March 2020 ~ Bear's Claw BOM

During 2020 we will be doing blocks from the “One Hundred and one Patchwork Patterns”  book by Ruby Short McKim.  The book was published in 1931, and my husband’s maternal Grandmother learned to quilt from this book.  These blocks are done in her honor.  

This block is the Bear’s Paw, or “Bear’s Claw”, or sometimes called “Duck’s Foot in the Mud”, and friends down in Pennsylvania called it “Hands of Friendship.   These were often assembled with solid blocks between the Bear’s Paw. (McKim)

The original instructions were for a 12” finished block, Our block will finish at 12″ (12 1/2″ unfinished).  

Fabric Requirements

Yellow – 10″ x 15″
Purple – 8″ x 17″
Pink – 8″ x 8″

Fabric Cutting

 Note: You may cut the 6” x 6” at 5 ¾” x 5 ¾” to reduce waste if you are comfortable with HST.

Assembly

HST – 2 1/4″ x 2 1/4″ unfinished

Using one Yellow and one Purple 6” x 6” pieces, draw a line from corner to corner on the back on the lighter fabric, creating an “X”.

• Stitch 1/4″ on both sides of the drawn lines, creating a double X (Black lines)

• Cut along the drawn lines, and then again vertical and horizontal halfway. (Cut on the Red lines

• Square up the HST to make sure they are 2 ¼”” square. 

• Press open, and trim dog ears.

• Repeat using the other Purple and yellow 6” x 6” pieces, creating a total of 16 HST – 2 ¼” HST

Creating the four corners (Paw)

You will create the four corners, you will need:

1 – Yellow 2 ¼” x 2 ¼”
4 – Yellow/Purple HST (2¼” x 2 ¼”)
1 – Pink – 4″ x 4″

• Assemble the following.

• Square up the block to 5 ¾” x 5 ¾”

• Create 4 of these blocks.

Using the corner created in the previous step with one Yellow 2” x 5 ¾” pieces

Using another corner and two Yellow 2″ x 5 ¾” and the Purple 2” x 2”,

Sew the top row together

Sew the bottom row together

Sew the two rows together to create the final block. 

Your block is now finished, make sure to post on the Quilting BOM Facebook group.

I look forward to seeing all your wonderful blocks!  Make sure to post on the Facebook group!

Thank you for joining us for this May 2020 block of the month!  

Click Here for a downloadable PDF of the instructions.

For the Video, click Here.

For the previous blocks, you can check under “Units”in the Facebook group.

Here are some other color combinations.