First, mark a diagonal line on the wrong side of the 3 ¼” fabric squares.

Take one of the 5 ¾” dark fabric squares and place (2) 3 ¼” medium fabric squares on the dark fabric square right sides together. The colored squares will overlap a bit in the center.

Using a scant quarter inch seam, sew a ¼” seam on either side of the diagonal line and then cut on the drawn diagonal line.

Press the seam toward the colored triangles to create two “heart shaped” units.

Place the two remaining 3 ¼” squares on each heart shaped unit. Sew a ¼” seam on either side of the diagonal line.

Trim on the diagonal line. Press the seam toward the colored fabric.  You should have four flying geese.

Repeat with the other dark and medium squares to make a second set of flying geese.

Trim them all up to 2 ¾” x 5”.

Now, if you were being careful and used a scant quarter inch seam, then these geese should turn out nicely.  But I did factor in a bit of extra fabric in the 3 1/4” fabric squares to make sure we would get really good points on our flying geese.

This is how to trim up your flying geese so you don’t lose your points.

Using a clear ruler, find the point of the top triangle, and then measure ¼” above the point.  Line up the ruler above the point, keeping it as square as possible.

There shouldn’t be much trimming on the other sides of the flying geese unit.  You may just need to snip off the dog ears.

I find this step easier if I use a 5” wide ruler so I can just line up the edges and make sure I have my ¼” extra above the point when I trim. 

Next, sew the flying geese together in columns of four.  Press the seams upward to reduce bulk.

For the layout of the block, its super simple! Take the (3) 1 ½” x 9 ½” background strips and use them as sashing on the flying geese.  I prefer to orient the flying geese units in opposite directions to add more movement around the block. Press the seams toward the background fabric.  It seems a bit backward to press toward lighter fabric, but it will help the block lay flatter.

Lastly, take the 2” x 12 ½” background strips and sew it on the top and bottom of the flying geese.  And you’re done!