Hive 2 - August Tutorial- Beat Paw Block for Kirsten R.

It's a Bear's Paw for August 2021!

Introduction and Inspiration

My husband and I got married ‘way back’ in 2006. We had roses everywhere, but they were pale green with a hint of red on the edge of each petal. I always thought of them as “traditional, but with a twist” and that’s what we’re going for with this month’s block - a traditional Bear’s Paw block - but in the loudest, brightest colors you can find in your stash - the twist!

Fabric Selection

The inspiration for this Bear’s Paw is this fabric I found several months ago (pencil for scale). I am hoping to use this fabric as sashing or plain blocks/triangles in between the blocks we all create this month.  

This is going to be a two-color block: you’ll need a solid black or reads-as-solid black for the background and a bright colored fabric for the paw. Think bright blue, lime green, yellow, orange, purple, pink, teal, bright reds, and even white (with a bright colored print) . . . anything that’s bright and will have a substantial contrast with the black background. I’d like you to stay away from paw fabrics that are dominantly colored black, brown, or dark gray, but it is okay if there is black or gray as part of the print. 

So for the paw fabric:

black background with a colorful print = Not okay

colorful print with some black = OK

Also, batiks are fine, but let’s stay away from novelty and licensed prints. 

Here are some fabrics I pulled from my own stash to inspire you:

Cutting the Fabric

The finished size of this block will be 14” when finished, so the block you sew will be 14.5” square.

For this block you will need:

Color	Count	Size
Background (black or reads as black)	4	6.5” by 2.5” rectangles
Background (black or reads as black)	4	2.5” by 2.5” squares
Background (black or reads as black)	8	3” by 3” squares (for the HSTs)
Bright Paw	1	2.5" x 2.5” square
Bright Paw	4	4.5” x 4.5” squares
Bright Paw	8	3” by 3” squares (for the HSTs)

FYI - I used less than half of a fat quarter of each fabric to test my block and instructions.

Sewing the Bear’s Paw Block

*I used a lot of photos in the tutorial. I am solidly right handed, so my directions and photos reflect that. 

Let’s make some half-square triangles (HSTs)! 

If you’ve never made HSTs before, I’ve included some instructions below. If you have made HSTs before, feel free to use your preferred method. Note: I was pretty generous with the size of the fabric squares for the HSTs, so some trimming will be needed.

• Pair up each Paw 3” x 3” square with a Background 3” x 3” square. 
• On the Paw side, mark a diagonal line from one corner to another. This will be the cutting line in a later step. It should look something like this:

• If needed, add two more lines 1/4” on either side of the diagonal line. These will be your sewing lines. (I often skip this step because my presser foot is just the right size to sew 1/4” away from the cutting line.) Pin using your preferred method. Your squares should look something like this:

 

• Now sew on the sewing lines and 1/4” away from the cutting line on both sides. I usually sew all of the squares one direction then turn around a sew going back the other direction. 

 

• Snip the threads holding the squares together and carefully cut the squares into two triangle shapes by cutting on the cutting line. (I’ve screwed this step up more times than I care to admit, hence the suggestion to move carefully.)
• Now press the seams to one side. Because the background fabric is black, I suggest pressing the seams to that side.
• Last, trim the HSTs up. 
• Lay one square down with the sewing line going in the same direction as the 45° angle on your favorite ruler.
• Line up the 45° angle with the sewing line and center the 2.5” by 2.5” space over your square.
• Hold your ruler down firmly here - it will have a tendency to wiggle because the thickness of the seams/down the diagonal is different than the thickness on either side of the seam. Trim any fabric on the side and top of the square. 
• Spin the HST 180°. Put the 45° angle over the sewing line but, this time, match the newly trimmed edges of the square with the 2.5” lines on your ruler.
• Trim any fabric on the top and side of the square.
• Repeat for the remaining HSTs.

The first trim of the HST: Notice the little flags on both ends of the diagonal seam. I match the diagonal on my ruler with the seam and then ‘ballpark’ the middle of the square. I trim the top and right.	After I’ve rotated the HST and getting ready for the second trim: Only one flag at the upper right and the square is close to the 2.5” size needed. Again I trim the top and to the right.

Sewing the ‘Claws’

The Bear’s Paw block has a “left” (the paw color triangle points down to the left) and “right” (the paw color triangle points down to the right) version of the claws. 

Left claws	Right claws

You will need to make 4 each of the left claw pairs and right claw pairs. Lay your HST squares out, pin (if you desire), and sew. Press the seams to one side. 

Sewing the Paws

Lay out the following pieces:

2.5” x 2.5” black squares, the right claws 

Left claws - 4.5” x 4.5” paw squares

Sew the black squares to the right claws and the left claws to the large paw squares. Press the seams toward the black 2.5” x 2.5” square and toward the 4.5” x 4.5” paw square. (I do this "assembly line sewing" style and then snip the threads between the 'paws.') Now sew these two pieces together nesting the seams you just sewed. Press the seams to one side. (The direction of pressing the seam doesn't matter - you won't be matching this 'big' seam up with anything and I'll be using sashing or blocks between squares and won't be matching the seam up, either. Do what works for your situation.)

Last step! Lay out the pieces that are left:

Paw - Black rectangle - Paw

Black rectangle - Colored square - Black rectangle

Paw - Black rectangle - Paw

Sew them up using your favorite method and press! Again, because I will be adding sashing or plain blocks, there’s no need to worry about pressing direction, however, it would be good to press towards the black background when possible. 

And, we’re done! The block should now measure 14.5” square and be ready to be mailed.

Thank you so much for your work and creativity. And please let me know if you have any questions!

Kirsten R. 

 

P.S. Here’s some flower tax: I believe that’s my bouquet next to the table numbers we used (which I designed. Thanks, Photoshop!) This the Kamaleon variety of roses; sadly, they are no longer available anywhere. I’ve checked!