How to Make the Traditional Quilt Block called Fox and Geese

This Fox and Geese block is a great block to practice making flying geese blocks. It is a good scrappy or planned block that looks wonderful in a quilt! Let's get started!

Fabric Requirements for a 16" Finished Fox and Geese Quilt Block:

• Light/Ivory: 2 - 5" squares, and 32- 2.5" squares
• Light/Print: 1 - 8.5" square
• Assorted Prints: 2 - 5" squares, and 16 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles

Sewing Directions:

Corner Unit:

Step 1:

Using the Light/Ivory 5" squares and the Assorted Prints 5" squares, sew together four half square triangles (HST). Press the seam allowance toward the Light/Ivory fabric and trim the HSTs to 4.5" square as shown in the picture below. You can find a detailed tutorial for making HSTs at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block

Flying Geese Units:

Step 2:

Using the 16 Assorted Prints 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and the 32 Light/Ivory 2.5" squares, sew together 16 flying geese patches like the ones shown in the picture below. You will find a tutorial showing my no-trim method for making flying geese blocks at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-flying-geese-block

Step 3:

Sew four of the Step 2 units together and press the seam allowances away from the center points as shown below. Repeat for a total of four Flying Geese units.

Putting It All Together:

Step 4:

Lay out the Corner units, Flying Geese units, and the Light/Print 8.5" square as shown in the picture. Notice that the points of the Flying Geese units chase each other around the center square.

I have seen other layout options for this block with the Flying Geese points going in different directions. I felt this layout looked the best when placed in a quilt.

Step 5:

Sew the units into 3 rows as shown below.

Step 6:

Press the seam allowances away from the Flying Geese units as shown in the picture below.

Step 7:

Sew the three rows together and...

Step 8:

Press the seam allowances toward the center of the block as shown below. All done!

Conclusion:

I had fun with this block! It's kind of weird that I really like making Flying Geese blocks but that's me! As a scrappy block, it's kind of busy - if the center square was the Light/Ivory fabric, it might be more restful.

Layout Options:

Here's the first option using a scrappy block and a plain 4 x 4 layout. 

Here's the same layout but with sashing and cornerstones added. I think this looks much better.

Here's a planned example using just 3 colors plus a background. The pink fabric in the example could be the background fabric too.

And one using 4 colors plus a light background.

I had to an in an on point option too!

I hope you've enjoyed this Fox and Geese quilt block tutorial. If you liked this post and want to see more quilting tutorials like this, simply click here to sign up for my newsletter and also receive a free PDF quilt pattern called "Chained Weathervane".