Bear S Paw Quilt Pattern Meaning

One of the most popular theories about the origins of the bear paw quilt pattern is that the quilt block was used to guide escaped slaves to food and water in the days of the underground railroad.

Bear s paw quilt pattern meaning.

Bear paw this pattern tells them to take a mountain trail out of view of the area. Saving lives since 1850. See all of our bear paw quilt patterns. You can easily rearrange these blocks to create a unique pattern.

Beautifully sewn vintage log cabin quilt. Patches 3 and 4 used for this technique are cut oversized. The hst units are trimmed to size after stitching. They need to follow the trail of bear tracks to the food and water that has been left for them.

A single bear s paw quilt block requires 16 hsts so we ll use the very efficient 8 at once method. Quilts with patterns named wagon wheel tumbling blocks and bear s paw appear to. These quilts were embedded with a kind of code so that by reading the shapes and motifs sewn into the design an enslaved person on the run could know the area s immediate dangers or even where to head next. The pattern that most quilters recognize as the bear s paw is one with 4 paws each pointed in a different direction like the example to the right above.

There are lots of other names for this block like the best friend bear s tracks bear s foot cat s paw duck s foot in the mud hand of friendship illinois turkey track and tea leaf design wow that s a lot. The bear paw quilt block. This blocks come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. This is despite its unusual size due to the fact that it is a seven patch block.

Two historians say african american slaves may have used a quilt code to navigate the underground railroad. Today let s put together a variation of the traditional bear paw quilt block. The bear paw quilt isn t just a pretty pattern. Early 20th century writer ruth finley was sometimes as much of a story teller as she was a quilt historian.

The bear s paw quilt block is an old favourite. Bow tie dress in disguise to appear of a higher status. Bear s paw is the type of quilt block that sparks your creativity because it lends itself to so many piecing options. Designed with one square and multiple half square triangles this traditional block is actually pretty easy to make and a reader favorite.

You think i mean what can i really do with a few half square triangles squares and sashing. It actually helped save real people s lives. Bear paw follow an animal trail through the mountains to find water and food. Free quilt block pattern.

This saves time both marking and cutting and provides perfect results. However this quilt block is a wonderful choice especially if you wish to make larger quilt blocks for your finished quilt. This bear s paw is built on a 7 x 7 grid but rest assured that this does not mean that you have to construct 49 patches.