight by Carried Away Quilting
Fall Flight by Carried Away Quilting

Our Ultimate Beginner Quilts will be done before you know it. Stay tuned to learn how to make the last two blocks. Then we’ll assemble the blocks, baste the quilt sandwich, stitch the layers together, and complete the binding. Thankfully, Kimberly will help us every step of the way.

Joyfully,

Tracie

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