Medallion Quilt-Along – Border 8a – Zig Zag Flying Geese

With the addition of this border, the quilt started to feel huge… to me.  It’s become a “quilt”.  I know that’s crazy. It’s been a quilt all along. But this border makes it a good lap-sized quilt. One could stop here and feel satisfied.  And I have to admit, that without you as my support group, I just might have quit.  But I will persevere and march on to the end.  It will definitely be satisfying to reach the very, very last border. Won’t it?

The Stats:

• Flying Geese blocks – finished size 2″ x 4″.  Sew 2 together to make a zig zig (4″ x 4″).
• Border – finished width 4″.
• Quilt width after this border – 56 1/2″ square.
• Yardage requirements – 5/8 yard fabric of a each a light and a dark.  I did just barely squeak out the pieces from a half-yard.  But, if the width your fabric is different from mine, it might not work.  Also, if you choose a different method to make these flying geese blocks, it could potentially take twice as much as I have listed here.

We used a different method of constructing the previous Zig Zag border than what I will be describing below.  You can refer to Border 3b if you choose to use that method instead.

I used the Companion Angle and Easy Angle to cut the triangles for these flying geese blocks.  I have been using these rulers a lot lately.  There’s none of that adding 7/8″ to cut half-square triangles or adding 1 1/4″ to cut quarter-square triangles.  And especially in these flying geese blocks, it takes a lot less fabric.

1.  Cut (8)  2 1/2″ width of fabric strips from each of the light and dark fabrics.  From (4) of the strips, cut 48 geese triangles.

2.  From the remaining (4) strips, cut 96 half square triangles.  There is also a brief tutorial over here on using these rulers and alternate methods for making flying geese blocks.

3. You should have 48 light triangles and 48 dark triangles for the geese part of the block,  and 96 light half-square triangles and 96 dark half-square triangles for the sky part of the block.

If you want to proceed using the Border 3b method of construction, cut (96) – 2 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ rectangles from each of the light and dark fabrics and (192) – 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ squares from each of the light and dark fabrics.

4.  For each side, arrange 12 dark blocks in a row and 12 light blocks in a row to create the zig zag effect.

To sew the border together, start by sewing 1 dark block and 1 light block together to create a 4 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ square. Then, alternate pressing one block’s seam up and one block’s seam down. Sew together all 12 blocks in a border. Pressing the seams in opposite directions like this helps to make the matching of the seams a little bit easier. I always put a pin right on the seam to keep it in place until I have sewn the matching seams. Press these seams open as well.

5.  For the corner blocks cut (4) 4 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ squares from a lighter fabric and (16) 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ squares from a darker fabric.

These blocks are the fabulous, reliable Square-in-a-Square, again. Refer back to Border 1 for a refresher on how to piece these blocks.

6.  Sew the side borders to the quilt first. Then sew the Square in a Square blocks to each end of the top and bottom borders. Sew the top and bottom borders to your quilt. You should now have a quilt that measures 56 1/2″ x 56 1/2″.

It’s even kitty approved.

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