Block 3--Peace and Plenty

This is block 3 of the sampler quilt. In the pattern, it is called Peace and Plenty. The pattern shows one way to cut the pieces; in this tutorial I have chosen a different method to make the same block using "flying geese" (shown in yellow and white below) and half square triangles (shown in 2 shades of blue). Fying Geese are easy to make, and the rest of this tutorial is dedicated to how to make them for any given size.

For ease of reference, I will refer to the parts of the flying geese as the goose body (the triangle piece in the center) and the triangles on the sides are called the sky. Some people call the side pieces the wings, but I will call them sky pieces in this discussion.

You can make flying geese in any given size without the need for any special rulers. Look at the pattern that you are trying to make, and determine what size FINISHED geese you need. Remember that "finished" refers to a piece AFTER it is sewn into your quilt. For example, a piece that is 3-1/2 x 6-1/2 when you make it, will have a finished size of 3 x 6. The Peace and Plenty block is 12-1/2 inches when you make it, and to get that size, you will need to make 4 flying geese, each 3-1/2 by 6-1/x. That means that the geese will be a FINISHED size of 3 x 6 inches once the block is sewn into the quilt.

Choose the fabric for the goose body and the fabric for the sky. I chose yellow for the body and white for the sky. To make 4 flying geese, you will need to cut 1 square of the goose body color that is the WIDTH of the FINISHED goose plus 1-1/4 inches. Since the FINISHED geese in this pattern is 6 inches in width, that means you will need a square that is 6 + 1-1/4 = 7-1/4 inches square. For the sky, you will need 4 squares that are the HEIGHT of the FINISHED piece + 7/8" Since the HEIGHT of the FINISHED geese in this pattern is 3 inches, that means you will need to cut 4 squares that are 3 + 7/8 =3-7/8 inches.

Now, take 2 of the sky squares and draw a diagonal line through them. Line up one square on one corner of the goose square, and line up a second square on the opposite corner. See the picture below. You should have the sky squares lined up exactly on the diagonal, so that the line you've drawn on one square will line up exactly with the line you've drawn on the other square.

Sew a seam 1/4 inch on one side of the line that you've drawn. Go all the way from one corner of the big square to the other corner, sewing through body of the sky squares. Now sew a seam 1/4 inch on the other side of the diagonal line. It's a lot like making half square triangles. Cut this piece in two along the drawn line. See the picture below.

Separate these pieces and press out the sky pieces so that it looks like the picture below. Place a 3rd square on the corner of the goose body fabric, and draw a diagonal line through it, just like you did before. You will be sewing a seam 1/4 inch on either sie of the drawn line.

Cut on the drawn line, and repeat with the other units. You will have 4 flying geese units that look loke this:

Trim to size to get rid of the "ears" and you will have 4 flying geese units.

For this block you will need to make 4 half square triangles, using the method of your choice. Now you can arrange your block as follows:

Once you've sewn the pieces together, you will get a block that looks like this: