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Happy July, fellow Illusionists! I can’t believe June is already over. This week, we’re making the flying geese (FG) units for the Illusion quilt. This is quite a straightforward process.
You take one rectangle piece of fabric which will go in the center of the FG and two squares that will go on each side. (Note that there are a few FG units in Illusion that use different fabrics on each side. Make sure to follow the pattern closely. The order of the fabrics will be important for those FG units.)
You make a diagonal line on each of the square fabrics. You take one, align it with the corresponding side of the rectangle fabric, and stitch along the line. Next, you trim a quarter inch away from the stitch line and press the seam either open or towards the side fabric. You repeat the same process on the other side.
If your cutting and piecing are precise, you don’t need to trim further in this method. Nonetheless, I recommend that you double-check that your FG units finish at the correct size before we start piecing the quilt next week.
I have a couple of tips to help you increase your precision and make the most of your fabric.
Tip 1: When you’re stitching along the diagonal line, don’t sew right on the line. Instead sew a hair closer to the outside corner of the unit. This allows you to account for the thickness of your thread when you press the side fabric.
Tip 2: If you’re like me, you don’t like wasting fabric. One thing I don’t like about this one-FG-at-a-time method is that you trim away little triangles. However, with a bit of extra work, instead of triangles, you can trim HSTs! To do that, draw a line parallel to the diagonal line that is half an inch away and closer to the outside corner (see picture above). When you trim right in the middle of these two lines, you’ll end up with quarter inch seams on both sides. And you’ll end up with one FG, and two HSTs!
What do you do with these HSTs? One idea is to make a pillow to go with the quilt! (Let me know in the comment section down below if you have other ideas!)
For the over-achievers: If you’re done with the FG units, then you’re ready to piece the blocks. However, before you do that, I recommend that you start thinking about how you want to quilt Illusion. I think this is a good week to start thinking about your options.
Another thing you can do is organize the HST and FG units by block. Following the list of units you need for each block (see pages 4-6 of the pattern), you can start putting together what you need for each block.
So now, let the fun continue! I look forward to seeing your finished FG units! Don’t forget to share your progress here in the comments or on Instagram using #papatyadesigns and #IllusionSAL!
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment!