My first bear paw block for my brown bear quilt

I needed a pattern that would use up my scrap stash of brown fabrics.  I usually don't use a lot of brown, but somehow, I ended up with a large pile of strings.  A lot of them were given to me and I did do a quilt recently for my sister, that used a hand full of browns/beiges.  

I was picking my brain, trying to come up with an idea for the browns, when it hit me.  I have always wanted to make a quilt using the bears paws block.  It was on my wish list for the longest time, but kept being pushed down the list.  Well, what better pattern is there for using up the brown scraps.

This is the block I am making, which also includes sashings.  All the browns are from my scraps, including the half square of the claws.  I even used the neutrals from my scrap bin for the other half of the claws, the solid black of the square-in-a-square cornerstones are from my scraps as well and the deep burgundy red comes from a small piece of fabric from my cupboard.  

So far the only fabrics I purchased are the burnt orange and the blue used to make the sashings in order to pull all the fabrics together.

I am really liking this block.  It was overcast here when I took the picture, so the colour in the picture looks a bit dull.  Add just a bit of brightness and you will have the true colour.

This is what I ended up playing with after I had a very productive sewing day yesturday.  That post I am saving for another day.

I realized, that there are a lot of quilts that I want to make.  Far too many to make in my lifetime, however I am going to make a very good effort at knocking off as many as I can until that time.  I had forgotten about the bear paw quilt, as an option.

I'm sure I posted at one time, my jars that I have, with tags inside.  One of the jars is called Quilt Want-to-be.  This is where I have tags, of the quilts that I want to make (they are like my wish list).  

Anyways,  I thought to myself, that I need to start a list.  This way I can refer to it when I have something I want to use up, that I can incorporate into one of the quilts I want to make.

Here is my current list:

***Quilt Wish List - Quilt Want-to-be

1. McCall's starring Retros......fabric collected

2. Quilt using summer flowers fat quarter bundle......fabric collected

3. Autumn leaves quilt......fabric collected

4. Ocean waves quilt in solids......fabric collected

5. Scrappy bento box quilt

6. Four patch argyle quilt

7. Nine patch strip quilt

8. Bee in my Bonnet, Granny squares quilt

9. Quilts using up scrappy strings......too many fabrics collected

10. Friendship star quilt using all the mini HST from purple stars quilt......fabric collected

11. Aunt Gracie appliqué quilt

12. Whimsical garden appliqué quilt

13. Postage stamp quilt

14. Jean quilt with coloured squares surrounding......Jean fabric collected and have some plaids

15. Quiltville playing with jacks....good for using up blacks, reds and pinks

16. Red & white puss in the corner quilt