Summer Garden: November Wild Goose Chase Block
- vafibrearts
- Nov 8, 2022
- 5 min read
Hello Friends and Welcome Back!
The past month has been so exciting for me! I’ve loved seeing everyone’s Bear Paw blocks come together and to see how each of your unique colour choices have affected the look of the finished block!
Keep up the amazing work and please continue sharing photos of your progress!
Now, with the arrival of November, we get to delve into a whole new block! For this month of the Summer Garden BoM, we will be making the Wild Goose Chase block!
This block uses a lot of flying geese units, so I’ve opted to share the four-at-a-time method for constructing them. It may look a little strange along the way, but trust that the process will yield four flying geese units. You can also choose to use some scrap fabric to test the technique before committing to your actual project fabric, making a test block is never a bad idea!
So Friends, let’s make the Wild Goose Chase block!
Pattern Notes
Just as a reminder before we jump into the block though: all seams in this pattern use a ¼” seam allowance. While the pattern is beginner friendly, it does use some fairly small pieces, so I recommend that you test your seam allowance for accuracy before starting your block.
Another tip to help with accuracy is to press all of your seams as you go. This will help to keep the block flat and make it easier to work with. I’ve been pressing my seams open while making this pattern, but you can also press to the side if you prefer!
Making the Wild Goose Chase Block
Now to continue piecing our Summer Garden quilts!
To make one Wild Goose Chase block, cut the following:
From background fabric:
1x square at 5 1⁄2"
2x squares at 3"
16x squares at 2 1⁄4", draw a diagonal line on the back side of each
From fabric A:
3x squares at 4"
From fabric B:
3x squares at 4"
To assemble the Wild Goose Chase block:
Select one 4" square of fabric A and draw a diagonal line on the back. Select one 4" square of fabric B and place it right sides together with the square of fabric A. Sew 1⁄4" to either side of the drawn line.
Cut along the drawn line to make two half square triangles.
Trim to 3 1⁄2".
Select one of the half square triangles and draw a diagonal line on the back that crosses the seam. Place this right sides together on the second half square triangle with their seams aligned and sew 1⁄4" to either side of the drawn line.
Cut along the drawn line to make two quarter square triangle units.
Trim to 3".
Set aside.
Select one 4" square of fabric A and two 2 1⁄4" background squares. Place the two background squares on opposite corners of the fabric A square with the drawn line running diagonally across the fabric A square as shown below.
Sew 1⁄4" to either side of the drawn line.
Cut along the drawn line to make two heart shaped units.
Select another 2 1⁄4" background square and place it on the fabric A corner of the heart shaped unit as shown below. Sew 1⁄4" to either side of the drawn line.
Cut along the drawn line to make two flying geese units.
Trim to 1 3⁄4" x 3".
Make 8.
Repeat the steps above using 2 1⁄4" background squares and 4" squares of fabric B.
Make 8.
Using the 16 flying geese units, two quarter square triangle units, and the remaining background squares, assemble the block in one of the ways shown below.
Trim block to 10 1⁄2" square.
For a lap quilt, make 4.
For a twin quilt, make 9.
For a queen quilt, make 14.
The instructions shared above can be downloaded as a PDF here:
Summer Garden Wild Goose Chase Block
The original version of the Wild Goose Chase block featured a green background and various purple accent colours.
As with all the blocks in the original Summer Garden quilt, the colours used were inspired by the flowers that grow in my backyard throughout the summer months. This particular block took inspiration from the climbing nightshade plant, which is a non-native, flowering and fruiting vine that is commonly found throughout Southern Ontario.
The flowers of the climbing nightshade are purple with a yellow centre, and the berries, which start green, ripen to a bright red. Though the plant is toxic, it’s very beautiful to look at and adds a lovely burst of colour along the fences it climbs.
While the flowers do have a prominent yellow centre, the impression I get from them is that the flowers are purple. When thinking back, I somehow always forget the yellow is even there! That’s why, for my Wild Goose Chase block, I decided to use various shades of purple for the accent colours!
The way the flying goose units surround the edges of the block reminded me of the way the climbing nightshade clings to the edges of my yard, growing along fencelines, but never really creeping into the yard itself. And the shape of the flying geese reminded me of a hanging flower, much like the hanging flowers of the nightshade.
And as I mentioned last month, I really love the way purple and green look together, so it’s a colour combination I already know and love!
You can use this colour scheme to make your Wild Goose Chase block or alter it to reflect some of the wildflowers or familiar garden plants from your own yard! You could also go in a completely different direction and make something totally unique! Check back to the Fabric Requirements post for more details regarding colour selection and fabric quantities.
Garden of Cards Wild Goose Chase Blocks
For the quilt along, I’ve taken inspiration from a totally different garden; the Queen of Hearts’ rose garden from Alice in Wonderland!
For the black and white playing card variation of this block, I’ve once again used a white background with black accents.
I tweaked the pattern just slightly to make black and white quarter square triangles for the corner units. If I had followed the instructions exactly, I would have ended up with solid black units in those corners.
I have only just started making the coloured Wild Goose Chase blocks, so I don’t have a finished block to show. When choosing the colours, I looked at the rows of flying geese and was reminded of a thorny rose stem. I decided once again to make my blocks using various shades of green to reflect that.
These monochrome green blocks will create places of visual rest within the quilt, making the composition of blocks feel a little more balanced. Although I know how important this is, I must say that I am really looking forward to incorporating some of the red and white rose colours into future blocks! I can’t wait for next month to arrive!
For more information about my colour selection for the Garden of Cards variation on the Summer Garden quilt pattern, check out my Colour Selection post!
Friends, I am so excited for this Block of the Month project to continue! I’ve been having tonnes of fun putting my blocks together and I hope you have as well!
Please continue to share your block progress with me! You can do this in the comments below, by tagging me on Instagram @v.a.fibre.arts, or by using #summergardenbom in your posts on other platforms!
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this pattern, please don’t hesitate to reach out! Leave me a comment below or send me an email through my contact page, I’m happy to help in any way that I can!
We have another four weeks before the release of December’s block instructions, plenty of time to make a beautiful set of Wild Goose Chase blocks! But don’t worry about falling behind, the instructions will remain here for you to come back to when the time is right!
To continue the making of your Summer Garden quilt, visit me again on 06 December!
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