Hive 3 - August Tutorial - Bear's Paw Block for Maree

Hi Everyone.

Hard to believe it is August already. Here in New Zealand it is winter and recently we have had a lot of foggy, wet days in the Waikato area where I live. Hopefully most of you will be experiencing much nicer weather. I have been really busy at work, but would have loved to be able to make the most of this weather to stay home by the fire and sew. 

For my blocks this month I have chosen a Halloween themed Bear's Paw Block. I have a Glow-in-the-dark Skeleton panel which I bought years ago and thought it was time I used it. A lot of you said you did have Halloween fabric so that is great. For those of you that don't have specific Halloween fabrics I am happy for you to use fabrics that include bugs, moths, cats, black and whites, trees, etc and colours that give a bit of a Halloween vibe. I have included some of these in my blocks. If you are concerned about not having enough Halloween type fabric, I am happy for you to make the 4 individual paw blocks and send them to me without your sashing attached. That way I will be able to add in some of my fabrics and mix up the blocks. So please feel free to repeat fabrics if necessary. 

The tutorial I used is a Free Tutorial by Generations Quilt Patterns. Here is the link Bears Paw Quilt Block Pattern: Instructions in 3 Sizes (generations-quilt-patterns.com) 

They have 3 different size options and the one we will use is the 14" Finished Block with some variations. They have a great tutorial, although there are a lot of ads which make it a bit harder to read. They also have great instructions for making 8-at-a-time half square triangles which is a big time saver. You do need to refer back to the size chart as they use measurement for a smaller block when teaching this method.  

I was not so keen on the wider sashing, and wanted a mix of little squares and large squares for the paw blocks, so please refer to the cutting instructions below. Our unfinished block size will be 13.25" square. My blocks both ended up about 1/8" smaller so don't worry if your block varies a little bit also.

Here are the blocks I have made and also a photo of the skeleton panel.

And my fabric pull. I joined a Coffin Hexie swap a number of years ago and had forgotten that I had purchased a number of different prints for that. Some I also received from an Instagram friend who lives in Washington State, USA.

Fabrics and Cutting Instructions

Piece	Fabric	Qty
1	A	1			1¼" x 1¼"
2	B	4 8			4½" x 4½" 2½" x 2½"
3**	C	2			6¼" x 6¼"
4**	Backgrnd	2			6¼" x 6¼"
5	Backgrnd	4			1¼" x 6½"
6	Backgrnd	4			2½" x 2½"
Unfinished Block Size					13¼"

**These are the oversizes patches that will be trimmed to perfection AFTER stitching.

To make cutting out easier I have adjusted the chart to show only what you will need to cut for my version of this block.

Fabrics 

1. Fabric A is a small square which can be coloured or black n white
2. Fabric B - Halloween Fabric (or other fabrics as suggested)
3. Fabric C - Black n White, Black, or Black n Grey
4. Background - White or Off White Low volume fabric - with interesting black or grey details if you have it.

Pressing Instructions

I am not too worried about how you press your blocks, however in saying that the tutorial does give good instructions for pressing. I found that I did not need to press any of the seams open. I much prefer to press to the side unless there is way too much bulk.

Half Square Triangles (HSTs)

The HSTs that make up the claws (position 3 in diagram) are made using the 6.25" squares. You make 8 at a time and they come together quite quickly. I used directional fabric for one of my backgrounds and this method works perfectly in making sure the fabrics all end up the correct way.

Here are a few photos showing the stitching lines and cutting lines.

You need to join a background square and a Fabric C square with right sides together. Mark the 2 diagonal lines so that you have an X. Sew 1/4 inch either side of both of these lines. You will then cut down the centre top to the bottom, and centre left to right (like a +). You also need to cut along the diagonal lines which you drew initially. Repeat for the other set of squares and you will end up with 16 HSTs. These need to be trimmed down to 2.5" squares.

One of my favourite rulers is my Bloc Loc square which makes trimming these HSTs to size so much easier. I am also lucky enough to have a little rotating cutting mat which is also a favourite tool.

For the paw I have used 2 x 4.5" squares and in the other 2 squares I have used 4 x 2.5" squares. I like the scrappiness of this to add extra fussy cuts or even just to add a touch of colour. So if you don't have any prints to cut, I am happy if you just use plain or textured colours here.

I feel like I could just continue to have fun making these blocks and exploring other fabric placement options. I have asked for some sort of black fabric for the claws (3) part of the blocks. However when I was making one of the above blocks I trialed (and rejected) these coloured claws. I have a lot of black prints so I think I will try using the coloured claws with those.

Hopefully you can all have fun making these blocks. I have not had the chance to just play with fabrics like this in a very long time and actually really enjoyed making these as they are not my usual fabric of choice. 

Thank you.

Maree