Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Tiny Tuesday - Bear's Paw

Pink seems so cheerful right now.  I just can't get enough of it.  Paired with simple, classic blocks, it is hard to go wrong. 
This week is a Bear's Paw block.  Definitely a simple classic. 
 You will need two squares along with 4 HST units.  Feel free to use the method of  your choice for the half square triangles.  The unfinished size is 2 inches and they will be 1.5 in the finished block.  I'll be showing the two squares method today, but there are lots of ways to make HST units. 
Cutting:
From pink: 1 large square 3.5 inches and two medium squares 2.5 inches
From background: 2 medium squares 2.5 inches and 1 small square 2 inches

(These directions are for slightly over-sized HST triangle units which will be trimmed to 2 inches, the "official" rule says to add 7/8 of an inch to your desired finished size to make an exact size with no trimming required.  I would personally rather trim a tiny bit and use a standard sized square, but if you would rather use and exact size, that should make the medium square 2 and 3/8 of an inch each I believe)
 Pair each 2.5 inch pink square with a background square.  Use a pencil to draw a line from corner to corner along the diagonal of each background square. 
 Sew a quarter of an inch from the drawn line on either side of both squares.  Cut along the drawn line and press so that the seam allowance goes toward the dark fabric.  Trim each of your four HST units to 2 inches. 
 Here is your layout.  The large square forms the sole of the bear's paw.  Each HST makes up one toe.  Notice that the pink portions are all adjacent and the diagonal seams all run parallel.  Use the small square of background to fill in the final corner. 
 Sew each pair of HST units together.  Be careful with the orientation as it is easy to rotate them accidentally.  Note that the two sides are not facing the same way. 
 Sew two toes to one side and then sew the background square to the end of the other two toes.  Press the seams toward to sole and away from the toes so that the seams nestle. 
There you go!  Just press the final seam toward the sole of the bears paw and your final block should be 5 inches.  Set in on the diagonal so that it looks like the bear is walking up your quilt.  

8 comments:

The Joyful Quilter said...

PINK. Paired with a personal favorite. Thanks, Angela... another Tiny Tuesday block that I won't be able to resist!!

Jo said...

I might scatter these through my quilt

Carol R. said...

Cute! Cute! Cute! I can't resist tiny bear paws... especially in pink :)

grammajudyb said...

Fingers crossed my HST don't give me fits! I am loving these Tiny Tuesday blocks. I look forward to them every week.

Quiltdivajulie said...

I'm with you - use standard sizes and trim as needed. LOVING this little block!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

That was a fun one! I enjoyed making it!

cdpquilter said...

If it’s in pink, shouldn’t it be called Kitty Paw?

Susie H said...

This will be a quick catcher-upper! Love it and thank you