Bear Path // Quilt Pattern Review
Is it just me or have there been tons of amazing patterns coming out lately?! I’m always so impressed by the amazing creativity of quilt pattern designers and how easy they make it look! I recently got the chance to test @patchworkandpoodles’ newest quilt pattern: Bear Path, and spoiler alert: it’s a fun one!

If you want to purchase this pattern for yourself, you can find it in Patchwork & Poodle’s Pattern shop.
Patchwork & Poodles’ newest pattern is a modern twist on the traditional Bear Paw block and comes together super quick, which I know is always great if you’re like me and tend to over-commit or want to move on to the next quilting project quickly!

This Bear Path Quilt features solid fabrics that are brand new, just released, PURE solids by Art Gallery Fabrics. You can find the whole look book here!
The colors I used are Snow, Heart of the Ocean, Gentle Feather, Cotton Candy, and Candied Cherry. I backed the quilt in AGF DecoStitch Indigo.

I am surprised and happy to say that it only took a few hours for me to cut and piece this entire throw sized quilt. Because the top came together so dang fast, I knew I needed to spend some more time lovin’ on these super soft, high quality quilting fabrics so I decided to slow it down, play some of my favorite jams, and hand quilt the whole thing! I played up the geometric shapes to echo in my quilting and I am super pleased with how these big stitches turned out.

For my hand quilting, I used size 8 Perle Cotton thread and my favorite Big Stitch needle. And of course I couldn’t have done it without my trusty leather thimble and Ottlite Desk Lamp.
As far as the inside of the quilt, my current favorite to use whether hand quilting or machine quilting is Quilter’s Dream Orient batting. It is a blend of fibers including Silk, Cotton, and Bamboo and has a super luxurious feel! It’s low loft and fairly lightweight which is great for a Florida girl like me! The absolute best part about Quilter’s Dream Orient batting is that you can quilt as dense as you like, or up to 8″ apart, which makes it incredibly versatile! If you’ve never tried Orient batting, I highly suggest you give it a go on your next quilting project!

If you want to learn how to do some big stitch hand quilting, check out this blog post to find out what essentials you need. Once you have all your essentials, read about my 10 Easy Steps to Big Stitch Hand Quilting and let me know what you think! Remember: practice makes perfect!

To see the Bear Path Quilt in other color schemes you can check out the hashtag on Instagram: #BearPathQuilt. Be sure to follow @homemadeemilyjane while you’re over there!
If you want to read more about Patchwork and Poodles’ story behind Bear Path and see what the other pattern testers came up with, check out her Bear Path Pattern launch blog post here!
