The Only Good Time To Be Wrapped In Bear Paws

This month the theme in my sewing space is KIDS.

So I've finished four Bear Paw comfort quilts for KIDS.

For part of 2021 and most of 2022 I made single 6 inch Bear Paw blocks when I came across 2.5 inch scraps enough for 4 HSTs. The 4.5 inch square for  came out of a bin of squares I cut over time from scraps.  The scraps came from leftovers, were given to me or came out of the scrap bags in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month.   I cut the HSTs with an Easy Angle ruler that is why I only needed a 2.5 inch width scrap to make the HSTs.    I kept making blocks until I had a big bin of them then late last year I made them into tops. And now they are finished and ready to move on to some KIDS. All were quilted with spirals/swirls on my DSM. 

I think it's always fun to just make a pile of blocks over time and then see how many quilts I can make out of them. 

Bear Paws singing the blues. 

42 x 60

Bear Paws seeing red and yellow.

42 x 60

Bear Paws in greens and aquas.

42 x 51

All the rest of the Bear Paws.

40 x 60

The back stories.

FINISHED or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

And sew on...

 

Bear Paw Top #3

Bear Paw #3

42 x 60

It's a top!

Starting last year and continuing into this year I've been making 6 inch (finished) Bear Paw blocks as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project and whenever I have leftover 4.5 or 2.5 inch width scraps. 

My intention was just to make blocks and at the end of this year to see how many donation quilts I could make from the blocks. 

For this top I used all of the blue and purple blocks. I had to make about 5 more blocks in order to have enough in those colors. 

Well, that's Bear Paw quilt top #3. 

Bear Paw Top #1 was in greens and aquas and set on point.

Bear Paw Top #2 was warm colors and also set on point. 

I think I can make one more twin sized quilt. Most of the blocks I have left are florals in all colors so probably will be put to better use as a comfort quilt for an adult. I have to make more blocks though so it may be awhile before you see Bear Paw Top #4. 

And sew on...

** Thank you to all who wished me well with my cataract surgery. It did go well! There have been a few minor problems but I'm not complaining. All will be fine with time and a new pair of glasses. 

 

Bear Paw Top #2

Bear Paw #2

42 x 60

It's a top!

Starting last year and continuing into this year I've been making 6 inch (finished) Bear Paw blocks as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project and whenever I have leftover 4.5 or 2.5 inch width scraps. 

My intention was just to make blocks and at the end of this year to see how many donation quilts I could make from the blocks. 

 For this top I pulled out the warm colored blocks -- reds, yellows, oranges. 

Well, that's Bear Paw quilt top #2. 

Bear Paw Top #1 was in greens and aquas. 

Wonder how many more I'll be able to make. Stay tuned!

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

 

Bear Paw Top #1

Bear Paw #1

42 x 51

It's a top!

Starting last year and continuing into this year I've been making 6 inch (finished) Bear Paw blocks as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project and whenever I have leftover 4.5 or 2.5 inch width scraps. 

My intention was just to make blocks and at the end of this year to see how many donation quilts I could make from the blocks.  For this one I pulled out the green and aqua blocks. 

Funny thing happened when I was ready to add the final corner triangle....I could not find it! I looked all over the place for about 15 minutes and could not find it. How frustrating! Well, I had a piece of that same striped green fabric left that was  just big enough to cut another square. That night when I went to bed  and took off my slippers I saw a bit of green peeking out from inside. What the heck is that? Oh, that's where the side setting triangle was hiding!     I wore my slippers into the sewing room and I took one off when I was using the foot pedal. I slid it back on when I got up to sew or cut. The piece must have fallen into my slipper and when I slid it on that corner triangle went into hiding. 

Well, that's Bear Paw quilt top #1. Wonder how many more I'll be able to make. Stay tuned!

And sew on...

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

 

Scrap Processing: 2.5 Inch Scraps

Bear Paw

6 inch finished

I was sorting a box of scraps I recently received and pulled out the 2.5 inch width pieces to process.  If any were long enough to cut 8 HSTs with an Easy Angle ruler then I cut and made 8 HSTs to be used in two different blocks.  

I used 4 HSTs in Bear Paw blocks combined with a 4.5 inch square from my bin of different sizes of squares. 

I've been making Bear Paw blocks from scraps for quite some time. One of these days I'll count out how many I have and how many donation quilts I can make.

Monkey Wrench

5 inch finished

Then I used the other four HSTs to make Monkey Wrench blocks. These blocks also use some 1.5 inch squares from the Monkey Wrench Parts Department. 

From scraps this year and next I'll be making Monkey Wrench blocks in three different sizes and at the end of 2023 assemble them into different donation quilts. 

If I could make 2 HSTs then I made Broken Dishes blocks that finish at 4 inches. I'm thinking I will probably make 2 quilts with these - one with blocks with colors and neutrals and the other with two color blocks. 

This year and next I'll also be making Broken Dishes from scraps.

Monkey Wrench 

10 inch finished

Then if I was able to cut four 2.5 inch squares from the scraps then I used them in Monkey Wrench blocks. I also had to dig into scraps to make four 4.5 inch HSTs. I have some neutral squares already cut in my Monkey Wrench Parts Dept. 

I'm making one Monkey Wrench quilt with only brown scraps and...

...the other (or others depending upon how many blocks get made from scraps the rest of this year and most of next year) will be all colors. 

There were a few other 4.5 inch width scraps on the cutting mat so I went ahead and made them into HSTs and then Broken Dishes blocks that finish at 8 inches. 

The rest of the squares got cut into 2.5 inch squares for the Parts Department. If I could cut four identical squares then they will go into the Monkey Wrench Parts Dept. or they can be used to make Indian Hatchet blocks. If there are neutral squares they are kept separate for Monkey Wrench block centers.   If I could cut a 2.5 x 1.5 inch rectangle then I cut those for the Parts Dept. They can be used in a couple of different blocks I'm making and I'll show you those when I process some 1.5 inch scrap. 

Anything less than 1.5 inch but greater than an inch or so got made into Chinese Coin parts. 

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

 

Scrap Miscellany

Last week I cleaned up a few piles of scraps that had collected on my cutting mat and ironing board. With some longer 2.5 inch pieces I cut and made HSTs. 

I combined four alike with some 4.5 inch squares from my squares bin and made Bear Paws to add to my growing collection of blocks that will be made into quilts at year end (if I get around to it). 

Also if there were four HSTs alike they got turned into Monkey Wrench blocks for a growing collection. For these the HSTs get combined with some 1.5 inch squares and the blocks finish at 5 inches. 

I have fun making these blocks. I've decided to make these in three sizes (5, 7.5 and 10 inch) with scraps throughout the rest of the year and probably into next year.  And, oops, I forgot to take a pic of that Bear Paw with the glow in the dark eyes. 

If there aren't sets of four HSTs that match but there are two that do then I've been turning them into Broken Dishes blocks. I have several different sizes of those now too. I've been going through a box of HST parts accumulated over the years and have been sewing HSTs as leaders/enders then store them in baggies by size. I decided to match up a few pairs from the baggies while I was in Broken Dishes mode. 

So now I have little collections of 4, 6 and 8 inch Broken Dishes blocks. 

So...now when I have leftovers and can make 4 HSTs then I can make Monkey Wrench blocks and if 2 matching HSTs (or 4) I can make Broken Dishes.   

While going through my HST baggies I noticed a lot of 3.5 inch HSTs with yellow AND four matching.  So I pulled all of those out and added some 2 inch squares and made Monkey Wrench blocks that finish at 7.5 inches. 

There are not enough for a big or little quilt so I'll just remember if I have leftovers and make 3.5 inch HSTs to match them up with yellow scraps for awhile. 

These HST parts were given to me. I matched them up and made the 6.5 inch HST for the Parts Department since I'm not sure what to do with them right now. I'll probably use them in orphan block quilts. 

And speaking of Parts...I made these Four Patches from pieces leftover from making a Hollow Nine Patch and Bricks and Stones quilt from 3 inch width pieces.  They finish at 5 inches. For now I am putting them in the Parts Department and these too will probably be used in orphan block quilts since they are kind of a weird size. 

Or someday I might use alternate 5.5 squares to make a quilt. For now they are Parts and off of my cutting mat. 

Someone gave me a baggie of Flying Geese bodies. I added some 2.5 inch neutral wings cut with the Easy Angle ruler. I think they, too, will go into the Parts Department for now. Someday I may use them as star points on Sawtooth Stars but then someday I may use them as Parts in an orphan block quilt.  For now they are out of the bits and pieces box (mostly HST parts) that I'm trying to empty and use as leader/enders. 

Flying Geese bodies in waiting.

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

 

Scrap Processing

Purple is the July Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. I see the color for August is orange. So this week I finished up with a few purple scraps and went on to my orange scraps. 

Hollow Nine Patches

7.5 inches finished

Made with three inch squares

With these blocks I now have my goal of 48 blocks for a 6 x 8 layout. Now there's some assembly required. 

I don't have 3 inch width scraps very often but when I have run across them while scrap processing I have put them in the project box in order to make the Hollow Nine Patches. Now I have a few odds and ends that are 3 inches in width. I've decided to turn them into bricks if possible and I will separate them with yellow stones.  I'm not really going to turn this into a new RSC project. I'm just going to see how many bricks I can make with what I have. I think a kiddos sized donation quilt will take 112 bricks.

I'm thinking I might also make a separate quilt of neutral bricks with stones of all colors. 

The last of the purple scraps - 3 inch finished Bow Ties made with 2 inch scraps. 

I dug into my orange scraps and found a few 2.5 inch width strips.  I combined them with some neutral scraps and made as many sets of four 2.5 inch HSTs as I could. I also sewed up a few other sets of HSTs previously cut as I came across craps.   Some of the HSTs were combined with 4.5 inch squares from the squares bin and were turned into Bear Paw blocks.   I'll use these in different ways at year end to make a few donation quilts. 

Some of the other sets of 2.5 inch HSTs were combined with 1.5 inch squares to make Monkey Wrench blocks that finish at 5 inches. 

And finally...I found a few 4.5 inch orange scraps and combined those with neutral scraps to make HSTs. Those HSTs were then combined with 2.5 inch squares and made into Monkey Wrench blocks that finish at 10 inches. 

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday