Starting from issue 75, every issue of Love Patchwork & Quilting magazine is featuring a new quilt block from the Paws and Pluses series by Sarah Griffiths. We kicked things off in issue 75 with the centre design (scroll down to see), and this month we're finishing the series by making the medallion corner blocks and dot blocks (scroll down to see), and showing you how to assemble your finished Modern Bear Paw Quilt.
You can find the links to where to get each of these patterns from the series so far in our gallery below!
This post is for everyone who's joining in at home. Keep reading to find out how much fabric you'll need to make the whole quilt, see the finished quilt diagram and discover Sarah's top tips for sewing your quilt.
So, what's the story?
This medallion quilt will feature modern adaptations of the Bear Paw block, as well as a plus block throughout. We started in issue 75 with the centre of the quilt, and then in our coming issues we'll talk you through how to sew up the outer rounds. Feature blocks for each of the rounds will be made up over six issues, with two colourways for each. Then towards the end, we’ll move on to the borders and finish up the quilt.
The Bear Paw block features plenty of Half Square-Triangles, and throughout the series Sarah will take you through several different methods to make these blocks – this way you'll get to try out new techniques as we go. However, if you want to make your triangles using a different method, it's fine to stick with your favourite way of piecing them. Your fabric requirements may alter slightly if you do this, so you might want to order a bit of extra fabric to be on the safe side, although we've allowed some margin in our requirements below to allow for this too.
If you'd like to sew along with us for this series, show us how you're getting on! Share your finished blocks using the hashtag #pawsandplusessewalong.
What does the finished quilt look like?
We're excited to reveal how your finished quilt will come together! Here's the quilt pattern you'll be creating...
And to hep you map out your blocks, here's the quilt layout diagram:
Finished size
84in square
You will need
To make the entire quilt:
- Dark Blue (Pacific) ¾yd
- Medium Blue (Algeria) ¾yd
- Light Blue (Lake) ¾yd
- Dark Green (Ultra Marine) ¾yd
- Medium Green (Cypress) ¾yd
- Light Green (Ice Frappe) 1yd
- Dark Yellow (Curry) ¾yd
- Medium Yellow (Duckling) ½yd
- Light Yellow (Bright Idea) ½yd
- Dark Red (Sangria) ¾yd
- Medium Red (Watermelon) ¾yd
- Light Red (Creamsicle) ¾yd
- White (includes binding) 7yds
- Batting: 88in square
- Backing fabric (at least 45in wide): 5yds
Sarah's top tips for sewing this series
- We're making our blocks entirely from Kona Cotton Solids here on the Love Patchwork & Quilting team, so if you're using prints at home, you may need slightly more yardage if you want to fussy cut or match prints in the correct direction.
- Make sure to sew a test seam, and check you’re sewing an exact ¼in seam. Adjust the position of your needle as necessary.
- With medallion quilts, it’s important to reach the exact measurements between rounds. So it's a good idea to check the measurements of blocks and borders as you work to make sure everything is matching up. It’s easier to fix blocks at the beginning than to keep sewing and just hope for the best! If you don't check as you go, you may find by the time you reach the outer border, things could stop lining up correctly.
- Press your Half-square Triangle seams to one side, so they will nest when you're sewing a larger block together. This allows you to hit any points exactly without using pins. However, if you’re struggling with this, you can also press seams open and match points with pins. We always encourage people to try different methods, until they find the method that works best for them.
Catch up on the series so far...
This issue we're sewing the Medallion Corner blocks, which are made of a combination of these cute modern dot blocks with plus blocks to create cool corner sections of your quilt top.
Missed a month and want to catch up? Each month we've also been add the latest blocks to this post so you can refer to this as a design library to find all the blocks featured and grab the instructions for the ones you've missed from our past issues (you can buy past issues in our online store).
Do you have a quilt that you’re proud of? Why not enter it into the Festival of Quilts Virtual Competition 2020?
