Baby Bear
April 2016
Baby Bear is the final quanket in my Three Bears series, and I am thrilled to have it finished in time to include it, along with Papa and Mama Bear, in this year’s Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge.
I have had little time to spend at the sewing machine over the past few months, however I did take some time recently to better organize my scraps. While I am not quite as organized as other quilters in cutting my scraps into commonly used sizes, I do keep my scraps together by colors. My prior method of keeping them in plastic bags was beginning to get out of hand and needless to say, it looked tacky. So I purchased some cute photo boxes that were on clearance, and have now organized my scraps into these. They look much cuter on the shelf and work much better than the plastic bags did. During the process of organizing, I found that my blue scraps were overflowing, which is what inspired the fabric selection for Baby Bear.
Designing a scrappy quilt, while challenging, is fun and rewarding. Challenges include finding enough scraps in similar or complementary color values and/or saturation, and designing the layout. For me, the layout is usually dictated by the amount of scraps I have that work together. In Baby Bear, I had a lot of country blues – leftovers from the 80’s – and darker blue leftovers from my quanket, Celebration. Using a design wall is great for exploring options in how to arrange blocks, sashing and borders. My design wall is a closet door covered with felt which works great, as it lets me place pieces without the use of pins. For pieces that have more seams, it seems that a pin is needed, otherwise I end up with a pile of pieces on the floor in front of the closet door!
Love Hugs 
I just stumbled on your quilt blog, and I’m so glad I did. I love that your Three Bears quilts are all made from scraps – isn’t it exciting to create a quilt just from scraps? I have a idea in mind when I begin a new scrap quilt but I can’t really envision the completed project. . . and when the result is attractive and appealing, I’m so thrilled. All your Three Bears quilts turned out beautifully! I know they’ll be loved and treasured by the recipients.
I am glad you stumbled across my blog! Welcome! I too like creating quilts from scraps, and that is really the genesis of my Love Hugs project. I inherited a bunch of scrap fabrics, and figured I’d put them to a good use in making charity quilts. I estimate that I inherited enough fabric to keep me busy for years to come. I also periodically add to my stash when I see a cute remnant piece at local fabric shop – I can’t resist a cute piece of fabric 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Jean,
I received the 3 Three Bears quilts in today’s mail. They are beautiful, and I feel quite emotional at the care and thought that went into the making of them. I will do as you asked and request that they go together to a family at the shelter. 🙂 Thank you so much again!
xox
So glad they made it there safe and sound! Thanks for delivering them to the shelter, and in requesting that they go to a family. Perhaps we’ll talk again next year, for the H2H Challenge – until then, be well. 🙂
I love your Bear Family quilts! And how wonderful that they could end up staying together to comfort a family in a shelter. Great job!
Thank you! And, by the way, I came across your blog a few weeks back, and am so impressed that you quilt onboard! I too am a boater (sailor), and I loved your comment about sometimes the lines in the quilt drifting, which is to be blamed on the rocking of the boat! I am a landlubber quilter, and unfortunately have nothing for which to blame my drifting lines 🙂