Vintage Inspired Bear Paw Quilt

I was inspired by this Bear Paw quilt made by my great-grandmother to make my own version of this very special quilt.  You can even see by the worn spots how much this quilt is loved. I didn’t know my great-grandmother very well, but I know she was a very special lady by the way my mom talks about her and the fact that she taught my mom how to quilt when she was young.  I love this quilt! I am thankful to be able to share this tutorial with all of you, so you too could make a very special heirloom piece for you and your family.  Enjoy!

Fabric featured in tutorial is Glace by 3 Sisters
2 Charm Packs
1 Turnover
1 Basic Jelly Roll in Snow #9900JR-11
1 yard Bella Solid in Snow #9900-11
5 yards coordinating fabric for backing and binding
Coordinating Thread
Luna Batting by Moda

Cutting the Pieces…
1. Select 12 Charm Squares and 12 Turnover slices from 4 different color ways.  You will need a total of 48 Charm Squares and 48 Turnover slices.

2. You will need to trim your 48 charm squares down to 4 1/2″ square.

3. From the Turnover slice, cut the triangle down the center creating 2 triangles.

4. From the two smaller triangles, cut them in half creating two more smaller triangles.

5. You should now have 4 little triangles from your 1 original Turnover slice.
Repeat these steps for all 12 of your triangles selected.

6. From the 1 yard of Bella Solid cut 96 – 3″ x 3″ squares. 

7. Cut them in half diagonally creating two triangles.  Do this to all 96 squares.

8.  From the Solid Jelly Roll…

Cut 48 – 14 1/2″ strips for borders.

Cut 48 – 6 1/2″ strips for sashing.

Cut 96 – 2 1/2″ squares.  48 of these squares will be used for each bear paw.  The other 48 squares will be used on the borders.

Sewing the bear paw…

All seam allowances are 1/4″

9. Lay out your triangles and squares as shown below to create a bear paw.  I used all the same print for each individual bear paw.

10. Begin by sewing all the triangles RST (right sides together)

11. You should now have four squares that look like the picture below.

12. Lay out all your pieces again for your bear paw to get proper placement. 1 trimmed Charm square (4 1/2″), 4 sewn triangle squares and 1 – 2 1/2″ square from your solid jelly roll.

13. First sew two of the triangle blocks together on one side of the charm square as shown.  Press all pieces as you go.

14. Next sew the other two triangle blocks and the plain solid block together in a row as shown. press.

15. Sew the row of the two triangle blocks RST to one side of the charm square. press.

16. Align your seams and sew the other row of the three blocks to the other side of the block as shown. press. Trim your bear paw to 6 1/2″ square.

17.  Repeat steps 9-16 for all 48 bear paws. You should now have 12 bear paws of 4 different color ways.

18. From your left over charm squares and/or turnover slices, cut a total of 12 – 2 1/2″ squares.  3 squares for each of the 4 color ways.

On a charm square, simply slice in half in both directions.

On a turnover slice, cut 2 1/2″ from one one of the shorter sides as shown.

Then turn and cut 2 1/2″ from the other short side of the triangle.

Constructing the Bear Paw Clusters…

19. Lay out 4 bear paws of the same color way, 4 – 6 1/2″ sashing strips, and 1 – 2 1/2″ middle square that coordinates with your bear paws as shown below.

20. Sew the rows together as shown below and press your seams opposite from another as shown to reduce the bulk when sewing.

21. Sew the three rows together RST creating a bear paw cluster. press.
22. Lay out your bear paw cluster block and 4 – 2 1/2″ squares and 4 – 14 1/2″ squares as shown below.

23. Sew the pieces together creating three rows as shown. press.

24. Sew the three rows RST as shown. press.

25. Repeat steps 19-24 for all the other bear paw blocks. You should now have 12 bear paw cluster blocks, 3 of each of the 4 color ways.

Assembling the Quilt…

26. Lay out all your blocks as you see fit.

27. Sew the blocks together in rows.

 28. Sew the rows together to complete your quilt top.

29. Quilt, bind, ENJOY!

Quilt top measures 54″ x 72″

Angela Yosten
http://modahomemom.blogspot.com/

Business and Travel Accessories

Dessert Roll – Featured is Glace’ by 3 Sisters

For the Lanyard:

1 – 1″ Suspender/Mitten Clip – featured Dritz #10

1 – Large Eyelet Kit, size 1/4″ – featured Dritz #659-65

1 1/2 yards – 1/4″ ribbon

3″ – 7/8″ ribbon

Spare Parts – Alpha Sliders by the Paper Studio (I got mine from the scrap booking section in my local craft store)

Fabric glue – I like to use Helmar’s Premium Craft Glue.

For the Handle Wrap:

Scrap piece of batting (5″ x 5″)

4″ piece of velcro (hook and loop sides.)

For the Luggage Tag:

12″ – 1/4″ ribbon

Flexible Clear Plastic – I used a sheet protector and just cut it to size.

applique’s or other embellishments

LANYARD…

Step One:

Select one strip from your dessert roll to use for your lanyard strap.

Keeping the strip folded in half cut the ends of the strip off so that your strip measures 21 1/2″ folded. When you unfold your strip, your strip should measure 43″ long.

Step Two:
Fold and iron your strip lengthwise.

Fold and iron your strip once more lengthwise.

Unfold your strip so you can see the crease in the center from the second fold.

Fold and iron both sides of the strip inward matching up with the crease in the center.

Fold and iron the strip in half one last time, concealing the raw edges inside the fold.

Step Three:

Stitch on either side of the strip as close the the edge as you can without going over.

Step Four:

Fold your strip in half matching the two short ends together. Make a crease in the center of strap. This will help find the center of the strap when attaching the eyelets.

Step Five:

With a marking pen (I used a fine tip sharpie), measure 3 1/2″ from the center on either side of the crease {center of strap} and mark with a small dot. From this dot, measure 6″ on both sides and mark another dot. From this dot, measure 6″ one last time on both sides and mark a last dot. You should now have 6 dots on your strap evenly spaced.

Step Six:

Following the directions on the Eyelet Kit, attach 6 eyelets to the marked locations on your strap.

Your strap should now look something like this…

Step Seven:
Determine which side you want facing out when wearing and starting on the back side, weave your 1/4″ ribbon in and out through your eyelets on the strap. Your ribbon should end up on the same side but on the opposite end when finished. Make sure the ribbon is pulled tight and lays flat against the strap on both sides.

Cut the ribbon to fit the strap. (Shown below is the back side. of the strap)

Step Eight:
Keeping the ribbon flat against the strap, stitch the ribbon down to the strap on either end to hold in place.

Step Nine:

At this point I like to wrap the strap around the back side of my neck and then cross the ends in front of me to make sure everything is lined up properly. The strap ends will cross one another with both right sides facing up so when wearing your lanyard it lays nice and flat against you and won’t twist around.

Your eyelets should line up with each other towards the ends of the straps. Stack your strap one end on top of the other with both sides facing up matching the two end eyelets together. Don’t worry if the ends of your straps are slightly off. As long as your eyelet match up then your lanyard won’t look lopsided.

Step Ten:

Stitch your two ends together about a 1/2″ up from the end.

Step Eleven:

With the back sides of your strap facing up, weave the sewn ends through the Suspender Clip towards the back side of the clip.

Stitch the ends down in two places. I like to stitch over my original stitch for the one closest to the clip and then stitch again towards the end of the straps for extra reinforcement. Please sew slowly as your are sewing through several layers of fabric at this point.

Step Twelve:

Apply the letter you wish to have on your lanyard to one of the metal sliders with the ribbon holes facing east and west so that when you tie on your letter with your ribbon your letter will be facing in the right direction.

Step Thirteen:

Using your 7/8″ ribbon, wrap and glue your ribbon around the base of the lanyard covering any stitching you may have made to attach the clip to your strap. I folded over end of the ribbon to conceal any raw edges. The seam of the ribbon should be at the back side fo your strap.

Using the leftover 1/4″ ribbon weave the ribbon through your Alpha Slider so that it is in the center of your ribbon. Holding the slider in place on the front side of the strap, wrap the ends of the ribbon around the strap a few times ending up at the top of the Alpha Slider. Tie a tight knot in the ribbon securing the Alpha Slider and ribbon in place. Trim off the ends of the ribbon as desired.

Clip your strap to your ID Badge and you are now styling a new look with your lanyard. Make one for your friends and one in all colors to coordinate with your wardrobe!

HANDLE WRAP…

Step One:

From another piece of Dessert roll, cut 2 – 5″ pieces so that you have two 5″ squares. Charm Packs would also work great for these. Use two coordinating fabrics to have a reversible handle wrap. I added an an applique’ letter A to one side of the handle wrap to personalize my wrap.

You will want to do any applique stitching or other embellishments now before attaching the two pieces of fabric together.

Step Two:

Layer your pieces in the following order from top to bottom….

5″ square of fabric Right side facing down

5″ square of fabric Right side facing up

5″ square of batting.

With all layers sandwiched together, stitch a 1/4″ around all sides leaving a 3″ opening to turn.

Clip corners before turning.

Step Three:

Turn handle wrap Right sides out and iron flat. Stitch a 1/8″ seam around all four sides closing the opening at the same time.

Step Four:

Cut a piece from both the hook and the loop tape to 4″ long.

Stitch the hook and loop tape to top of one side of the wrap and the bottom of the back side of the wrap.

You now have a very stylish handle wrap and your bags will no longer be mistaken for someone elses at the airport.

LUGGAGE TAG…

Step One:

From the same strip of fabric used for your handle wrap, cut 2 pieces of fabric at 5″ x 3″.

Again, I used an applique on one side of my luggage tag out of a coordinating fabric.

Step Two:

With right Sides together, sew a 1/4″ seam around the tag leaving a 1 1/2″ – 2″ opening at the TOP of the luggage tag. Clip corners and turn. Iron flat.

Step Three:

Cut a piece of 1/4″ ribbon – 12″ long and fold in half.

Place the folded end of the ribbon in the top opening of the luggage tag about a 1/2″ inside with the ends of the ribbon sticking outside of the opening. Stitch across the top of the luggage tag backstitching a couple times over the ribbon to secure in place.

Step Four:

From the Sheet Protector or other thin clear plastic, cut 4″ down from the fold of the sheet protector and across 2 1/2″ {you will ultimately have two layers joined together by the fold.}

The fold of the sheet protector will become the opening end for your ID information for the luggage tag.

Place the cut piece of plastic on the back side {blank side} of the luggage tag. If your plastic hangs over the edges, then trim down to fit the luggage tag. Stitch around the three sides that meet up with the fabric with about 1/8″ seam.

You now have a coordinating luggage tag to insert your ID information or business card incase your luggage gets lost.

You are now set apart from the rest of the world with your very own customized travel accessories. Make some for everyone you know or multiple colors for you! You can get several accessories out of one Dessert Roll.

Enjoy!

Angela Yosten

http://modahomemom.blogspot.com/

Piece of Cake Apron

1 layer cake – featured here is Glace’ by 3 Sisters
5/8 yard for pocket lining and lower ruffle
1/4 yard tie ends and upper ruffle
(3) 3/4″ buttons

3/4 yard 3/4″ rick rack

Note: all seam allowances are 1/4″ unless otherwise indicated.
Step 1
Choose your favorite square for the front pocket.

Step 2
Pick a square for the pocket trim and cut (2) strips 1 1/2″ wide.

Step 3
Stitch to each side of the pocket and press toward the pocket trim.

Step 4
Turn in 1″ on upper edge of pocket and press. Set aside.

Step 5
Choose a minimum of 6 different squares and cut each into (9) 3″ x 3″ squares.

Step 6
Arrange squares and stitch into 6 rows of 9 squares each. Press seams of odd numbered rows to the left and even numbered rows to the right.

Step 7
Stitch rows together. Press the seams in one direction.

Step 8
Turn under 1/4″ and then another 1/4″ to make a narrow hem on each side. Stitch close to fold. Turn under 1/4″ and then
1 1/4″ on the upper edge and press.

Step 9
Stitch “in the ditch” of the top seamline. This will form your casing.

Step 10
To make tie ends, cut (2) strips 2 1/2″ x width of fabric. Stitch strips together along one short side. Press seam open. Press tie in half lengthwise forming a crease.

Step 11
Open tie and turn in short ends and press. Press long raw edges to meet center crease.

Step 12
Fold in half again and topstitch close to edge.

Step 13
To make the double ruffle, cut (1) strip 2 1/2″ x width of fabric and (1) strip 5″ x width of fabric. Turn under 1/4″ and another 1/4″ to make a narrow hem on both short sides and one long side of each ruffle strip. Place the upper ruffle on top of the lower ruffle with wrong sides together and raw edges even. Stitch 2 rows of machine basting stitches within the seam allowance. Pull up the gathers to fit the width of the apron.

Step 14
With right sides together, pin ruffle to bottom of apron. Stitch ruffle. As you can see from my photo, you can easily do this late at night when the lighting is poor!
Press the ruffle down. Topstitch rick rack over the seam if desired. Insert tie through the casing.

Step 15
To make detachable pocket cut a square of fabric 13″ x 13″. Pin the right side of the pocket to the wrong side of the lining. Beginning at the top edge of the lining, stitch one side seam, then stitch across the bottom, then back up the other side seam ending at the other top edge of the lining, using 5/8″ seam allowance.

Step 16
Turn pocket. Clip the lining where it meets the top of the pocket close to stitching.

Step 17
Fold remaining seam allowance of pocket lining to the back, tucking in the raw edge. Press under the top edge of the pocket lining 1/4″ and then another 1 1/2″ forming a hem. Topstitch sides of lining, close to fold, from top edge to top of pocket.

Step 18
Mark and stitch 3 buttonholes for the (3) 3/4″ buttons. Center one buttonhole and the others should be placed 3/8″ from each side. The buttonholes should begin 1/4″ from the top.

Pin the pocket in place on the front of the apron matching centers. Mark position of buttons and stitch them in place.
Now you’re finished! You can wear your new apron with or without the pocket.

Wasn’t that fun? You’ve got enough squares left over to make some more! I’ll bet you can think of someone who would love an apron of their own.
If you’d like to know what else I’m up to besides cutting up squares and stitching late into the night, please come see me at
http://www.the-latebloomer.blogspot.com/ or http://www.latebloomerquilts.com/.

1 layer cake will give you enough squares to make 5 aprons.

by Elizabeth Scott