Progress Check In: Vintage Sheet Bear Paw Quilt

Happy Wednesday! I've been thinking a lot lately about how I share my work and how much that process has changed and evolved over the years. When I first started to share my sewing projects online, it was through Flickr. Then eventually I started this blog. A few years later Instagram and social media took off, and I started sharing there too. Each platform lends itself to a different type of sharing. At some point I started posting less casual sewing progress here on my blog, sharing it on Instagram instead. I'd like to share that kind of thing here again. Hopefully that ramble made sense to anyone other than me!


As I mentioned in my June Monthly Report, I pulled out an old work-in-progress, my Vintage Sheet Bear Paw Quilt. I started it back in 2019, but for the last year or so I've made little to no progress on it. The other day I was looking for a project to sink my teeth into and I decided to pull this quilt out. I love to work with vintage sheets and I loved the blocks I had already made for it.


I have nine fully complete blocks, but thanks to my renewed dedication to the project, I now have a batch of newly finished block quarters to make another 12 blocks. I'm making them in big batches this time around, which is working really well so far.


I've been working by color, first focusing on pinks, some oranges and some blues. My next stack of squares is all greens. Then I'll tackle the yellow and the purples. I'm leaving the blocks in quarters for now so that I can arrange them into blocks when I get through all the colors I'm using.


Depending on the task and how hot it is, I'm either working in the sewing room, in our office, or in front of the tv in the living room. It's easiest to cut upstairs, since all my fabric is there. But it's great to be able to trim and pressing downstairs where it's cooler.


This past weekend I was trimming and batch of half-square triangles and realized I was using quite a bit of force to move the cut. When had I last changed my rotary blade? If you're looking for a sign to change your blade (or needle), this is it! A quick change and wow, so much better. Since they get dull relatively slowly I sometimes don't notice until I've been using a dull blade for weeks!


Dusty kitty has been helping me work on this project. Keeping me company and supervising. Making sure I'm doing everything just right! So thoughtful.


I know it's not for everyone, but this is my kind of sewing, working assembly line style or in batches. It works so much better for me than making each block start to finish. I'm not sure why I was making this quilt that way before. Perhaps to get myself out of my comfort zone? Either way, I'm glad to be back to my usual style of work. It's also perfect for binge watching tv, which is fun.


I can't wait to get these block quarters sewn up into blocks. They're so bright and happy. It feels good to be making progress on this quilt. The quilts I've made with vintage sheets are some of my very favorites and I know this one will be too. Hoping to keep up this pace and finish this quilt in the next month or so!

Happy Quilting!