Summer Garden: October Bear Paw Block

Hello Friends and Welcome Back!

Now that we are into the month of October, it's time for the release of the first set of piecing instructions for the Summer Garden BoM!

We are starting this project off with the Bear Paw block; a simple and beginner friendly block that uses mostly squares and rectangles, and which introduces the two-at-a-time method for making half square triangles!

So Friends, let's get started!

Pattern Notes

Just as a reminder: all seams in this pattern are sewn with a ¼" seam allowance. Although the pattern is beginner friendly, many of the pieces used in this pattern are fairly small, so I recommend testing your seam allowance on scrap fabric before beginning.

Another tip that will help to keep your blocks accurate is to press seams as you go. I recently started pressing my seams open and have found that to work very well for this block pattern! Pressing to the side should work if you prefer that method.

Making the Bear Paw Block

With those few notes out of the way, we can finally begin piecing the first block of the Summer Garden BoM!

To make one Bear Paw block, cut the following:

From background fabric:

8x squares at 2 1⁄2"

4x squares at 2"

4x rectangles at 1 1⁄2" x 5"

From fabric A:

8x squares at 2 1⁄2", draw a diagonal line on the back side of each

1x square at 1 1⁄2"

From fabric B:

4x squares at 3 1⁄2"

To assemble the Bear Paw block:

Select one 2 1⁄2" background square and one 2 1⁄2" fabric A square. Place them right sides together and sew 1⁄4" to either side of the drawn line.

Cut along the drawn line and press open to make two half square triangles.

Trim to 2" square.

Make 16.

Using four of the half square triangles, one 2" background square, and one 3 1⁄2" square of fabric B, assemble the corner unit of the block as shown below.

Make 4.

Using the four corner units and the remaining background and fabric A pieces, assemble the block as shown below.

Trim block to 10 1⁄2" square.

For a throw quilt, make 4.

For a twin quilt, make 9.

For a queen quilt, make 14.

The full instructions above can be downloaded as a PDF here!

SummerGardenBoM_October2022_BearPawBlock_VAFibreArts.pdf

Download PDF • 437KB

Summer Garden Bear Paw Block

For the original sample version of the Summer Garden quilt, the Bear Paw block was made using a green background with lilac and white accent colours.

These colours were inspired by white clover, a non-native wildflower that's commonly found throughout Southern Ontario. The flowers of the white clover typically grow in a round cluster of florets, with the white florets darkening towards the centre of the flower to a beige or pink tone.

I chose to make the claws of the Bear Paw white to reflect these florets and the palm of the Bear Paw lilac to put a slightly fantastical twist on the natural colour scheme. I really love the combination of purple and green, so I thought the lilac colour would go really nicely with the green background fabric!

You can use this colour scheme for your own Bear Paw block or alter it to reflect some of your own familiar garden flowers! Check back to September's Fabric Requirements post for more about colour selection and fabric requirements.

Garden of Cards Bear Paw Blocks

While I really loved making the original sample version of the Summer Garden quilt - working with bright and colourful fabric remnants was a lot of fun - for the quilt I'll be making along with the rest of you, I wanted to do something a little different.

For the quilt-along, I've taken inspiration from the Queen of Hearts' rose garden from Alice in Wonderland. I'll be using a combination of green, red, and white prints and black and white solids, read more about my colour choices in September's Fabric Selection post.

Looking at the shapes in the Bear Paw block, I was reminded of the leaves of roses, which typically have a slightly serrated edge. So I decided to make my Garden of Cards Bear Paw block in various shades of green to reflect the colours of the leaves rather than the bright colours of the flowers themselves.

Then, of course, came the playing card block variant, made using a solid black and white!

So far, I've made one of each of these blocks, and like you, I have the rest of October to get the others finished!

Friends, I'm so excited to get back to piecing my last few October Bear Paw blocks! So far, they've come together even better than I had imagined and I can't wait to see the rest of the project unfold!

And I'm so excited to see your blocks come together as well! Please share photos of them in the comments below, on Instagram by tagging me @vafibrearts, or across other platforms using #summergardenbom!

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this pattern, don't hesitate to reach out; leave me a comment below or email me through my contact page!

We have another four weeks to get these blocks completed before the release of the next instalment in November. But don't worry if you fall behind; the instructions will remain here for you to come back to!

To continue the Summer Garden BoM, visit me again on 08 November!

Until then Friends, Happy Quilting!

~VA

P.S. I'll be away next week visiting my sister, so the blog will be taking a break, but I have plans for 25 October when I return!