Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Quilt - Part 2

 

Easy Street Quilt - Part 2 Flying Geese Units

Here are some of my 128 Flying Geese Units that are required for Part 2 of Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery Quilt.  I am using GREEN where Bonnie is using PURPLE at this stage, mainly because it is the colour I have least of.  My cutting seems to be OK, as my finished units are working out the right size.

Flying Geese Units - Strips

Already I am loving the way my colour scheme is working out. Here are some of the green strips I have cut out.  I have snuck in a sparkly fabric, "Sing a Song of Christmas" by Woodrow Studio, some Primitive Gatherings for Moda, and the 2002 Classic Cottons range, of which I seemed to have plenty.

I have made Flying Geese before, by a different method, and was quietly dreading the prospect when I saw the Easy Street Part 2 instructions on Friday, as before I had found that my corners frequently went down the black hole of my sewing maching, chewing up the fabric.  However, a MAJOR penny dropped when I realised I needed to use a single hole sewing machine plate, instead of a zig-zag plate. 


Pfaff 2058 Sewing Machine Zig Zag Plate and Single Hole Plate

I had read about it, but had never acknowledged its importance.  The next challenge was, how was I going to get hold of one in order to keep up with the weekly Easy Street Quilt tasks?  I didn't know what I was looking for.  Then another MAJOR penny dropped.  When I purchased my Pfaff 2058, it came with a bonus Quilters Toolbox.  But where was it?  I checked online to see what was included in the kit, and sure enough Pfaff included a single hole plate.  But WHERE was it?  I checked all the usually places, but with no joy.  Since buying the machine, we have moved house, and most of Friday and Saturday were spent pulling everything out to find this 2" square piece of metal.  Yes, I finally found it.  It was in the side pocket of sewing machine trolley. Sew far, sew good - no fabric down the black hole.  I also changed the blade in my Rotary cutter - that improved things too!

I don't follow Bonnie's Scrap User's System (a scrap in  my book starts when it is less than 2" square), but Suzi the cat and I watched her very informative video on her Quiltville blog, and decided to construct the Flying Geese Units in the same way.  Since we are meant to be shopping our stash, I also used the rulers I already had.  I prefer to use the Creative Grids range, and have the Multi-Size 45 / 90 degree Triangle for making Half and Quarter Square Triangles from Strips.  From what I can gather, this one ruler does what the Easy Angle and Companion Angle rulers do together.  I did a few samples, checking the lines I was following, and the units came out to be the right size.

Multi-Size 45 / 90 degree Triangle for making Half and Quarter Square Triangles from Strips, Creative Grids



 

Not all of them are sewn together yet, but most of the cutting is done. I had a few obstacles along the way. Here is Suzi the cat sitting on my cutting mat, just as I am about to cut another strip. You may be able to see the blur of her tail moving - this is usually moving within inches of the Rotary Cutter!