February Block of the Month: Scrappy Bear Paws

I think we’re slowly coming out of hibernation, guys! And to celebrate the move from late winter into (very) early spring, we’re going to make scrappy bear paws! Fun fact: bears come out of hibernation in mid- to late March, which aligns nicely with our March guild meeting. Also, look how big a grizzly bear's paw is! Yikes.

I’ve heavily borrowed the instructions below from Jeni Baker, who runs the blog In Color Order (check out her instagram: @jenib320) and has written an entire book about half-square triangles. Check her out - she's lovely!

Here’s our colour plan for these blocks:

Background:

Scrappy low-volume (is there any other way?)

This can be any mix of white, cream, light grey, white with small black or colour accents, etc. Prints or solids, whatever works. The scrappier, the better!

Paws:

Scrappy rainbow colours (one per block)

Our good friend Roy G. Biv is going to be our colour guide for this one. Your paw colours can be red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, or violet. Each block should be a scrappy mix of one of these colours (rather than having all the rainbow in one block, for example). Solids or prints are totally welcome, do your thing!

Extra option: 

Feel free to make the 9.5" square part of the block scrappy as well! You could use whatever scrappy block method you like for this one; I tried out a 9-patch, and a couple of slab blocks for my examples. Anything goes, as long as it comes out looking like it’s a single rainbow colour. Or you can just do a single fabric for the large block (like the purple one in the photo below), whatever you prefer!

Cutting Instructions:

For each bear paw block, you will need:

Paw fabric (scrappy rainbow colours):

• 1 x 9.5" square (this is the paw part, and it can be either a single fabric, or a scrappy single-colour block that measures 9.5” x 9.5”)

• 3 x 4” squares

Background fabric (mixed low-volume):

• 3 x 4” squares

• 1 x 3.5” square

Sewing Instructions:

*Use a 1/4" seam allowance unless otherwise noted.*

*Completed blocks should measure 12.5" x 12.5"*

1. Using a marking pen or pencil, draw a diagonal line across the wrong side of the 4” background squares. Place one 4” background square and one 4” coloured square right sides together. Stitch 1/4" on both sides of the marked line. Cut apart on the marked line to create two half-square triangles. Press seams open. Repeat with remaining 4” squares. Trim half-square triangles to 3.5” square.

2. Arrange the six half-square triangles created in step one, plus the 9.5" square and one 3.5" background square as shown in the photo above.

3. Sew together the block following the sequence in the photo above.

• First, sew the left three "claw" blocks together
• Next, attach the claws to the left side of the 9.5" square to make the bottom unit of your block
• Then sew together the background square and top four "claws" to form the top unit of the block (another row of "claws")
• Sew the top and bottom units together to complete your block
• Press seams open

Your completed blocks should measure 12.5" x 12.5".

Go ahead and share a photo of your BOM blocks on instagram - our hashtag is #ottmqgBOM if you want to see what other guild members are making! Personally, I'm excited to see which colour of the rainbow is going to be the most popular!

Happy sewing!

Leslie