Friday, August 5, 2016

A bear paws through the woods

Hi all, and happy Friday!  Guess what?  We finally found a house and have an accepted offer!  I am so excited.  Here's the best part--we walked into one room and my husband said "This would make a great sewing room." Best husband ever! Is he a keeper or what?  The really great part is that he was totally right--it will make a great sewing room!

In between looking at houses and negotiating the offer, I did do a little sewing.  For this week's finish, I have this to show off:



Isn't this darling?  This is the Bear's Paw pattern, which I tested for Lorna over at Sew Fresh Quilts. Lorna has the cutest patterns and I can tell you that they are terrific.  They always turn out so nicely.  And they are all pieced using regular-sized pieces--they are not paper pieced!


We all know that I have trouble making a quilt exactly as the pattern shows, so I made a few different choices for my quilt.  (And of course I had to make it as difficult for myself as possible instead of following the pattern exactly.)  Lorna shows the quilt with all the Bear's Paw blocks in the same color, which looks terrific in her quilt.  I had a stack of 10-inch squares in solids, so I made the Bear's Paw blocks using those squares.  You can cut one of the Bear's Paw blocks from a 10-inch square and have some nice-sized scraps left over.


The other thing I changed was the color of the bear.  My daughter-in-law loves black bears so I made this bear black as well.  I think he turned out pretty well. Pretty sure it will show every little bit of dirt, but don't bears collect stuff in their fur anyway?  I have this piece with some fun owls for a backing:



I have a couple of tips for success with this pattern.  First, read the entire pattern before you start.  I get the patterns as a download, but then I always print them out and write all over them.  I also cross out as I go, because otherwise I get confused, and that's never pretty.

My second tip is to label all the pieces as you cut them:



It's just so much easier when everything is labelled and I don't have to guess.  My last tip is to sort the pieces by block after they're cut, which means you can grab one stack and sew without having to fuss with finding the pieces.


Lorna plans to offer this pattern as a quilt-along later this year, but you can totally buy the pattern in her pattern store and make your own before then.  She has a lot of other really fun patterns, too, so you should totally go and check it out!

Thanks to Lorna for another great pattern!  This little quilt is becoming a part of my Grandma stash, which is a bunch of quilts that I have for tiny humans when they come to my house. Who doesn't need some of those around all the time?


Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.  We will be sorting and putting things in boxes, at least until the thunderstorm knocks out the power again.  Seriously, is the power grid made of paper mache? It has gone out a lot these last few weeks.

Happy sewing!

Sharing atConfessions of a Fabric Addict and Let's Bee Social.

22 comments:

Bernie Kringel said...

I loved this pattern when I saw it over at Lorna's. You did a fantastic job with it. The bright colorful paws are so much fun and look great with the black bear.

Congrats on the house and the new sewing room. Will it close soon? WHen is moving day? By any chance will you be able to move before school starts back up???

Tish Stemple said...

Congrats on your new house and new sewing space!! That is super exciting. And your version of Lorna's pattern is so cute. I was thinking about making it with a black bear as well, because it is our state animal. Here's to hoping your power stays on.

Jen said...

What a fun interpretation of the pattern!
Congrats on the house! Great sewing room? NICE!

Lorna McMahon said...

First of all.... Congratulations on the news of your new house AND sewing room. How exciting!!! I adore that you made this quilt with those bright and beautiful solids for the Bear Paw blocks, Mari! And the black bear provides a wonderful contrast. Thanks so much for helping to test the pattern. You have outdone yourself!

Jo said...

Great news about the house. Have fun packing.....
That quilt is amazing. I really like the bear. Such fun

thatfabricfeeling.wordpress.com said...

This quilt is so adorable. I actually loved it even without seeing the bear at the bottom. The multi colored paws are great because it makes it more modern. You could also make it in earthtone colors with a brown plaid fabric for the bear. I would call the the lumberjack look! Congrats on the new house and your hubby earns the prize for the best quilting husband of the day?year??

suzanprincess said...

I don't usually care for bear paw blocks, but your pretty colors make a world of difference, as does the bear. Great quilt! I'd love to use it if I visited....

Jan @Cocoa Quilts said...

Bear Paws isn't-wasn't my favorite pattern. But your colors look so good. I love the bright colors.

KaHolly said...

Oh. My. Goodness. Is that ever darling! That's a QAL I'll be participating in (watch her start it just as I'm starting my month long trek home to Tx! That always happens! Then I scramble to catch up!). Well done! XO

Sarah Craig said...

What a great quilt, Mari - I'll definitely be watching for the quilt-along! But I think your real whoop whoop is finding a house with a great sewing room!! Congrats!!

Marly said...

Mari, I love your scrappy version; it's so lively!

Lena Pugacheva said...

The stars look so bright and happy! Yours is a summerly version, if I were making this quilt, I would also make it bright and multicolored))) Congrats on your new house, that's really exciting!

The Cozy Quilter said...

Very cool colour choices! Nice!

Heide said...

What a great looking quilt, love the fun colors with the black bear. It looks like he/she is walking through a field of bear paw flowers with all the wonderful colorful bear paws.

Tami Von Zalez said...

I am joining the quilt along with this pattern - I also liked your tweekages to the bear.

JanineMarie said...

Congrats on the new house. And a sewing room! Yea for you, and for your husband for thinking of it when he walked into that room. What a fun version of Lorna's Bear Paw quilt. I'm thinking your bear has found a field of flowers. I know this will be loved by any wee ones who some to visit.

Kate said...

Congrats on the new house and sewing space. Love your Black Bear version of Lorna's quilt. The rainbow blocks are very pretty, it's nice to see that the pattern works with a wide variety of colors.

Sandra Walker said...

Oh man, your bear is literally stepping OUT of the quilt! I love what you did, the shading for his two inside legs too. Originally from Alberta, I have seen black bears and I would probably make mine black were I to make this quilt! Bear paw was the very first quilt block I learned to make. Love the colourful blocks you made.

Puppilalla said...

Wow, just wow, this quilt turned out amazing! I love it! Oh and happy quilting in your new sewing space =)

Rachel said...

Congrats on the new sewing room in the new house! And very pretty black bear.

Lisa in Port Hope said...

I love this with the bright colourful bear paw blocks! And life is messy, dirt is normal, so I'm sure this quilt will be much loved.

Quilter Kathy said...

It's fabulous! I'm just working on finishing mine now!