Bear's Paw Quilt Block — Cutting Chart for Any Size
3 fabrics · Difficulty 5 of 5
Bear's Paw is a 7×7 block of 45 pieces. Cut sizes for 7″, 10½″, 14″, 17½″ are below; for any other size it divides into cleanly, type the size and the chart recomputes.
Set the finished sizeAt a glance
- Grid
- 7×7
- Pieces you cut
- 29 — subcutting turns them into the 45 in the sewn block
- Difficulty
- 5 of 5 — advanced How this is scored
Set the size
Nearest sizes that cut cleanly:
- Squares — Background
- 2½″
- Squares — Fabric A
- 4½″
- Rectangles — Background
- 2½ × 6½″
- Squares — Fabric B
- 2½″
- Squares for half-square triangles — Fabric A
- 2⅞″
- Squares for half-square triangles — Background
- 2⅞″
Reading focusOne paw quadrant repeated around the full latticehalf-square-triangle unit + rectangle
- Construction lattice
- 7 modules wide × 7 modules high
- Unit mix
- half-square-triangle unit, rectangle, square
- Piece count
- 29 to cut · 45 in the diagram
Cut these pieces
Column headings are the FINISHED block size — the size it will be once it is sewn. Every number in the table is the size to CUT, which includes ¼″ of seam allowance on each edge. Rows that are subcut on a diagonal are cut larger still, so the allowance survives the extra cuts.
Scroll sideways to see every size.
| Patch | 7″ | 10½″ | 14″ | 17½″ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squares — BackgroundCut 4 | 1½″ | 2″ | 2½″ | 3″ |
| Squares — Fabric ACut 4 | 2½″ | 3½″ | 4½″ | 5½″ |
| Rectangles — BackgroundCut 4 | 1½ × 3½″ | 2 × 5″ | 2½ × 6½″ | 3 × 8″ |
| Squares — Fabric BCut 1 | 1½″ | 2″ | 2½″ | 3″ |
| Squares for half-square triangles — Fabric ACut 8, cut once on the diagonal | 1⅞″ | 2⅜″ | 2⅞″ | 3⅜″ |
| Squares for half-square triangles — BackgroundCut 8, cut once on the diagonal | 1⅞″ | 2⅜″ | 2⅞″ | 3⅜″ |
Read the block
Match each fabric letter in the diagram to the same fabric name in the cutting table. The caption describes the generated geometry in text.
Fabrics in this block
- A — gold
- B — turkey red
- BG — background
Which sizes divide cleanly
Scroll sideways to see every column.
| Grid | Divides cleanly at | The first few sizes |
|---|---|---|
| 2×2 | every 1″ | 1″, 2″, 3″, 4″, 5″, 6″ … |
| 3×3 | every 1½″ | 1½″, 3″, 4½″, 6″, 7½″, 9″ … |
| 4×4 | every 2″ | 2″, 4″, 6″, 8″, 10″, 12″ … |
| 5×5 | every 2½″ | 2½″, 5″, 7½″, 10″, 12½″, 15″ … |
| 7×7this block | every 3½″ | 3½″, 7″, 10½″, 14″, 17½″, 21″ |
- A 5-patch block at 12″ would need 2.4″ units, which is not a mark on any ruler. Try 10″ or 12½″ instead — Sister's Choice is the 5-patch block on this site.
- A 7-patch block at 12″ would need 1.714…″ units, which is not a mark on any ruler. Try 10½″ or 14″ instead — Bear's Paw is the 7-patch block on this site.
More about the sizes that do not divide cleanly
The sizes in between
A 10″ Bear's Paw cannot be cut accurately on its 7×7 grid. Use 7″ or 10½″ instead; both cutting charts are on this page, computed by Quilt Block Atlas.
Both columns are FINISHED block sizes — the size a block will be once it is sewn, never a size to cut. Look the clean size up in the charts on this page for its cutting numbers.
Scroll sideways if the table is wider than your screen.
| Size you want | Nearest sizes that cut cleanly |
|---|---|
| 4″ | 3½″ or 7″ |
| 5″ | 3½″ or 7″ |
| 6″ | 3½″ or 7″ |
| 8″ | 7″ or 10½″ |
| 9″ | 7″ or 10½″ |
| 10″ | 7″ or 10½″ |
| 11″ | 10½″ or 14″ |
| 12″ | 10½″ or 14″ |
| 13″ | 10½″ or 14″ |
| 15″ | 14″ or 17½″ |
| 16″ | 14″ or 17½″ |
| 17″ | 14″ or 17½″ |
| 18″ | 17½″ or 21″ |
| 19″ | 17½″ or 21″ |
| 20″ | 17½″ or 21″ |
About this block
- Pieces in the finished block
- 45
- Unit types
- half-square-triangle unit, rectangle, square
- Divides cleanly at
- 3½″, 7″, 10½″, 14″, 17½″ and 21″ finished.
- Also known as
- Bear's Foot, Cat's Paw, Duck's Foot in the Mud, Hand of Friendship, Illinois Turkey Track, Best Friend
- Attribution
- Ruth Finley · Brackman #1879
- Brackman number
- #1879
- Fabric for one 14″ block
- ⅝ yd total, rounded up to the nearest ⅛ yard, assuming 40″ of usable width.
Each paw quadrant is the same assembly repeated — a big square with claw triangles stepped along its outer edges — so piece the quadrants in matching batches before any of them meets the sashing. The sashing runs are plain background strips crossing at a small centre square; that square must align with the strips in both directions, so pin it first.
Piecing order
Make the 16 half-square-triangle units.
Lay out section 1 of 3 and sew it together.
Lay out section 2 of 3 and sew it together.
Lay out section 3 of 3 and sew it together.
Join the 3 sections, matching the seams.
How this site models this block
- This block's paw-and-sashing arrangement is still to be checked against Brackman's encyclopedia. It sets the 7×7 grid, and the grid is why this block refuses some sizes — including 12″ — so the arrangement matters to the sizes, as well as the picture.
Cutting oversize
The chart gives the standard cut sizes, nothing padded. Some quilters cut this block's triangle units a little oversize and trim back — published allowances genuinely disagree on how much, so the range with its sources is on how to square up a quilt block.
History
The claw units read differently by region and era, and the names went with them: a duck's foot in the mud here, a hand of friendship there, a turkey track in Illinois. Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilts blog records a four-patch-centre variant sold through the 1932 Grandmother Clark catalog as Bear's Paw or The Best Friend, and she chose this block for her Westering Women series to mark the Bear River leg of the overland trail.
Sources: Barbara Brackman — Westering Women: Bear's Paw.
Common questions
What size can I make Bear's Paw?
Any size it divides cleanly: 3½″, 7″, 10½″, 14″, 17½″ and 21″ finished. The chart above carries 7″, 10½″, 14″, 17½″ ready-worked, and the size input computes any other clean size without you doing arithmetic — every value computed by Quilt Block Atlas, none transcribed.
How many pieces are in a Bear's Paw block?
45 pieces make up the sewn block, but you cut 29. The difference is method: triangle units are cut as squares and subcut, so the chart's quantities are what your rotary cutter produces, not what you count in the diagram.
What sizes does a 7×7 block divide into cleanly?
3½″, 7″, 10½″, 14″, 17½″ and 21″ finished. The step is half the grid this block's cutting sizes are computed on, and the clean-size table above marks this block's row with the other families beside it.
Is Bear's Paw good for a beginner?
Not as a first block — it scores 5 of 5, advanced, on this site's computed scale: 45 pieces, with the half-square-triangle unit as its hardest unit. The scoring rule, and every block ranked by it, is on the difficulty page linked above.
How do finished size, sewn unfinished/trim size, and starting cut size differ?
Finished size is 14″ after the block is sewn into surrounding seams. Its sewn unfinished/trim size is 14½″ before those outer seams, derived with the plain-square allowance. Starting cut size is the method-specific input listed in the chart. Starting cut size equals the unfinished outer target only for a plain square or rectangle workflow; it is not generally the same for pieced triangle units.
Keep going
Related blocks
Where this block appears
Calculators for this block
- Quilt block grid calculator
- Half square triangle calculator
- Quilt top size calculator
- Fabric yardage calculator
Reference
Before you print
Measure this square before you cut. It must be exactly 1 inch. If it isn't, your printer scaled the page — reprint at 100% or "Actual size", not "Fit to page".