Flying Dutchman Quilt Block

Welcome to the 20th week post of the 52 weeks of hot pads / quilted pot holders. This week we’re making Flying Dutchman Quilt Block Hotpad

Here are the list of past week’s posts in this 52 Weeks of Hot Pads Challenge:

I thought it would be a great challenge for me to do a pot holder a.k.a hot pads every single week of 2019. (but I am currently falling way behind, maybe I’ll catch up but if not, it will just be a 52 weeks but not in a single year)

I am planning on having it displayed in my kitchen. They make great decor don’t they?

While I am at it, I am going to be sharing with you a simple tutorial on the process.

You can join in the challenge and make the same hot pads I make every week with the same design or any of your own choice.

There are affiliate links within this post. Please find the full disclosure here.

I have been thinking about flying geese block lately.

I love this versatile block. A lot of quilt blocks uses a flying geese block unit and there are various methods you can use to create flying geese block unit.

For this week’s hotpad, I have decided to choose a quilt block made of all flying geese block units. The flying geese are arranged in such a way that they are in pairs, facing different directions.

This is another classic popular quilt block. And pretty easy.

Things I love & make this 52 weeks of Hot Pad project a lot more fun:

This ruler set – perfect size all of them
This rotating mat – can’t imagine one without this these days.
This Spray Baste – have always been a fan of spray baste, for small quilted projects – a must! although in most of these hot pads I also use pins as they are more than just a single batting in between.
This Batting – the perfect one for hot pads. Or in this hot pad, I am using two layers of cotton batting + aluminium insulation sheet in the middle (I love the final crisp sturdy and heat reflect of the final hot pad with this combo)
My Fabric Scraps!! – read more how I sort my scraps HERE>
Portable quilting design board . I love using the portable design board as it makes it easy to transfer from the cutting table to the side of the sewing machine. You can purchase a portable quilting design board here.

How to Make Flying Geese Block unit:

I am using some of the pieces from precut fabrics. For the body of the geese, I chose to use a jelly roll which are 2.5″ strips.

From the 4 different strips, I cut 2 pieces of 4.5″ x 2.5″ rectangles.

As for the corners, I am using a 2.5″ squares from a precut Kona known as the mini charm squares. I bought my mini charm squares here.

Don’t get confused, my fabrics have flying geese patterns on them!

Making Flying Geese Block one-at-a-time

Placing the 2.5″ squares matching the corners on one side, sew diagonally from one corner towards the centre of the rectangles.

You can press the squares diagonally to help guide you stitch on the folded line.

Trim off the excess and flip the background fabric into place. Press flat.

Keep the excess fabrics and you can piece them together into a half square triangles which you use for other project. Check out the post on how to make two quilts at a time.

Now, repeat the process on the other side.

Piecing together the flying geese into Flying Dutchman Block

You can arrange the blocks together on a portable design board to see how the final look would be.

First piece the flying geese in pairs. Then piece the pairs together as a 4 patch.

The center can be a little heavy on seams. I twisted mine a little to make sure they lay flat and have roughly equal layers of fabrics.

Portable quilting design board

I love using the portable design board as it makes it easy to transfer from the cutting table to the side of the sewing machine. You can purchase a portable quilting design board here.

Here is a simple diagram on how to piece Flying Dutchman Quilt Block

Making Quilt Sandwich

Once the block is done, it is time to layer a quilt sandwich. This time I use double batting and a layer of the aluminium insulation sheet.

I am loving this combo of layers as they give sturdy structure to the hot pad!

With so many layers, pins are always better to baste them all together. makes it easier to baste quilt sandwiches.

Time to practice your quilting skill..

This time I decide to go with a simple straight line quilting using a walking foot.

I did a simple straight line quilting about a quarter inch away from the ditch. I think it is perfect with the modern look of the fabrics. It also enhances the flying geese blocks.

Walking foot Review

I always, always recommend people to practice their skills on little projects like these. They don’t go to waste and you’ll get satisfaction to continue on practicing.

Now that it is all quilted, time to trim it so it is all squared up again.

Make a hook and a binding tape (you can follow the tip in this post for piecing the binding tape perfectly when they meet up in the round ).