Hello Sewing Friends,
Who is a fan of flying geese?! After learning how to make Half Square Triangles as a beginner quilter, Flying Geese was the second quilting unit I learned and it’s safe to say it’s my all time favorite unit. Like all basic quilting units, they are used as building blocks to create so many different types of patchwork designs. By changing up the prints and colors and turning them different ways you can create a multitude of quilting masterpieces.
In honor of my favorite quilting unit I wanted to make a project using them in a different way. Which is how I came up with the Skyward Path Pillow! All you need are the magical prints from Starling Fabrics and some matching Pure Solids to get started!
Watch the video below to learn how to make all the basic flying geese and horizontal and vertical stripe flying geese. After that, putting together the Skyward Path Pillow will be a breeze.
Skyward Pillow Instructions :
Cutting Directions:
Fabric A-STR88900-
3 (Three) 3 1/2” x 6 1/2” rectangles (Middle Flying geese)
Fabric B-STR88901-
1 (One) 1 1/2” x WOF strip (Side flying geese)
12 (Twelve) 2 1/4” x 3 1/2” strips (Middle flying geese)
4 (Four) 1 1/2”x 3 1/2” (Side rows)
Fabric C-STR88904-
2 (Two) 6 1/2“ squares (Inside row)
4 (Four) 2 1/2” x 4 1/2“ rectangle (Side flying geese)
Fabric D-STR88908-
6 (Six) 2 1/2” x 4 1/2“ rectangle
Fabric E- STR88911-
2 (Two) 3 1/2” x 6 1/2“ rectangle (Middle Row)
Fabric F-PE465-
4 (Four) 2 1/2” x 4 1/2“ rectangle (Regular Flying Geese)
Fabric G-PE559-
1 (One) 1 1/2” x WOF strip (Side flying geese)
4 (Four) 2 1/2” x 4 1/2” rectangle (Regular flying geese)
4 (Four) 1 1/2” x 3 1/2“ strips (Side rows)
Fabric H-PE498-
2 (Two) 4 1/2” x 6 1/2” rectangle (Inside rows)
24 (Twenty Four 2 1/2” squares (Regular flying geese)
2 (Two) 18 1/2″ x 22″ rectangle (Envelope Backing)
Fabric I- PE405-
12 (Ten) 1 3/4” x 3 1/2” rectangle (Middle flying geese)
To Create Vertical Strip Flying Geese:
Sew a 2 ¼” x 3 ½” strip from Fabric B to a 1 ¾” x 3 ½” strip from Fabric I. Make 12 of these units.
Mark a diagonal line with a straight edge and fabric marking pen from corner to corner making sure that Fabric I is on top and Fabric B on the bottom. Mark half your squares going one way and the other half the other way.
Place a square on one side of a 3 ½” x 6 ½” rectangle from fabric A and sew on the line you drew. Trim seam allowance to ¼. Repeat the same process with another unit. To complete your first vertical strip flying geese. Repeat this process with your remaining units to create the following number of units.
To Create Horizontal Strip Flying Geese:
To make your horizontal stripe flying geese. Sew together your 1 ½” x WOF strips from Fabric B and G. Sub cut 12, 2 1/2” squares. Repeat the same corner square method to create the following horizontal flying geese units.
To Create Regular Flying Geese:
Take your 24, 2 ½” squares from Fabric H and mark a diagonal line corner to corner and use your 2 ½” x 4 ½” rectangles from Fabric D, F, and G to make your remaining flying geese.
To Create Additional Units:
Sew a 1 1/2” x 3 ½” strip from Fabric B and G and make four of these units and set these aside.
Take two 6 ½” squares from Fabric C and place them right sides together and sew all the way around your square. Cut in half on the diagonal and flip your triangles right side out and Give it a good press.
Now you have all the units to create our pillow.
Assembling Rows:
Sew your rows as follows.
Attaching the Triangles:
The last step before sewing your rows together is to attach the two fabric C triangles to your inside rows. By edge stitching it down.
Sew your rows together following the block design and your pillow top is complete. Have fun choosing your quilting motif to bring your flying geese to life!
I love a nice pillow project because it allows me to practice my quilting motifs and possibly get out of my comfort zone and try a design I am not used to doing. I broke out the free motion for this one and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Quilting only the blue background fabric and keeping the triangles on the flying geese helps the prints pop off the pillow. I tried my hand at making a meandering quilting motif creating the perfect amount of texture.
What quilting motifs would you like to try? It took me a while of practicing on a random quilt block I had laying around to finally be confident enough to try it on my final project. My go to quilting motif for everything is just ¼” grid quilting, which honestly looks good on almost every project but the Skyward Path Pillow was calling for something extra special.
Hope this pillow project got you excited to sew with the prints in Starling Fabrics and to make some flying geese!
Happy Sewing,
Melissa