slip knot pattern, point problem on pattern
 

I'm making a table runner from the attached slip knot pattern. https://www.patchworksquare.com/inde...ock&links=&id=

Things were going very well, I was measuring twice, pinning before stitching, etc., everything was fitting nicely ,but as I'm putting it together I realized that there is no overage on the 4 points I've marked in yellow, which means when I put the border on (or binding if I decide to skip the border), there will no longer be a pointed point, but rather a flattened point. Am I reading this right? As of now the points come right to the edge of the fabric. How can I fix this?

There should be a 1/4" seam allowance on each side to keep the points crisp. What size is your block measuring? I am not sure you can do anything with this block because it is to small, or other pieces were made with a wider 1/4" seam allowance. You can use it for a learning curve though. I am not sure if taking it all apart will give you what you want is you use a more scant 1/4" seam allowance. No harm in trying. This is a beautiful block and you will get it right It is evident you are on the right track.

Yikes, you are sure the designer meant for there to be points on the outsides? I mean it only makes sense because of the inside is pointed.

So, I have no good happy easy suggestions, other than accept it as less than perfect (in our group here, one of the participants of the Bonnie Hunter Frolic mystery has renamed hers as "Pointless" because of the goose units).

The easiest thing if you have the extra fabric is to remake and replace the geese units. I didn't download the pattern so I don't know if I'd trust it there, but if you can give me the dimensions it is supposed to be (finished) I can give you the raw dimensions. You can just take a piece of graph paper and fold it until you get the answers, but not everyone has pads of that scattered about the house.

You can if you have a lot of extra background and are super precise, carefully piece in some super long and narrow triangles that meet just at the triangle, ideally you'd un-stitch a couple of stitches at the point. Remember though -- you will have to put another seam around it to join the blocks/border/binding and you really don't want just a thin hard bumpy seam right next to another one. (I'm facing this in the Frolic quilt, I'm going to slice some already completed blocks to make them into setting triangles and am going to have a diagonal seam going across my new stitching line).

My other "easy" fix if you have fabric is you can go ahead and border it and then applique triangles over it. Since I avoid handwork, I would apply the borders first, press the sides of triangle, and then sew it along the long seam, trim/tuck the seams inside, flip the triangle up into place and hand stitch down. That's a lot of work but sometimes it helps us sleep better.

I'd just name it Stumpy.:)

Came back a little too late to edit, didn't realize that wasn't a picture of your actual block. Would it be possible to post that? Sometimes the geese units look weird until they are sewn, or are still usable the way they are.

If your finished units came out like that, with the point to the far end of the line, that's what I was basing my fixes on. Sometimes that happens if your base triangle/rectangle is a little too large and the side triangles are a little too small. If that happens and your block is too large, you can sew a seam down the middle to tighten it up easily if it hasn't been fully assembled into the block yet, or even make a tiny tuck if necessary without unstitching, just 3-4 stitches at the top of the point can help in that case.

I mentioned the Frolic project, trust me, there are a lot of people having a lot of people there and with Geese blocks in general. My preferred way to deal with things is to cut large and trim down, which isn't as easy with geese maybe as other things. So I like the one rectangle with two squares method when I can, there is little waste with small units, and I use the cut offs from larger ones to make bonus HST.

Other people use rulers, techniques where you make more than one at a time, and many different solutions, up to and including never making Geese units and making them as 2 HST instead.

The only thing you can do is rip out the blocks and draft new ones on paper first, then cut and sew. I hope you have enough extra fabric to do that..

It's a 12" square and the points definitely go right to the edge, no seam allowance. I followed the directions (what little there were) to a tee and if I stitch everything up (which I haven't done yet, I'm still laying out) my points will go to the edge. I don't understand why it was written up like this.

The directions are not for flying geese but instead to make squares 2 3/8", cut on the diagonal and then sew a light backgound triangle to each side of a dark triangle. I'm going to try to figure out the right dimensions to make these as flying geese and I guess I'll also have to recut the other edge pieces. I have enough fabric but it may cut into one of my borders and/or the backing. No big deal, it could be a lot worse, though I sure hope the inside dimensions aren't messed up.

These are the correct directions, I think my other link may have just shown a pic, not the actual directions. https://www.patchworksquare.com/mf/s...uilt-block.pdf

Cute block!! I would just remake your four flying geese.if you have fabric. I looked at the directions - and that method would not be my choice for making flying geese - too much chance for error imho. I would do it by using the rectangle and squares method where you place a square on top of the rectangle at one end and sew on the diagonal, trim and iron - then repeat with the other end. The measurements are below for the two different sizes.

For the 16" block, I would cut 4 black rectangles 4.5 x 2.5 and 8 white 2.5" squares (finishes 4x2)
Ffor the 12" block, I would cut 4 black rectangles 3.5 x 2 and 8 white 2" squares (finishes 3x1.5)

Betty - thank you, I'll try your way (but with practice scrap first). I took a look at a few other blocks on the website I got this one from and they are all the same, points go right to the edge. I'm not sure why she does it this way, there must be a good reason, but I'm too much of a beginner to figure out the why of it.

It looks like the picture is of the finished pieces. Not showing seam allowances. That would be very confusing for a beginner

I think you need to add 1/2 inch to each piece in the block. What is shown is a finished block, as in when it is already sewn together. Adding 1/2 inch all around will give you the 1/4 inch seam you need to not lose your points. It should measure 12 1/2 inch unfinished.