Flying Geese

Predating the American Civil War, the quilt pattern known as Flying Geese is often said to have been used as a signal in the code quilts of the Underground Railroad. In theory these quilts would either be used directionally when hung out (as arrows) or would be symbolic of following the migrating geese and continuing North to freedom.

In construction the block is simply three triangles. Two smaller right angle triangles perch on top of a larger right angle triangle to make a rectangular bar/block. While there are many variations, the traditional arrangement is to stack those "geese" in columns alternating with solid stripes.

In the above quilt I have reversed the standard color selections putting scrappy brown, rust and gold "geese" against a light "sky." The historical quilts I've seen have had mostly dark skys with light geese... but I could not bring myself to make a quilt that implied the migration of domesticated white geese, so I made my geese wild (dark) Canadian geese. It just seemed more logical.

This quilt block will be included in our For the Birds Quilt Sampler Series. I plan to have a tutorial up and ready on it soon.