Hive 6 - August Tutorial - Improv Bear Paw for Mary

Greetings from Tennessee. This is Mary Siemen. I've picked an improv Bear Paw for my block this month! Hold on to your seats and take a deep breath. It will be ok!  Here's a sample block:  

Notice how the block above is not squared up? The arrows are pointing to places you might normally square. Not needed!

Here's the first block I made that is smaller. After sewing first and then thinking, I realized a directional print for the triangles was not a good choice!

Fabrics

You'll need 4 different fabrics:  a bright solid or something that roughly reads as a solid. I'm not too picky here. This is for the large rectangle. Then you'll also need another fabric--solid, floral or pattered print for the skinny bands. (Stripes would be great here too!)

Finally, you'll need two other fabrics--your choice: solids or prints, for the wonky triangles. You can't have too much color for me!

Shapes

Cutting:

1 rectangle 6.5" x 8.5"

1 border/edge piece 2" x 7.5"

1 border/edge piece 1.25" x 8.5"

2 different fabrics for triangles 2.5" x ~20"

1 2.5" x 2.5" square from one of the triangle fabrics (not pictured above

Sewing:

1. Sew the 1.25" border piece to a long edge of the rectangle, using 1/4" seam. Press the seam open, please.

2. Placing the strip you just sewed vertically to the right, sew the 2" border piece across the top so that both border pieces form a right angle:

Press the seam open. (Trim the extra 1/4" from my bad math if that piece bothers you!)

3. Making the actual claws or triangles - These will not match! None will or should be the same size; this is to be expected. 

* Please don't worry about squaring up your block - especially the claw or triangle sides! *

I have  a video to give guidance on cutting and sewing the wonky points. BEFORE you click on the link, please know that the first few minutes are filled with the creator 'thinking out loud'. I got a bit impatient the first time I watched it as I wanted her to just 'get on with it' and show me how she cut and sewed the block! If you're in this camp, skip forward to minute 8:10.

Here is the example video: 

NOTE: I recommend you keep the triangles in the same order as you cut them. Also sew them in that same order.

You will make 2 rows of triangles. One for each side of your rectangle that had the border sewn on.  

Pressing:

When joining 2 triangles, press that seam OPEN. After joing multiple triangles, press those seams to the side, all in one direction. Take care not to stretch the row due to the bias seams in the triangles.

Note: your triangle rows may not look like your best sewing effort. This is completely ok! I plan to trim the bottom edge (the pink side) and sew that to the border.

* Please DO NOT trim the outside edge of your triangles. EVEN if they are uneven and don't look pretty. See how uneven mine are??

4. Sew one triangle row to the long edge of the rectangle. 

Press the seam toward the border/rectangle.

Square off the end above the right angle of borders. (This is the left end in my picture below.)

5. Ensure that your 2nd row of triangles is long enough. Square off the inside end. Sew the 2.5" square to that end. 

6. Sew the triangle/square strip to the left side of the rectangle. Press seam toward rectangle.

Your block is DONE!

7. One last small request: I like adding information on my beemates who've made blocks for me, to the back of my quilt. I'd love for you to write your name (first and last) and where you live (city and state) on a smallish piece of fabric. It doesn't have to be any certain shape (in keeping with my improv/wonky theme! Please use a permanent pen or sharpie.  Thank you!