Silent Bear Paw Quilt Block | Week 21 of 52 Weeks of Hot Pads

Welcome to the 21st week post of the 52 weeks of hot pads / quilted pot holders. This week we’re making Bear Paw Quilt Block Hot pad

I thought it would be a great challenge for me to do a pot holder a.k.a hot pads every single week of 2019. (but I am currently falling way behind, maybe I’ll catch up but if not, it will just be a 52 weeks but not in a single year)

I am planning on having it displayed in my kitchen. They make great decor don’t they?

While I am at it, I am going to be sharing with you a simple tutorial on the process.

You can join in the challenge and make the same hot pads I make every week with the same design or any of your own choice.

I am loving my wall filling up with lots of colours! Making these and hanging them has been a lot of fun

Bear Paw Quilt Block  

There are affiliate links within this post. Please find the full disclosure here. 

I am actually putting use to the half square triangles I made of the scrap pieces in my last hot pad. 

Since I have actually taught you how to not ever waste those trims anymore through this video ” How To make 2 quilts at a time“, I am putting mine straight to use. 

There are not many of them, so I thought it would be great to get straight to it rather than later. 

Things I love & make this 52 weeks of Hot Pad project a lot more fun:

• This ruler set – perfect size all of them 
• This rotating mat – can’t imagine one without this these days. 
• This Spray Baste – have always been a fan of spray baste, for small quilted projects – a must! although in most of these hot pads I also use pins as they are more than just a single batting in between.
• This Batting – the perfect one for hot pads. Or in this hot pad, I am using two layers of cotton batting + aluminium insulation sheet in the middle (I love the final crisp sturdy and heat reflect of the final hot pad with this combo)
• My Fabric Scraps!! – read more how I sort my scraps HERE>
• Portable quilting design board . I love using the portable design board as it makes it easy to transfer from the cutting table to the side of the sewing machine. You can purchase a portable quilting design board here. 

How to Make Bear Paw Block unit:

For the 3.5″ square Bear Paw block units (4 units), 

You will need

• 4 unit 3.5″ x 2″ rectangles for sashing
• 2″ square centre cornerstone
• 16 unit 1.5″ square half square triangles (great use of left over triangle pairs)
• 4 unit of 2.5″ square background fabric
• 4 unit 1.5″ square background fabric

I am using a 2.5″ squares from a precut Kona known as the mini charm squares. I bought my mini charm squares here.

Piecing bear paw quilt block

You can arrange the blocks together on a portable design board to see how the final look would be. 

Portable quilting design board

I love using the portable design board as it makes it easy to transfer from the cutting table to the side of the sewing machine. You can purchase a portable quilting design board here. 

Piecing the bear paw quilt block unit:

First piece the triangle together making sure the directions are right. They should measure 2.5″ wide now. 

Then, piece a pair of triangles to the centre of the paw (the square 2.5″ – mine should have been a dark value here but I made a mistake).

Another pair, piece it in row with the corner square. 

Now piece the rows together. 

Piecing the block unit together:

First piece the bear paw block to the sashing and then to another unit of bear paw block, making sure you piece them right direction. Two of the rows are like this. 

The centre row would be made of sashing and the centre cornerstone. 

Piece the rows together and voila!

Now I have actually chose quite a bold sashing, made a mistake with the corner which should have been a printed fabric instead of the white…now it made my bear paw a little subtle especially when the half square triangle has lots of white in them too. 

So that is why I decided to call this hot pad the SILENT bear paw. Hihi. I think it suits that. 

Here is a simple diagram on how to piece Bear Paw Quilt Block

Making Quilt Sandwich

Once the block is done, it is time to layer a quilt sandwich. This time I use double batting and a layer of the aluminium insulation sheet.

I am STILL!!! loving this combo of layers as they give sturdy structure to the hot pad!

With so many layers, pins are always better to baste them all together. makes it easier to baste quilt sandwiches. 

Time to practice your quilting skill..

I am back to free motion quilting and I chose a zig zag motif to do an allover quilting on the hot pad. 

This motif requires a little practice if you are used to the smooth curves. I teach you to practice this motif in Free Motion Quilting Bootcamp in unit 3.

Related posts :

• Free Motion Quilting Foot,
• Tips for Free motion Quilting,
• Free Motion Quilting Design + Free Printable

I always, always recommend people to practice their skills on little projects like these. They don’t go to waste and you’ll get satisfaction to continue on practicing.

Now that it is all quilted, time to trim it so it is all squared up again. 

Make a hook and a binding tape (you can follow the tip in this post for piecing the binding tape perfectly when they meet up in the round ). 

Well, there you go, our 21st hot pad of the year! Silent Bear Paw Quilt Block Hot Pad.

need to pin this?

Pin the image below.

Have you made a Bear Paw Quilt Block before?

Are you making this hotpad? Let me know if you are and tell me how it goes. 

Let me know if you need any help.

Till next time, have a fun time sewing!

Please spread the words. Pin it, Share it on Facebook. Let’s join in the fun.