More On Templates

I have shared with you the many tools/templates I have for cutting circles but why is it I can't commit to spending that kind of money on templates/rulers for Flying Geese Blocks?

These pictures represent the first Flying Geese I ever made. What you can't tell is that this "quilt" is only 8x9 inches. These flying geese were easy! Maybe that is why I struggle...no matter that my lack of skill on full size flying geese cost me time and fabric (which of course equals money) I know that the concept is easy.

So through the years I have tried 3 different methods. Originally we cut our triangles and then added smaller triangles onto the original triangle. All those bias edges to mess up! Then someone was bright enough to think "why don't we cut a rectangle, add small squares onto the top corners and then cut those corners off to form the triangle". This definitely was an improvement! Those smaller corners were stabilized by the little squares and didn't become bias until you cut them. Hooray!~ But still I struggled (and it was obvious from a block exchange that I did that many other people still struggled, some geese given to me being unusable).

Recently I saw this video for a new flying geese ruler. Boy I felt like I needed that ruler! It did all the math for you, you got 4 geese out of each square set, yes there is a technique but the ruler made it easy. I liked that you were dealing with squares to begin with and the squares weren't tiny! Yeaaa again! But now working part-time I TRY to not immediately go on line and order these new things. I gave some thought to the method shown on the video and thought "I'm not that math challenged, I would rather figure the math than spend the money....IF I could find the technique online. And sure enough with a little search time I found Instructions done by Patti R. Anderson that demonstrated the technique and the formula for ending up with the desired size geese you need. The ruler made it easier but only because of the math. I used this new to me technique on my recent flannel quilt and it has been the most successful. But, don't you just love "but"? I still ended up making flawed flying geese, just not as many. I try to be exact and careful but I still had defective geese. I've told myself that next time I will do samples of exaggerated mistakes so with the resulting flaws I will KNOW what caused it.....but truly, maybe I will just avoid more flying geese or continue to look for that magic ruler. You know the one that makes perfect geese? Do you think there is anyone out there that has a magic ruler that comes with a guarantee?

Best to All!
Toni

p.s. When I learned how to make this small flying geese wall hanging it took me more than 8 hours to complete. And I thought it was going to be a quick "quilt".