Thursday, August 24, 2017

Bear paws... RARRRR!!!!

When it comes to quilt patterns, I have always loved the Bear Paw. I don't know why. Back in 2015,  I decided to make my own Bear Paw quilt. But other than a sewing machine and fabric, I didn't have many other tools of the trade. So I did all my cutting at Mom's, and brought the pieces home to sew.

I wasn't using pre-set measurements from a pattern (I couldn't find one with really big paws, which is what I wanted) so I did the math myself. Unfortunately, I did it wrong. I cut my large squares too big (forgetting the seam would make the claws smaller). Nor a huge deal  - I decided to piece as is, leaving an overhang I could trim.

Then I took all the squares up to Mom's to use her cutting mat and rotary cutter. All was going well until I managed to trim some a full inch smaller than others. I'm still not sure how I did it. But the only fix was to rip seams, trim things down and sew all over again.

I just wasn't up to facing it, so everything got shoved in a bag and buried in the deep dark recesses of the studio. That is until this summer, when I started cleaning things out. I came across the bag and was finally able to wrap my head around the best way to redo them.

Back at the start of the summer, I spent an afternoon on Mom's porch with them. She spun yarn, I ripped seams, we chatted and it made the task seem much less daunting.

And this weekend, with my Pinwheels under my belt, I was finally confident enough to take another stab at the Bear Paws. I admit, it has a lot to do with the studio set up I have now (plus Mom bought me my own cutting mat and rotary cutter for my birthday last year)
With the new/old machine, I have room to lay my blocks out while I piece them (resulting in fewer mis-sewn seams). Kitty corner to the table (not in the picture), is my ironing board and iron. I have a rolling chair at the machine, so I can just roll from sewing to pressing and back again with ease.

It wasn't too long before I had a perfect paw done
And then 11 more!
This is the layout I'm going to use. The floor makes a nice stand in for the neutral fabric I still need to get for the plain squares. Despite all the cutting down, the  finished paws are still very large - 11".
I've got a stack of coordinating fabrics collected from remnant bins, and once I get my neutral fabric in there, I'll start playing around with some colour-coordinated sashing.

But for now I'm just thrilled to have 12 paws, all the same size!

10 comments:

Araignee said...

Nice work!! I am terrified of anything that needs nice crisp points like those paws but you did a great job with them.

Delighted Hands said...

Well done!!!
This is sure shaping up and isn't it wonderful to cut and sew!?!

chrisknits said...

Love them! Glad you stuck with the project and got it worked out.

Vera said...

Congratulations! They look great. I love that you and our Mom share so many things together.

Anonymous said...

Love your bear paws. They would look great with "tile colored" fabric. Have fun!

Eastside Cats said...

Impressive!

Cat Lover said...

Oh, that looks so lovely Valerie! Good for you, you gave it another go. If that was me it would still be lurking in a closet.
Have a good day.
Robin

pdxknitterati/MicheleLB said...

Sometimes a project needs a good time out so it can think about how to behave better!

Your sewing machine looks a little older than mine (prettier, curvier lines; mine looks more industrial). Do you know how old it is? Here's mine: https://pdxknitterati.com/2010/06/03/sew-cute/

Have fun!

kathy b said...

Love paws !!!! Good job lady!

Andrea Ostapovitch said...

That looks like it requires no small amount of accuracy, something I struggle with. Your quilt looks perfect.

Have a great rest of your week,
Andrea