Bear Paw

This post actually is about 3 UFO/WIPs. This is my oldest set of projects. I originally started to make one Bear Paw quilt about 32 years ago when I was in high school. I painstakingly drew around cardboard templates on the wrong side of various fabrics from my mother's stash of fabrics. In those days a stash was bits of fabric left over from
clothing she had made for various members of our family - in other words, favorite fabrics - not fat quarters and yardage that you saw in a store and just couldn't resist. I cut out enough pieces for 72 blocks and got started putting the blocks together. Now all of you who started quilting before the invention of the rotary cutter will appreciate that the blocks just did not turn out nicely. So I got frustrated and put it away for a few years. OK, a lot of years!

I pulled it out about 10 years ago and decided I couldn't just toss the blocks because I had used the last of some of Mom's favorite fabrics. So I started ripping the blocks apart. I didn't finish at that time because other more pressing things took my attention away from sewing - three kids, my mom's failing health, a job, etc. About 2 years ago I pulled them out again and finished the ripping process and trimmed everything down so the blocks would fit together nicely. I got all the blocks together and then sorted them into three piles according to color sets since I knew I didn't want another huge quilt! I found sashing fabrics to set them off nicely and got the tops together at a quilt retreat.

So to get these finished I need to get them quilted and then I want to make up a booklet with pictures of each block and, if possible, a picture of the clothing item that was made from that fabric and maybe a little story about the item of clothing or the person for whom it was made. Then each of my children will receive one quilt and the book giving them a little bit of their family history. And they had better damn well appreciate it!!!!!