Quilting Secrets

Giveaway is now closed.  Thanks to everyone who visited me and entered.

Hello, and welcome to my day on the Quilting Secrets blog hop.  This great hop has been organised by Mrs Pickles from Mrs Pickles Garden, who has asked 6 bloggers to share some of our secrets (no, not that sort, we're talking about Quilting secrets here) with anyone else who might be interested.  Mrs Pickles has also lined up some great giveaway prizes, but you'll have to either read to the end of my post, or skip the rest and just go straight to the end to find out what is being given away here.

My secret involves flying geese. This is  a versatile block that is often overlooked cos people are worried about all the bias edges involved in making them, but did you know there are several ways of making them that don't involve working with those pesky bias bits?  No?  Well read on.

The traditional way involves loads of measuring, cutting, sewing, pressing, trimming and repeating until you have enough.  Boring.

 Then there is the flippy method, where you sew squares onto the ends of rectangles diagonally then cut off the spare bits.  Great, quick, but wasteful, unless you are clever enough to sew twice on each square and cut in between, so you have neat little HSTs ready for another project.  I'm usually in too much of a hurry and only remember that bit after I've cut the ends off, and then I can't be bothered to match them all up again and sew them together!  So, not so boring, but a bit wasteful.

The next method is the one I usually go for.  There is no waste, and you make four at a time.  Great for an impatient person like me, as long as you remember you are making four at a time.

In other words, if your pattern calls for eight flying geese, you do not repeat this method eight times, but just twice.  Trust me, I know how annoying it can be when you make that mistake! So, great, as long as you remember my warning.

Then there is my favourite of all the geese, the 3D curved flying geese block.  This is so simple to make, and a very effective block to use as a border, or in strips, or wherever you want really.  Here is how to make them:

To make a block that is 6" x 3", 

Cut two "sky" fabric squares 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" and one "goose" rectangle  6 1/2" x 3 1/2".

Fold the goose rectangle in half, WRONG sides together so you have a rectangle measuring 3 1/4" x 3 1/2".

Make a goose sandwich by layering a sky square right side up, then your goose rectangle  then another sky square, right side down.

Make sure you match the raw edges and corners up and the goose fold is at the bottom.  Remember, the goose should be slightly higher than the sky squares at the bottom.

Pin and then sew down the right hand side of your sandwich.  To check you've got it right, the sewn seam should be at right angles to the fold in the goose fabric.

Open up you unit, make sure the seam is central, and press it open.

The edges of the goose are now bias edges, and can be curved easily.

Once you have completed your quilt, you can sew the curved edges by hand or by machine, and they can even be used as part of the quilting if you sew through all the layers.








Here are some luggage tags I made using 3D curved flying geese.

OK, now, do you remember, way back at the beginning of this post I promised you a giveaway?  Well here it is

Yes, somebody is going to win a $25 gift certificate which has been generously donated by the Fat Quarter Shop.  Now I'm sure that most of you have heard of the Fat Quarter Shop, but I thought you might like to know a little more about them.  The Fat Quarter Shop was founded in 2003 by Kimberly Jolly. An avid quilter, Kimberley began her shop as a side business whilst still working full time, cutting, packing and shipping from her home during the evenings and weeekends.. From the very beginning, she was committed to delivering top-notch service for every single order and customer. As the Fat Quarter Shop's reputation grew, Kimberly decided to make it a full-time operation. Her husband Kevin joined her not long after, and with his help, lots of hard work, and a tireless commitment, the store began to grow. Over the past few years a few more people have joined the staff!

As a team, they continue to branch out with the best fabrics, exclusive kits, quilt clubs, BOMs, and more. And they will always be driven by the passion that Kimberly founded the store upon, which is always giving you the best products and service! You will find them at http://www.fatquartershop.com

To win this gift certificate, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what your all-time favourite block is.  The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere, but is only open for 24 hours.  Please make sure that I can contact you if you are the winner, so if you are a no-reply blogger, please leave an email address in your comment.

Tomorrow is the last day of this blog hop, and our hostess for the day is none other than the organiser, 

Mrs Pickles herself.