Hive 4 October 2026 Bee Block: Dutchman's Puzzle

Dutchman’s Puzzle Block - 12.5” unfinished

I’ve wanted to make a quilt with this block for years…the thought of making so many geese is daunting though!  This block is made from 8 flying geese.  I think the 4-at-a-time method for the geese is easiest and quickest method but feel free to use whatever method works for you.

I love all colors and the brighter, more saturated, the better. I think a dark background makes colors really pop so this block uses black or very dark charcoal gray as the background/sky - no low volume or white to be found in this bee block!

You’ll make 2 sets of 4 geese and individual geese blocks should measure 3.5” x 6.5” unfinished.

Fabric requirements for 4-at-a-time geese:

• Two (2) contrasting 7.25” squares in any colors (except white or black) and any prints or blenders. Please NO holiday themed fabrics.

Please use any two prints with high contrast such as:

-purple💜 & yellow💛

-blue💙 & green💚 (Go Seahawks!)

-neon pink💗 & orange🧡

or any color combination that use bright, saturated colors




• Eight (8) 4” squares in black/charcoal/very dark gray. Monochromatic prints (i.e., black on black) and solids are great for the background

This is a link to a tutorial I based my block on: https://www.ladybugthreads.com/may-dutchmans-puzzle-bom/

Below are pictures of the block I made.

Cut fabrics:

Draw diagonal lines on the back of the 4” squares and place 2 RST in opposite corners of each of the 7.25” squares so the lines match up. You’ll sew 1/4” on either side of the line:

Cut on the line and press the resulting black triangles away from the color triangle:

Lay a 4” square on the color corner as shown and sew 1/4” on both sides:

Cut on the line:

Press the black triangle away from the color to create your geese:

Trim all geese to 3.5” x 6.5” making sure to keep a 1/4” seam allowance at the top point of the geese:

I use a Creative Grids 3.5” x 12.5” ruler that has markings to make trimming at the top goose point easy.  Trim top and bottom at 3.5” width and then trim the sides making sure the bottom of the geese measure 6.5” where the color and the background meet.

8 trimmed geese 🤩:

Layout geese in 4 identical sets of 2:

Sew the top goose to the bottom goose with a SCANT, 1/4”.  I find it helpful to sew with the bottom goose on top so I can see the intersection of the stitching and aim to stitch through the intersection:

Press open and arrange the 4 geese blocks with points going in a clockwise direction as follows so a pinwheel forms as shown:

Sew as a four-patch:

Pin the centers and edge points of the final seam where they meet so the points don’t get lost in the seam allowance:

Ta-da! 👏👏👏  you've made a Dutchman’s Puzzle:

EXTRA CREDIT: The center of this block is very thick so I spin the center by clipping a couple of the stitches and pressing each half of the last joining seam to the left. If you don’t want to mess with cutting stitches to spin the centers, don’t worry about it. 😊

Thank you for helping me make this Dutchman’s Puzzle quilt 😊