Rainbow Bears

We’re going on a bear hunt. We’re going to catch a big one! – Michael Rosen.

Is there any better way to find the bears than by following their paw prints! This delightful and fun quilt is a great way to bring kids and adults imagination to life. Whether it’s telling stories and reading a book about bears, or just snuggling with your favourite teddy bear, this quilt will bring contentment to any child or adult.

The BOB (Block on Board) die makes this quilt it quick and easy to make.

Materials:

  1. AccuQuilt GO! Big or GO! Fabric Cutter
  2. AQ55461 GO! Bear’s Paw – 14” Finished
  3. AQ55025 GO! Strip Cutter 1 ½” (1” Finished)
  4. AQ55470 GO! Square – 1 ½” (1” Finished)
  5. AQ55017 GO! Strip Cutter 2 ½” (2” Finished)
  6. AQ55054 GO! Strip Cutter 4 ½” (4” Finished)
  7. AQ55113 GO! Cutting Mat 10” x 24”
  8. AQ55137 GO! Cutting Mat 6” x 6”
  9. AQ55138 GO! Cutting Mat 6” x 24”
  10. (24) Fat Quarter in coordinating fabrics
  11. 3.5m Grey Colour 1
  12. 1.5m Grey Colour 2 for border and binding
  13. 1.8m x 2.6m of wadding
  14. 1.8m x 2.6m of backing
  15. Sewing Machine
  16. Matching Sewing Thread
  17. General Sewing Tools

Cutting Instructions:

  1. From each fat quarter cut:
    • Using AQ55461 GO! Bear’s Paw
      • (6) 4 ½” Squares (Shape A)
      • (16) 2 ½” Half Square Triangles (HST) (Shape B)
      • (1) 2 ½” Square (Shape C)
    • AQ55470 GO! Square – 1 ½”
      • (1) 1 ½” Square
  2. Using Grey Colour 1
    • Cut (7) 9 ½” strips
      • Using AQ55461- cut (96) 2 ½” squares (Shape C) and (96) 6 ½” x 2 ½” Rectangles (Shape D)
    • Cut (4) 6 ½” strips
      • Using AQ55461 – Cut (384) 2 ½” Square (Shape C)
    • Cut (1) 21” strip
      • Using AQ55025 – cut (13) 1 ½” Strips. Cross cut with rotary cutter at 14 ½”
    • Cut (1) 20” Strip
      • Using AQ55054 – Cut (4) 4 ½” strips.
  3. Using Grey Colour 2
    • Cut (2) 24” strips
      • Using AQ55017 – Cut (16) 2 ½” strip.

Sewing Instructions:

Finished size 71” x 101”

All seams are ¼” unless otherwise specified.

Laying the colours out in your desired order, each block will consist of three colours in a row. Colour 1 will be (1) 2 ½” square, colours 2 and 3 will be (2) 4 ½” squares and (8) 2 ½” HST

How to sew the Bear’s Paw Quilt Block
  1. Sew one grey and one coloured HST (Shape B) together to make a HST unit.
Rainbow Bears Picture 1
  1. Sew two HST units together to make Unit A
Rainbow Bears Picture 2
  1. Sew two HST units together to make Unit B
Rainbow Bears Picture 3
  1. Sew on Unit A and one grey square (Shape C) together to make Unit C
Rainbow Bears Picture 4
  1. Sew one Unit B and one coloured square (Shape A) together to make Unit D.
Rainbow Bears Picture 5
  1. Sew on Unit C and Unit D together to make Unit E
Rainbow Bears Picture 6
  1. Sew two Unit E (in different colour ways) and one rectangle (Shape D) to make Unit F
Rainbow Bears Picture 7
  1. Sew two rectangles (Shape D) and a small square (Shape C) to make Unit G.
Rainbow Bears Picture 8
  1. Sew two Unit F and one unit G to complete Bears Paws block
Rainbow Bears Picture 9
  1. Repeat steps 1 – 9 to make a total of 24 blocks.
  2. Arrange blocks into 6 rows of 4. Using the 1 ½” x 14 ½” strips, sew onto three blocks to create sashing. Sew the four blocks together, with the sashing in between the blocks, as shown below.
Rainbow Bears Picture 10
  1. Repeat step 11 for all 6 rows.
  2. Using four 1 ½” x 14 ½” strips and three 1 ½” squares, sew the square onto three of the rectangles. Sew the four blocks together to form a sashing, as shown below.
Rainbow Bears Picture 11
  1. Repeat step 13 to create 5 sashing’s in total.
  2. Matching seams and blocks, sew the rectangle sashing to the bottom of 5 block rows as shown below.
Rainbow Bears Picture 12
  1. Sew all 6 rows together to complete pieced top, as shown below.
Rainbow Bears Picture 13
  1. First Border – Using Grey colour 2, sew 2 strips together at short ends. Repeat to make a second strip. With seam as the centre, measure 59 ½” and trim each piece. This is your first border top and bottom. Sew to pieced top, matching centres as you sew.
  2. Using grey colour number 2, sew 3 strips together at the short ends. Repeat to make a second strip. Measure from the centre out and trim both strips to 89½”. This is the first border for the side seams. Sew to pieced top, matching centres as you sew.
  3. Second border – With one colour set of 4 ½” squares, (Shape A), sew 13 squares together in one row. Sew the remaining 15 squares together. Repeat for second colour set.
  4. Using 4 ½” grey colour 1, sew short end to 13 square row. Repeat for second 13 square row. Trim both borders at grey end only to length of 66”. Sew border to top and bottom of quilt. Matching centres as you sew.
  5. Using 4 ½’ grey colour 1, sew the short ends to the 15 square row. Repeat for second 15 square row. Trim both borders at grey end only to length of 101”. Sew borders to each side of quilt, matching centres as you sew.

Quilting and Finishing:

  1. Layer wadding between quilt top and backing.
  2. Pin or baste layers together.
  3. Machine quilt with an all-over design.
  4. Add binding, mitring corners.

Congratulations on finishing your project!

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