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The Contemporary Bear Paw Quilt Block – A Review

Hi!

It’s class time again, and this week I took Sue Beevers’ “Contemporary Bear Paw Quilt Block” class, on the Creative Spark platform.  This class is marked as an Adventurous Beginner class, and Sue demonstrates this classic quilt block very clearly and makes it easy to follow along with, as she shares a bunch of different variations.

Sue is an enthusiastic teacher, and her love of this Bar Paw quilt block and all its design possibilities shines through, in this easy set of step by step lessons.

As Sue says, this block is based on a 9-patch block, with three parts – the pad, toes and background.  This means that this is an easy block to resize and modify, to create all sorts of variations.

Included with this class is the full pattern too for Sue’s contemporary “Dancing Bear Paws” quilt, and aside from all of the different block patterns, there is a good discussion on how to choose your fabrics for a quilt like this, to create a cohesive look for your own quilt.

The patterns are clear, and easy to understand.

Sue explains how to change this classic block up, and how to divide the 9-patch grid to make all sorts of block variations.

Some of the many variations are fun too – try a Bear Paw quilt block with a border –

Or add a square to the pad.

The Double Bear Paw makes for an interesting block,

And the magic of combining and rotating blocks is well covered too.

This is a great class for beginners to tackle, as you work through these lessons and do the homework assignments, and you build Sue’s quilt step by step as you go.

Sue’s tips on how to quilt these blocks were well thought out too.  She feels that as these blocks are quite geometric, that “simple stitches with a geometric feel”  both suit the style of the blocks, and the contemporary feel of this quilt. Hers was quilted with echoed straight lines making shapes in the negative spaces of the background, which adds a lovely textural dimension to this quilt.

If you’re after some good piecing practice, and are looking for a quilt block challenge, then this class is worth checking out on the Creative Spark Platform here.

I do have one free class to offer this month too, to a lucky reader, courtesy of Creative Spark, and Sue Beevers.  If you’d like to explore the classic Bear Paw quilt block further, please leave a comment below and let me know what you love most about this classic block.  One name will be drawn at random next Tuesday 24th June.

Good Luck, and Enjoy your Week!