I've just finished the second round of the
Traveling Quilts round robin. Monica sent me a rainbow star block along with an embroidered travel-themed quote. My task was to add something to the block, then pass it on to the next person. I puzzled for a while about what to do. Monica's block is a bit out of my comfort zone. There's a rainbow, and I get the hives every time I try to work with white.
I decided it was time to do one of those things I always wanted to do, but could never find an excuse to do: a paper-pieced circle of geese. I've had geese on my list ever since
Lily's Quilts Lynne posted her
double circle of geese. For my block I rejigged a circle of geese block, pulling the geese to the center and allowing more white space on the outside, so the geese could meet and turn the corner.
A hundred people must have done this before, but I couldn't find a pattern so I made my own. The 12"x18" (finished) block is constructed from six 6-inch foundation paper pieced blocks (three from one template, and three from it's mirror image). I pulled 18 colored prints from my scraps and stash, and set to work.
Then I sewed it to Monica's block. I've intentionally left the bottom and top of the trail of geese open, and I can't wait to see how the others in the group decide to continue or resolve the path.
As for technique, This is the first time I've used freezer paper in my short foundation-piecing career, and I am a complete convert (here's a quick
primer). There is no paper ripping, the templates are reusable, and it's much easier to align the fabric. I was well into it before I realized the alignment thing, but you're going to have to trust me!
If you would like to give it a try, please
download the two templates and share photos of what you create!
Love your interpretation of the flying geese - double circle. And thanks for sharing your templates.
ReplyDeleteI've been a little scared of trying the freezer paper version but after I spend the better part of last night tearing paper off 168 spiderweb triangles and seeing your success, I'm more inclined.
Really beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a fabulous interpretation of a circle of geese! I've done my first paper pieced block this week - your geese will be next on the list :o)
ReplyDeleteI just went through the freezer paper tutorial - holy cow! What an interesting method. Like CitricSugar, I am SO over tearing paper off paper pieced blocks - I made a paper-pieced black and white herringbone quilt and it was a test of my patience (and vocabulary) to pull all that paper off and clean up the niblets that ended up everywhere. I really appreciate having an option - and I promise I'll give it a try! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteOK so maybe I'm going to have to bite the bullet and try that freezer paper technique
ReplyDeleteDan you always rock my socks off!
ReplyDeleteI love what you added, and I'm SO glad you guys lifted the rule about sharing progress. I'm so glad we can follow along!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I will definitely give your templates a try!
I love that those geese are going off at a tangent!
ReplyDeleteLove your wandering geese! And I'm going to try that freezer paper method the instant I find the patience to trace a foundation piece (a task I find beyond tedious; most days I'd rather remove stitched-on paper).
ReplyDeleteSqueee! Ok, I'm definitely going to try one of these as the tail of a kite. Nice Bahama Blue background, here we come...
ReplyDeleteI love that path of geese and the fabric you chose!
ReplyDeleteI love how you deconstructed that block and made it travel up and down.
ReplyDeleteI love your geese and I am going to try this method, thanks. I hate all those bits of paper at the end and I see this will avoid that entirely.
ReplyDeleteHi! I've been following you on Instagram (I'm klassykara) and I'm super excited to read more on your blog. :)
ReplyDeleteHived, for my pleasure! Oh man, did I really just type that? Oh hell yes! Your hives are my joy! I love what you did SO MUCH, and now I want to try that too!
ReplyDeletePS, thank you for the templates!
ReplyDeleteYay! Thanks for templates! Love this better traveling!
ReplyDeleteThis is lovely! Great colours and flow :)
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing your work. I came over from Flickr because I couldn't get this block out of my head. So glad you chose to share it with us!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing! Thank you very much for sharing with us! Have a nice day! A hug!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved making a table runner from this pattern! You can see how it turned out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltergirl80/8602717270/in/photostream/
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the template patterns ! I just love flying geese. You did a great job on them.
ReplyDeleteOh, I adore geese so much! Your color incredible...
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting a great step by step demo for this foundation method. I've been using a similar method with freezer paper for the past 10 years. Instead of creasing the paper I sew along the lines without any thread in bobbin or upper area of machine. This way I can "sew" up to 4 blocks at a time and trace pattern once. I also use either an Add-a-quarter or 8th ruler for more accuracy. My teacher called this method Paperless Paper Piecing. Thanks again for sharing your demo.
ReplyDeleteThis is great, I love your design. Thanks for sharing the templates as well!
ReplyDeleteGreat design ... The flow is fantastic. Thank so much for sharing your templates with us.
ReplyDeleteI'm 4 blocks into this pattern right now and going really well! I've never paper pieced before, but so far so good! I'm using Monet's "Water Lillies" as inspiration for the colors of the geese (set in rainbow order) and an ivory/cream for the background. Thanks for sharing the pattern!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this! I want to give it a try. I'm new to paper piecing but I love how it looks.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing before I even had a thought about quilting or knew that there were fabric flying geese!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love flying geese and I think your curves will be used many.many times by this new (ish) quilter