Bear Country

The mullet of quilts - all business in the front, party in the back 😊

 I've seen pics online of quilts made in a bear paw design in browns and blues - one of my favourite colour combos - and decided I need to make one.  I'm still in my frantic "got to keep busy before radiation (and maybe chemo) limit my activities" mindset so after completing Lovebug and With Glowing Hearts I immediately started in on this one.  I have wanted to do something nice for my lovely sister-in-law and decided this would be the perfect gift for her.  She lives in bear country and I think she would really appreciate this quilt.  There was a day quite a few years ago where we went for what was supposed to be a nice little "bike ride" but really ended up being a 10 mile mountain hike through the rocky woods dragging our bikes along.  But from the vantage point of the cliffs we were looking down on Georgian Bay and it was a perfect Carribean blue.  So I think of the blues in this quilt as the blues of Georgian Bay in the summer.  Some of the brown fabrics are from my stash of the Northcott Stonehenge line which have pebbles and tree bark and other nature themes.  And of course the bear paw design and embroidered bears speak for themselves lol

There is quite a bit of white in this quilt, and I was trying to come up with an idea to fill in some of it when I looked up and saw Algonquin hanging over the couch and it hit me; I can do embroidered bears!  That was a bit of a challenge as the bear in the Algonquin embroidery pattern is part of a composit picture so I had to figure out the centre of the whole design, the centre of the bear, and then place the design accordingly.  I jumped ahead the 2,772 or so stitches to get to where the bear begins and then had to be ready to stop it before it started on the wolf.  

I initially planned it as a 5'x5' lap quilt with no border, but after looking at it I made the executive decision to add a border to balance it out. 

I didn't have a pattern to follow so I had to do all my own math, piecing plans and fabric requirements.  The main pattern covers a queen bed with the borders able to overhang, but it is intended as a lap or napping blanket.  It's big enough for a couch nap or for two to snuggle up together side-by-side.

I'm not sure what it is about me quilting but the girls always need to get in and help out.  Here Mallory is holding the quilt down so that it doesn't run away while I sew the binding onto the front side.  After attaching it to the "good" side I fold it over and sew the back side by hand.  This usually takes me about 5 hours.  I did sew one down by machine once but even though that is much quicker I am not as happy with how that looks.  I find it therapeudic to take the time to do the hand sewing to finish the quilt so I really don't mind doing it.  

Now I just have to get this baby packed up to send to the recipient.  Should I mention here that I'm already planning my next quilt? lol