Flying Dutchman

The combination of Dutchman's Puzzle and Flying Geese made me keep calling this block "Flying Dutchman" in my brain.

My block is by no means perfect-- I'm having a hard time keeping everything nice and square.  This block required meticulous work.  Apparently I wasn't doing that tonight!

Dutchman's Puzzle

Dutchman's Puzzle blocks are really fun because there are lots of variations. Basically, we're making eight flying geese blocks and then sewing them together. This tutorial uses four fabrics plus a background fabric. You could use from one to eight fabrics plus a background fabric (or many background fabrics). It's up to you.

There is also more than one way to make a flying geese block. My tutorial will leave you with lots of leftover triangles. I like this method because it makes an accurate "goose" and I can make four bonus pinwheel blocks from the leftover pieces.

If you want to make these blocks without the "wasted" fabric, try this tutorial. I've never made flying geese this way it so I don't know how well it works...it looks pretty cool, though and I'd like to give it a try someday.