Goose Tracks Quilt Tutorial

with
Jenny Doan

Goose Tracks Quilt Tutorial

Quilt Size: 73" x 73"
Jenny demonstrates how to make a classic Goose Tracks quilt using 5 inch squares of precut fabric (charm packs). For this project, she chose Painterly Petals Digitally Printed Charm Pack by Studio RK for Robert Kaufman. This quilt is made up of quick and easy 4-patches and wonky goose feet. Jenny finished this quilt with a scalloped edged using the Scallops, Vines & Waves Template for Quilt In a Day and a bias binding that was cut using The Bias Ruler for TQM Products.
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video transcript

Hi everybody, it’s Jenny from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. And I have a fun project for you today. Take a look at this quilt. Isn’t this great? First of all this fabric is so vibrant and so beautiful. Really pretty. This is an old quilt block called Goose Tracks so that’s what we’re naming it, Goose Tracks. And it’s actually made up of two blocks and I’m going to show you how to make it. So to make this quilt you’re going to need three packages of five inch squares. And we have used Painterly Petals by Studio RK for Robert Kaufman. You’re going to need 1 ½ yards of background fabric. And we’ve used this nice white and that includes the inner border. For your outer border you’re going to need 1 ¾ yards of fabric and that’s a nice eight inch border. For your backing you’re going to need 4 ½ yards of vertical seams or 2 ¼ yards of a 108. Our machine quilting pattern is Poseys. Also if you decide to do the scalloped edge you’re going to need a scalloping tool. And we have used Scallops, Vines and Waves template by Quilt in a Day. And if you’re going to cut bias binding this bias ruler helps a lot. And it’s the bias ruler by TQM products.


So what we’re going to need is our five inch squares. And the first block is super easy. It’s a big four patch just like this. And what we’re going to do is we’re just going to take four of those and we’re going to sew them together just like you’d sew a normal four patch. Two here and two here. We’re not looking for lights and darks because so many of these fabrics are the same hue. We’re looking for different colors. And so once you get your four different colors together we’re going to sew them together in a four patch. And we are done with that block.


So this next block right here is also a four patch but you can see it has a white square and a colored square that we leave alone. And then we have these two squares that we’ve put wonky goose feet on. Now a lot of goose feet, you know, the normal pattern would be like a little snowball right here and a snowball right here, but we wanted to change it up a little bit. So to do this, what I did was I cut my background into five inch squares. And then for each foot, goose foot, if you will, I’m going to cut these in half like this so we just have a 2 ½ by five inch rectangle. And that’s going to help make our feet. So let’s go ahead and make two of those so I can show you how to make the block. So I’m going to cut these in half. And then I’m going to get two blocks that I want for my feet. And I think I’ll go with these two right here.


Now to make a wonky leg or a wonky foot, if you will, for this goose block, what we’re going to do is we’re going to find the center of our block right here. And we’re just going to finger press that a little bit so it makes a little pleat so we can see where the center is because we want our side piece right here to go over the center. We want it to cover that so that when we fold it back it will cover the whole corner and it will cross over that middle line. So let’s go to the sewing machine. And what I’m going to do with this is I’m just going to chain piece these. So I’m going to go ahead and crease both of these and then I’m going to do the same side on both of these at the sewing machine. So let’s come over here and do that. Now when we put these legs on, you know, these feet. I keep calling them legs because it’s part of the wonky star that I love to do. You can actually anchor them at any position. So you can do a short foot like this. You can do a long foot like this. Because I am a rote sewer mine all seem to end up in about the same place so you’ll notice there’s not a lot of big difference in my goose feet. They’re pretty much the same. But you can do yours however you want. So what I’m going to do is I’m just going to sew a quarter of an inch down the side of this one. And then I’m going to bring this one over and add the piece to the same side. So here we go. Alright, so now what I’m going to do is I’m going to go ahead and cut these apart. And we’re going to press these back. And I’m going to make sure my iron is good and hot. And I’m just going to go ahead and finger press this to make sure it’s covering this corner right here. That’s what I want to look for first. Before you cut anything, make sure it’s covering that corner. And then we’re going to go ahead and press that back like this. Just go ahead and lay that nice and flat. Press that back.


And then what I’m going to do is I’m going to turn this over and my square is going to be the pattern for this. So I’m going to lay my ruler right along the edge like this, trim this off, turn it and trim the top as well. And I’m going to do this to both blocks. And remember your square becomes, it becomes your pattern. You want everything to stay square. And so then we have one goose leg, one goose foot on either side. So then what we’re going to do is we’re going to come over and we’re going to do the same thing to the other side. Making sure that it crosses over this point right here. And the reason we do that is because we want to hang onto these points up here in the middle. And we’ll do the same thing on this one. And we’ll just chain piece them right down the side. Alright so quarter of an inch. Actually it doesn’t matter. The quarter of an inch does not matter at all on this because it doesn’t match up to anything. So if you find that you’re, you know, maybe you want a little longer leg and you sew it at an ⅛ of an inch, nobody is going to die over that. There will be nobody dying in the quilt room today over that seam allowance. You know I like to tell you guys when things matter and when a quarter of an inch doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter.


Alright so now what we’re going to do here is we’re going to go ahead and trim these up just like the other one using our square as our pattern. Just like this. And trim these off both sides. And then this secondary block right here also goes together like a four patch. So you need a white block and you need a print block. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to put our white block here. And we’re going to put our legs here and our legs here. So your legs, your feet are always going to touch or your toes are always going to touch the feet. Maybe that’s a better way to put it, maybe. And then this color is going to come over here. And this makes your secondary block. So just like the first one we’re going to lay our blocks together like this and like this. And I’m going to sew a quarter of an inch and now that quarter of an inch matters. A quarter of an inch down this one and a quarter of an inch down this one. And we’re going to leave those connected in the middle. And that will help us when we go to put our four patch together. So we’re going to go ahead and sew down the side of this. And the reason the quarter of an inch matters now is because now we’re adding more blocks to it and we want it to line up and stay nice and square. Alright so now I’ve sewn these two together and they should as we open them up, they should be able to just, they should be in the right position so that they can be sewn right together. So they are. We’re going to flip this over this way. And now these middle seams right here, this matters. And so you want to make sure that one seam is going one direction and one seam is going the other. That’s nesting your seams. And that way it will keep the point right there nice and sharp so we’re going to lay these on here. Go ahead and sew a quarter of an inch down the side. And I’m just going to feel, I like to feel with my fingers, make sure that there’s no fabric in between, sew right across there. If you’re beginning, this is a great beginner quilt, by the way. But if you want to pin that feel free to do that. I’m not a big pinner but we all start somewhere.


Alright so now this is our block. Look how cool that is. And I’m just going to press this out. And then you’re going to take four of these and sew together to make our big block. So I have, you’ll notice I press from the top to make sure there’s no pleats or folds in my seams. You want a nice big square block. And then I flipped it over and made my seams go the way I wanted it to. Now nobody is ever going to look inside your quilt so don’t worry too much about pressing but you know that’s what we want to do. So when we put our big block together like this what we’re going to do is we’re going to put these opposite corners. So we’re going to have two geese opposite like this and we’re going to put these together like this. And so that just makes a giant four patch. So let’s go ahead and sew that together. And again you’re going to match up these little seams where your squares come together. So we’re going to sew this. And then I will show you how this fits into the quilt. So I’m going to put this one over here and just sew it again. And keep that little connecting string in between because that helps us keep things lined up. Now always, always look before you sew so you’re going to open these up and make sure that they are indeed going the right direction. And they are. This is opposite. It doesn’t matter, you know, which way you put them together. It’s going to work out the same no matter what. And so we’re just going to fold this over and put this here and sew right down the side. Now every one of these seams you want to match up. So I’m feeling for that one. I generally do a little anchoring stitch and then I sew along until I get to the next one. And I match up all my little seams as I go along. Alright. So let’s press this. Now I just think this is such a fun, quick and easy block. And of course this fabric is just amazing. I feel like I’m sewing in Monet’s garden. It’s just beautiful.


Alright so here’s our block. And let’s look at how this fits into our quilt. So what I did was, here’s my first block right here. And then we’re going to turn it and we’re going to put it right here. And then we’re going to turn it and we’re going to put it right here. So it just rotates. Now one of the cool things, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this because I didn’t notice it until I had it all together, but these feet circle up. And so if I was intentional, if I was making a bigger quilt, I would really love to see several of these circling up on my quilt. I think that’s really cool. I love the secondary things that happen when you’re least expecting them. So this block measures about 18 inches when you’re done. And you’re going to need nine of these. So we’ve got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. That makes a quilt that is 73 by 73. And of course we added this nice big eight inch border. And if you’d like to see the easy way to make a scalloped border join me because I’m going to do a video right after this. And we hope you enjoyed this video on the Goose Track quilt from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.



So I just wanted to take a minute and show you how to make this cool scallop border. This is such a great look on a simple quilt. Anytime you have some simple it can really make a quilt ooh ahh when you add a scallop border. So there are lots of scallop tools out there and tools are made for different brains. And you just want to make sure that you get one that makes sense to your brain. So the one I happen to like is called Scallops, Vines and Waves. And it’s a template by Quilt in a Day. And one of the reasons I love it is because it comes with this book right here. And in this book it gives you the measurements. So if your quilt is 60 by 70, it will tell you, you can get five six inch scallops or you know whatever it is that works. And then you can take this ruler right here. And if you need a seven inch scallop the measurement is on here. And I will show you more how to do that in just a minute. And so the other thing you’re going to need, anytime you do a scallop edge is you’re going to need some bias binding. Now bias binding means that it’s cut on the 45. And people always get really nervous about the bias binding. They’re more nervous about the bias binding than they are about actually cutting the quilt.


So number one, finish your quilt. Put your borders on, send it to get it quilted first. Do not cut your scallops and take it to your longarmer or she’ll probably never quilt for you again. So you finish your quilt, put your border on, send it to get it quilted and then you’ll cut your scallops. But it’s not the scallops that bother people. It’s this bias binding so I’m going to show you an easy way to do that. And I’m going to show you on a half a yard of fabric and then we will come back to this and I will show you how to put that on.


So the way I do it is I take a half a yard of fabric just like this and I open it up and I open it up long. So you’re going to go ahead and open it up long like this. So a half a yard, 18 inches, open it up long. Then I like to use this kind of a ruler. This is a bias binding ruler and you know, it conveniently folds in half so that you can store it easier because anything that’s long like this you’ll notice in a sewing, tends to kind of break really easily. But what you’re going to do is you’re just going to lock this in on the top and the bottom like this. So the ends of this ruler are already at a 45. And you’ll notice they have little two inch lines all the way across here so that you can measure whatever size binding you like. I like 2 ½. And so what I’m going to do here is I’m just going to lay mine on here like this right where it starts, the closest place I can match it up to the edge where it goes flush along both sides. And then I’m going to cut this like this. And I’m going to reserve this piece because I can cut pieces all the way along the side of this. But I want to get this first cut started. Now for me I’m left handed. The easiest way for me to do this is the opposite way. So I’m going to flip this around. And I’m going to keep my ruler so that it goes straight along the top, straight along the bottom. And you’ll notice I’m not taking one long swath on it. I’m going a little bit and I’m making sure that I stay lined up on the edge. You know for a lot of us these rulers can, they can move a little bit and we just want to be careful of that. And so if you cut this whole half a yard into all the pieces you’ll get over 280 inches of bias binding. So you’ll get quite a bit of bias binding on here. And I’m just going to show you how to cut these. And I’ll show you how I sew them together as well.


Alright so you’re going to go ahead and do the whole thing and you’ll have the whole thing done. Now I have a few pieces here that are cut. And I’m going to show you how these go together. When you lay them out like this you want to lay them so they match up. So you can see that they are coming right together. And then when you pull them back together like this you’re going to see that you’re going to have a quarter of an inch overhang on this side and on this side. And you’re going to sew a quarter of an inch right along there. And so let’s go ahead and do that over here at the machine. We’re just going to sew these two together. And of course you’ll sew all of yours together. And I’m just going to sew along here. And then when you open these up they should line up or be pretty close. Mine is pretty close. So once you get that sewn together you’re just going to fold this in half and you’re going to press it and it will look just like your normal binding. But as you see it will have that give to it. And that’s what you’re looking for with bias binding. Anytime you go around a curve you need that bias. So let’s take a look at the quilt and how we made our scalloped edge.


So this little quilt here is in three stages of work. And the first one is that you’re going to find with the size of your quilt what size scallop you’re going to need. I believe my scallops are seven and so generally what I do is I put a little piece of tape where my scallops start and stop to remind me. I took that off because, you know, I wanted you guys to be able to see the whole ruler. But you will then draw this. And this line right here lines up with the outer edge of your quilt. So you line up this line and you draw your scallops in here you’ll just go along and draw your scallops. Once you get them drawn then you’re going to cut them out. And I know people who do this both ways. Some people actually sew the scallop right on before they cut it and some cut it out. Alright. So we’re just going to go ahead and cut this and go up and down, follow the scalloped edge, the line. I could use a rotary cutter but I’m a lot more comfortable using scissors because it goes out and in and out and in. Now I am cutting all the way to where I have actually sewn on this bias binding. Let me get right in here. There we go.


So now you can see, this is all cut. It’s ready for me to add my bias binding. And I’m just going to add it by sewing it on here. Now the tricky part is this where it goes in here just like you know. This little part, everybody gets freaked out about this little part. So let me tell you my secret way. Now you have to pay really close attention because, you know, I don’t know, this is a lot of frame work right here. So right here you’re going to sew along and get it as close as you can to there. You’re going to pull it as straight as you can get it and sew straight across. That’s it. When you let go it’s going to make its own pleat. And so don’t stress about that part. There’s no little pleating on the back. There’s none of that. You’re just going to pull it as straight as you can get it. So let’s go ahead and add some of this on here. And I will show you how I do this. And so I just get this under my presser foot. And I’m going to set down, put my needle in at the quarter inch mark like this and make sure that the edge of my binding lines up with my scallop. And so I’m just going to sew up here like this, keep the foot of my machine along that edge and then I’m coming around the curve here and I get to my peak. And I’m just going to stop right where it comes like this. I’m in at a quarter of an inch and I’m just going to stop. And I’m going to turn my scallop. And I’m just going to pull that straight across. And I’m going to sew straight across there. This is like magic. And then I’m just going to keep it up toward the edge of the scallop and sew back around the curve and come down here. Again I’m going to stop a quarter of an inch in from the point of the scallop where it comes in. Then I’m going to keep my foot down and I’m just going to pull that as straight as I can get it and pull my binding straight across. And we’re going to make that edge. People are so scared of that little place in there and it’s just like nope, just pull it straight across, sew it straight across. When you let go it makes its own pleat. Alright now here’s the other part that kind of terrifies people. We are at the end and ready to join our two pieces of binding together.


Now I like to do this on the corner because it’s like the biggest area of the scallop. And so you’re going to do this just like you do all your other bindings. You are going to, we do them the plus method. And so however wide your binding is that’s how far it’s going to cross over. So we have this piece come in here and we have this piece coming here. And I’m actually going to cut this straight, this edge straight right here. And I’m actually going to pull this a little bit looser here so that I have a little bit more room. And I’m going to bring this around this edge. And I’m going to overlap this so my binding is 2 ½ inches wide. I’m going to overlap it this way 2 ½ inches. And I do this for my regular binding as well and make sure. It’s a little more tricky because you’re up here on this corner. So I’m just going to cut this right here. And then what we’re going to do is we are going to put this flat so the top one is flat. The bottom one comes up from the bottom and you’re going to lay that right across like this. And just make a plus like this. And so I have mine sticking a little over the edge and a little over the end because I like a little bit tighter pull on my binding. And so I’m going to sew this side to side like this. And I’m sewing from diagonally corner to corner so we’re going to sew right across here. Now before I cut this I’m actually going to lay this back here and I’m going to see if I think this is going to work. And I think it’s actually going to be a little bit too big. So I’m going to take this out. So I’m going to use my little pin and unloosen this seam right here. And I’m going to move it over just a little bit. Sometimes I think it’s super good that these things actually happen when I’m doing them because it makes it, you know, we all have to try this and make sure we can do it. There we go. So I’m going to pull that apart like that. Alright, so then I’m going to look at this and maybe I need to trim it off or maybe I just need to move it over a little bit because as I lay this up here, it is just a little bit, a little bit longer than it needs to be. So I’m going to trim just a little bit. Maybe a quarter of an inch. And you actually don’t have to trim. You actually can just move yours over a little bit. So then again we’re going to do the same thing. We’re going to open this up, lay this one across, this one comes up from the bottom. And hopefully this time it will be just perfect. So we’re going to look at this now. And you kind of have to, you know, get a good handle on here on your quilt up here to make sure that it gets in under that needle well. Alright so then take a few stitches, stop and then we’re going to straighten this out. And we’re going to sew corner to corner on this edge. I’m lining this where my two pieces come together, I’m lining up on my diagonal seam tape. Alright so hopefully this one will be just perfect. And look at that, it looks like it is. So now I can trim these long tails off right here, just like this. And then what we’re going to do is we are just going to stitch this down and come right around this corner, make sure we’re keeping our little edges lined up and come around here, come around here just keep going around this corner. And then we’ll just be able to stitch this down.


Alright so now I’m back to where I started with my stitching. And you can see that just like this we’re going to fold this over and we’re going to stitch this down. Now right over here where I started, where I cut these, on all the other ones I’ve already done it but I want to show you. On this piece right here I’m going to cut into that V just like this. And it just releases that fabric a little bit and gives it a little more give. And so don’t cut across your stitches but just cut the thick part of that fabric like this. And then we are going to stitch that up.


So a couple of things about binding a quilt. Whatever color your binding is that’s the color thread you want to use because that will hide the best. And I use like an eight or nine between needle. I like a little short needle to bind with. I’m going to cut my thread here. I also, this, these little needle threaders save me hours of time. If you don’t have one, find one that works for you and I’m telling you it just, you pull it out, the little thread is through there. You don’t actually even have to see, which I have a hard time as I get older, it gets worse and worse. And so what we’re going to do now is we’re just going to tie a knot in this. I like a single thread binding. And so what I’m going to do is I’m just going to bring this down to the end and I’m going to tie a knot just in one. And the way I do that is I just lay it on my finger at an angle and come back and cross it like this so it crosses over. I’ll do that again. So it crosses over like this. And then I’m just going to roll it with my thumb and just pull it straight. So I make a little knot like that and then we’re going to sew this on by hand. We’ve sewn the front part on by machine. We’ve brought it around to the back. And I’m going to take my knot and I’m just going to put it in under the lip of my binding just like this. And then I’m just going to fold this down right here. And any little strings that are there or anything like that, you can just tuck them under. And so I’m just going to go across here. So right where my fold is, right where my thread comes out I go straight down there and I come over here, just about a quarter of an inch. I’m going to tuck that thread under there. So right where I came out, straight back in and come out a quarter of an inch later just like this. And we’ll follow this all the way around. And finish this off. And it’s just that easy to do the binding on a scallop quilt. It’s the same as any other quilt that you’re doing. You just have to do it on the 45 with a bias so it has some give. And anytime, if you do a circle quilt, if you round your corners or anything like that you’re always going to need that little bit of give on a binding, on your binding.


And so I hope this helps you not be afraid of binding. You know, the key things: find a tool that works for you. You know, don’t be afraid to cut the bias binding. And we can get 280 inches out of a half a yard, so that’s kind of cool. Oh right here, look at, see I have this big area right here that I need to trim off a little bit. So I’m just going to trim that off. And just roll with it. And this part right here, if this part worries you just remember you’re just going to pull that straight, sew it straight across. And whether you’re binding it, whether you’re sewing it on or anything, it’s still just straight across because when you let it go it’s going to make its own pleat. It doesn’t matter how deep your scallop is. It doesn’t matter how shallow it is because this is kind of a little shallow scallop. But it just works. So pull it straight and sew it across. And I hope this helps you to make a very simple quilt ooh, ahh. And if you want to bind it, I hope you take a chance. So thanks for watching.


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