The post in this series are all part of the 2021 Sugar Bear Quilt Along.
To view all posts in this series, click here.
If you need the pattern, you can find it here.
Squee!!!! It’s finally time to get going and make ourselves a Sugar Bear quilt.
If you haven’t signed up for the quilt along yet, you can do so here. This will just send bi-weekly prompts every other Wednesday to your inbox so that you don’t miss a post.
We are off to a slower start with this and just easing ourselves in, so if you are just now getting your pattern or still figuring out your fabrics…. NO WORRIES! This first round is just two weeks of chatting, planning and cutting.
Let’s dive in!
Decisions, Decisions
Let’s just have a little chat first. The biggest decision is almost always fabric. If I’ve chosen a fabric bundle or grouped a few fat quarters together and those fabrics consist of a lot of light or low volume prints (like my Velvet Sugar Bear) it would be a bit hard to go with a scrappy background. I’d worry my claws would be lost… If I’m working with very saturated prints, I could use almost any background and things will work nicely.
Using low volume prints or pale fabrics in your block’s claws will give your quilt a more delicate look. While using more saturated prints or solids will make things pop. Only you can decide what’s best for you. What I’m writing here is just my own thinking and my own opinions.
My Own Quilt
I’m coming at this one a little backwards. Since I’ve made two Sugar Bear’s already and on both of those I used a solid white background, I decided on this next one I wanted to use a scrappy low volume background. Then I went and decided that my foreground would be peaches and tans. Which is fine, but since every fabric I chose was more light, I really need to keep my low volumes not too busy so that they don’t take away from the blocks and make it lose it’s shape.
I chose almost all whispery soft low volumes and one or two of them have a bit more busy in them just to keep things interesting (the gold butterflies above).
You can read about scrappy backgrounds and the different kinds of low vols here.
I’m also going to be doing some heavy fussy cutting, so I’ve pulled fabrics to do that with, but also a different lot of fabrics for claws. All very different than my last two versions. I’ve been doing a lot of squealing!
Product Spotlight
5-1/2″ CURVED TIP SCISSORS
This Round’s Task
The only task we have for this for round (two weeks) is to choose our fabrics and do all the cutting that takes place on page 4. Basically, just background and the two cornerstones.
I’ve chosen the mermaids above for my cornerstone 2.
Tiny tip for those who are interested:
No matter if you are working with a bundle, a collection, or just your own fabric pull… choose two “different” fabrics for your cornerstone 1 and 2. For example, if you have one dark fabric in your pull for this quilt, use that as cornerstone 2. If you purchased a bundle from me, I’ve included two fabrics that have no friends in the bundle just for this purpose. By “no friends” I’m talking about fabrics that aren’t quite in the same color palette with the others.
In my Velvet Sugar Bear, I used the dark green and the bright turquoise as cornerstones. In Funshine Sugar Bear, I used that bright yellow and the brown as cornerstones. You’ll notice in both quilts, those two fabrics are much different than the other fabrics. It makes them standout against my more similar fabrics and I think that look makes it more interesting.
Giveaway
Just a reminder, you can enter the giveaway by posting your progress on Instagram using the #SugarBearQA. Havel’s will be giving away random prizes to one winner each week. Winners will be chosen and announced on Instagram @Havels_Sewing the Tuesday before the “next” post goes live. You don’t have to be completed with each pattern release to win, you only have to post progress.
You do have to be following @Havels_Sewing and @SouthernCharmQuilts to be eligible. You must have a US address to ship to.
I’m so excited to see your fabric pulls and to see your quilts coming together. I always so enjoy making a quilt as a group. This is an excellent way to make friends if you are like me and only get to have quilty friends online. Reach out and tell someone how great they are doing by dropping a comment on their post. You can find other participants using the #SugarBearQA.
I’ll be putting up a little IGTV video on my IG page sometime today if you want to hear me chat about what I’m doing with my quilt and see my fabric pull. I tend to ramble a lot so be warned. Ha!
I’ll chat again with you here in two weeks!
Melanie Traylor ~ Southern Charm Quilts