A multi-shot three-dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data view-ordering strategy for uniform or variable density k-space sampling schemes is presented. The k.sub.y-k.sub.z plane is partitioned into multiple wedge-shaped "blades" (or radial fan beams). The angular size of individual blades may be adjusted according to the desired number of views for each blade. Each blade includes views near the origin that contain low-frequency information about the imaged object such that views having the most desirable characteristics may be used to fill the central portions of k-space.