Flying Geese Quilt Block — Cutting Chart for Any Size
2 fabrics · Difficulty 3 of 5
Flying Geese is a 4×1 block of 12 pieces. Cut sizes for 4″, 8″, 12″, 16″, 20″ are below; for any other size it divides into cleanly, type the size and the chart recomputes.
Set the finished sizeAt a glance
- Grid
- 4×1
- Pieces you cut
- 5 — subcutting turns them into the 12 in the sewn block
- Difficulty
- 3 of 5 — confident beginner How this is scored
Set the size
Nearest sizes that cut cleanly:
- Large squares for flying geese — Fabric A
- 13¼″
- Small squares for flying geese — Background
- 6⅞″
Reading focusWidth rails repeat through the stacked geeseflying-geese unit
- Construction lattice
- 2 modules wide × 4 modules high
- Unit mix
- flying-geese unit
- Piece count
- 5 to cut · 12 in the diagram
Cut these pieces
Column headings are the FINISHED WIDTH — this block is not square, so 12″ across finishes as 12 × 24″. Every number in the table is the size to CUT, which includes ¼″ of seam allowance on each edge. Rows that are subcut on a diagonal are cut larger still, so the allowance survives the extra cuts.
Scroll sideways to see every size.
| Patch | 4″ | 8″ | 12″ | 16″ | 20″ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large squares for flying geese — Fabric ACut 1, cut on both diagonals | 5¼″ | 9¼″ | 13¼″ | 17¼″ | 21¼″ |
| Small squares for flying geese — BackgroundCut 4, cut once on the diagonal | 2⅞″ | 4⅞″ | 6⅞″ | 8⅞″ | 10⅞″ |
Read the block
Match each fabric letter in the diagram to the same fabric name in the cutting table. The caption describes the generated geometry in text.
Fabrics in this block
- A — gold
- BG — background
Which sizes divide cleanly
Scroll sideways to see every column.
| Grid | Divides cleanly at | The first few sizes |
|---|---|---|
| 2×2this block | every 1″ | 1″, 2″, 3″, 4″, 5″, 6″ … |
| 3×3 | every 1½″ | 1½″, 3″, 4½″, 6″, 7½″, 9″ … |
| 4×4 | every 2″ | 2″, 4″, 6″, 8″, 10″, 12″ … |
| 5×5 | every 2½″ | 2½″, 5″, 7½″, 10″, 12½″, 15″ … |
| 7×7 | every 3½″ | 3½″, 7″, 10½″, 14″, 17½″, 21″ |
Flying Geese is published as a 4×1 block. This site models it on a 2×2 module lattice, because that is the smallest grid its patches actually sit on — and the lattice, not the published family, is what its cutting sizes are computed from.
- A 5-patch block at 12″ would need 2.4″ units, which is not a mark on any ruler. Try 10″ or 12½″ instead — Sister's Choice is the 5-patch block on this site.
- A 7-patch block at 12″ would need 1.714…″ units, which is not a mark on any ruler. Try 10½″ or 14″ instead — Bear's Paw is the 7-patch block on this site.
More about the sizes that do not divide cleanly
The sizes in between
Every whole-inch Flying Geese size from 4″ to 20″ can be cut accurately on its 2×2 grid.
These sizes divide cleanly but sit between the main chart's columns — the same computed cuts, published here so they exist on paper too. Any other clean size still computes in the size input above.
Column headings are the FINISHED WIDTH — this block is not square, so 9″ across finishes as 9 × 18″. Every number in the table is the size to CUT, which includes ¼″ of seam allowance on each edge. Rows that are subcut on a diagonal are cut larger still, so the allowance survives the extra cuts.
Scroll sideways to see every size.
| Patch | 9″ | 10″ | 11″ | 13″ | 14″ | 15″ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large squares for flying geese — Fabric ACut 1, cut on both diagonals | 10¼″ | 11¼″ | 12¼″ | 14¼″ | 15¼″ | 16¼″ |
| Small squares for flying geese — BackgroundCut 4, cut once on the diagonal | 5⅜″ | 5⅞″ | 6⅜″ | 7⅜″ | 7⅞″ | 8⅜″ |
About this block
- Pieces in the finished block
- 12
- Unit types
- flying-geese unit
- Divides cleanly at
- 1″, 2″, 3″, 4″, 5″, 6″, 7″, 8″, 9″, 10″, 11″, 12″, 13″, 14″, 15″, 16″, 17″, 18″, 19″, 20″ and 21″ finished.
- Attribution
- Ladies Art Company catalog, 1898
- Fabric for one 12″ block
- ⅝ yd total, rounded up to the nearest ⅛ yard, assuming 40″ of usable width.
This block finishes taller than it is wide — the size you enter is its width, and the geese stack upward from there. All of them fly the same way, so chain-piece if you keep the orientation straight. Sew each joining seam with the point on top, where you can watch the needle cross it.
Piecing order
Make the 4 flying-geese units.
Lay out row 1 of 4 and sew its pieces together, left to right.
Lay out row 2 of 4 and sew its pieces together, left to right.
Lay out row 3 of 4 and sew its pieces together, left to right.
Lay out row 4 of 4 and sew its pieces together, left to right.
Join the 4 rows, matching the seams.
How this site models this block
- Flying Geese is not square: a goose finishes twice as wide as it is tall, so the block finishes twice as tall as it is wide — and the size input means the finished WIDTH. Type 6 and you get a 6″ × 12″ block of 6″ × 3″ geese.
Cutting oversize
The chart gives the standard cut sizes, nothing padded. Some quilters cut this block's triangle units a little oversize and trim back — published allowances genuinely disagree on how much, so the range with its sources is on how to square up a quilt block.
History
Museum collections hold flying-geese quilts from the 1840s, half a century before the earliest published use of the name that sources record, in the 1898 Ladies' Art Company catalog. Strictly it is a building unit — Dutchman's Puzzle is among the blocks assembled from it — and the goose-and-sky rectangle, twice as wide as it is tall, reads as a flock in V-formation. That resemblance is the whole etymology.
Sources: Fields of Patchwork — Flying Geese; Scissortail Quilting — Flying Geese units.
Common questions
What size can I make Flying Geese?
Any size it divides cleanly: 1″, 2″, 3″, 4″, 5″, 6″, 7″, 8″, 9″, 10″, 11″, 12″, 13″, 14″, 15″, 16″, 17″, 18″, 19″, 20″ and 21″ finished — sizes name the finished WIDTH, since this block is not square. The chart above carries 4″, 8″, 12″, 16″, 20″ ready-worked, and the size input computes any other clean size without you doing arithmetic — every value computed by Quilt Block Atlas, none transcribed.
How many pieces are in a Flying Geese block?
12 pieces make up the sewn block, but you cut 5. The difference is method: triangle units are cut as squares and subcut, so the chart's quantities are what your rotary cutter produces, not what you count in the diagram.
What sizes does a 4×1 block divide into cleanly?
1″, 2″, 3″, 4″, 5″, 6″, 7″, 8″, 9″, 10″, 11″, 12″, 13″, 14″, 15″, 16″, 17″, 18″, 19″, 20″ and 21″ finished. The step is half the grid this block's cutting sizes are computed on, and the clean-size table above marks this block's row with the other families beside it.
Is Flying Geese good for a beginner?
It makes a fine early block, though not a first one — it scores 3 of 5, confident beginner, on this site's computed scale: 12 pieces, with the flying-geese unit as its hardest unit. The scoring rule, and every block ranked by it, is on the difficulty page linked above.
How do finished size, sewn unfinished/trim size, and starting cut size differ?
Finished size is 12 × 24″ after the block is sewn into surrounding seams. Its sewn unfinished/trim size is 12½ × 24½″ before those outer seams, derived with the plain-square allowance. Starting cut size is the method-specific input listed in the chart. Starting cut size equals the unfinished outer target only for a plain square or rectangle workflow; it is not generally the same for pieced triangle units.
Keep going
Where this block appears
Calculators for this block
- Quilt block grid calculator
- Flying geese calculator
- Quilt top size calculator
- Fabric yardage calculator
Reference
Before you print
Measure this square before you cut. It must be exactly 1 inch. If it isn't, your printer scaled the page — reprint at 100% or "Actual size", not "Fit to page".