Bear Paw Quilt
Finished community quilt, shared by QuiltNTime, 31 October 2026
by QuiltNTime
Bear Paw Quilt by QuiltNTime is a finished quilt in the Quiltler community: 50" × 50", 9 blocks, 413 pieces and 3 fabrics on a straight grid, shared 31 October 2026.
At a glance
- Finished size
- 50" × 50"
- Blocks
- 9 blocks
- Pieces
- 413
- Fabrics
- 3
Watch it being made
How it's made
Four big paws, sixteen sharp claws, and not one tricky seam. Here's the bear paw.
This old favourite goes by other names too, like duck's foot in the mud and hand of friendship. Whatever you call it, the claws always point out.
Layer a cream and a pine two and seven eighths inch square and sew a quarter inch each side of the diagonal.
Cut, press toward the pine and trim to two and a half inches. Each paw takes four claws, so make sixteen.
Sew a cream square and two claws in a row, with the pine along the bottom edge.
Sew two more claws beside a pine paw square, then add the top row. One paw done.
Make four paws and turn each one a quarter more, so the claws face the outside.
Four cream strips and a little red centre square go between the paws.
Sew it in three rows. Your bear paw measures fourteen and a half inches.
Nine blocks and a pine border make a cabin-cosy throw.
Save this for the cut list. Design your own quilt like this at quiltler.com.
About this quilt
The bear paw, also called duck's foot in the mud and hand of friendship: four big paws with sharp half-square-triangle claws, all pointing out. Pine green, snow cream and a little barn red. 14″ finished (14½″ unfinished).
CUT • Pine: four 4½″ squares and eight 2⅞″ squares • Cream: eight 2⅞″ squares, four 2½″ squares and four 2½ × 6½″ strips • Red: one 2½″ square
MAKE • Layer each cream 2⅞″ square on a pine one, sew ¼″ either side of the diagonal, cut and press toward the pine • Trim the 16 claws to 2½″ • Top row of each paw: a cream 2½″ square and two claws • Sew two claws down the side of a pine 4½″ square, then add the top row: a 6½″ paw • Lay out the four paws with the claws to the outside, cream strips between and the red centre • Sew three rows and join them
TIP: lay each paw out beside the machine before you sew; claws turned the wrong way are the classic bear paw mistake.
OTHER SIZES: on a 1½″ grid it's 10½″ finished: 2⅜″ claw squares, a 3½″ paw, 2″ corners and 2 × 5″ strips.
Which colour would your bear paws be?
Make this quilt your own
Open the Bear Paw Quilt quilt in the Quiltler studio — in your browser, or on iPhone and iPad — to recolour it and swap in your own fabrics. Saving a copy to edit, and downloading the pattern pack with the fabric list and cutting sizes, comes with a subscription.
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