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Sewing and quilting · calculator

Flying-geese calculator

Find cut sizes for one-at-a-time or four-at-a-time flying geese, with batch counts, sewing diagrams and a printable cutting plan.

Everyday Measure

Practical tools for creative projects.

Flying-geese cutting plan

Flying-geese size and quantity

Plan your geese

Cut for 16 flying geese

4½ × 2½ in

Trim each unit to this unfinished size. Makes the 16 units you need.

Finished, width × height
4 × 2 in
Seam allowance
¼ in

Your cutting list

  • Goose fabric: 4 squares, 5½ × 5½ in each.
  • Sky fabric: 16 squares, 3⅛ × 3⅛ in each.
Keep ¼ in above the point

Blue is the goose; green is the sky. The dashed inset shows the finished outline. These drawings are sewing guides, not full-size templates. Each large square and four small squares make four geese; directional prints turn in different directions.

Two pages: cutting list, then sewing guide. Print or choose Save as PDF in your browser’s print dialog.

Everyday Measure

Practical tools for creative projects.

Flying geese: four at a time

Sew four at a time

Right sides together means the printed faces touch. Gray shows the sky’s wrong side. Keep a ¼ in seam allowance.

  1. Mark, place and sew

    Sky wrong sides face up

    For each batch, mark one diagonal on all four sky squares. Put two on opposite corners of one large goose square, right sides together, with their marked lines forming one diagonal. Their inner corners overlap. Sew ¼ in on each side of the line.

  2. Cut and press the halves

    Turn the goose corners down

    Cut on the marked center diagonal, between the seams. Press both sky triangles away from the goose fabric. You now have two heart-shaped halves.

  3. Repeat on both halves

    Repeat on both turned halves

    Turn each half so its unpieced goose corner points down, as shown. Align a remaining sky square with the goose fabric’s unpieced corner, right sides together. Its marked diagonal runs between the already-pressed sky pieces. Sew ¼ in on both sides, cut on the line and press toward the sky. This makes four geese.

  4. Trim without losing the point

    Keep ¼ in above the point

    Trim each to 4½ × 2½ in, keeping ¼ in beyond the goose point. Use your ruler’s 45° lines along the diagonal seams and check both lower seam intersections at the corners. These starts are oversized; trim each unit before joining. Repeat for 4 batches.

Show the working

In inches: finished width = 2 × height. Unfinished size adds ½ inch to both dimensions. Large square = finished width + 1½; sky square = finished height + 1⅛. Batches = quantity ÷ 4, rounded up. Each batch uses one large square and four small squares. Metric values convert these sizes using 1 inch = 2.54 cm.

A goose and its sky

A flying-goose unit is a rectangle with a large triangle in the middle and a smaller triangle at each side. Here, blue is the goose and green is the sky. This tool makes classic units that finish twice as wide as they are tall. Enter the finished height; the width follows automatically.

A unit that finishes 4 inches wide × 2 inches high is 4½ × 2½ inches unfinished before it is sewn into a quilt. The extra quarter inch at every edge belongs to the joining seams. Keep the quarter-inch space above the goose point so the next seam does not cut it off. See finished and unfinished sizes.

Pick a construction method

One at a time, stitch and flip: cut one rectangle at the unfinished size and two squares whose sides equal its unfinished height. For a 4 × 2 inch finished goose, that is one 4½ × 2½ inch rectangle and two 2½ inch squares. Each set makes one unit. Complete, check, trim and press the first corner before adding the second.

Four at a time, oversized: one large goose square and four smaller sky squares make four matching units. This version deliberately leaves room to trim. In inches, large square = finished width + 1½; small square = finished height + 1⅛. A 4 × 2 inch finished goose starts with one 5½ inch square and four 3⅛ inch squares, then trims to 4½ × 2½ inches. These starts differ from the conventional minimum-cut method; follow the selected method’s sizes and instructions together.

Count whole batches

If you need 17 geese, four at a time requires five large squares and twenty small squares. It makes 20 geese, including three spare. One at a time uses 17 rectangles and 34 squares. Quantities are for one goose/sky fabric combination; calculate each other pair separately.

Directional prints rotate in the four-at-a-time method. Use the one-at-a-time method when controlling print direction is important. The diagrams show sewing placement and raw allowances, not full-size cutting templates. The fabric yardage calculator can estimate fabric for the cut pieces of each fabric separately.

Keep your cutting plan

Print the two-page plan: cutting list and sizes first, followed by the complete sewing guide and diagrams, or choose Save as PDF in your browser’s print dialog. A device draft keeps your inputs when browser storage is available. A free account adds saving and syncing through My projects. Tools and printing stay open to everyone.

Where this comes from

Related tools

Everyday Measure · everydaymeasure.com/flying-geese-calculator/