Blue Bear wishes everyone a Happy New Year! It’s going to be an exciting new year, with new looks and exciting new patterns.
Here I am in a catoonish image with my new look. Going for a more artsy.
Here are two of Blue Bear’s latest patterns. They are sure to warm up any home during this cold and brutal winter.
I entered several blocks in the 2017 Accuquilt Block Design Contest. By popular vote, these two entries were the most popular.
Here were my other entries:
But the Grand Champion was my Purple Rose. It will be unveiled on the billboard outside the Accuquilt headquarters in Interstate 80 for an entire year. 
I am in the process of designing a quilt and a pattern for this block, which will be available in our shop.
I also entered this contest in 2016 and here were my entries from that year.
But the one that won Fan Favorite was Not Your Grandmother’s Flower Garden a.k.a. What Happens When Grandpa Tells Grandma No More Trips to the Fabric Store.
It was designed with the Accuquilt Dresden Plate Die and Kaffe Fassett fabrics.
As a result of winning Fan Favorite, I was honored with a trip to Julien California to spend a week with Eleanor Burns, from Quilt in a Day, at her Fall quilt retreat at Camp Cedar Glen in the mountains. It was a wonderful time for which I am forever grateful.
Here are some photos from that trip. 
For the 2017 Blogger’s Quilt Festival, I thought I would share Blue Bear’s most popular pattern, Greek Isles Modern. 
This pattern is much easier than it looks. It is made with 2.5″ strips of white and 2.5″ strips of light, medium and dark batiks, that you may obtain from jelly rolls, or cut on your 2.5″ strip die with your Accuquilt Go! Cutter. The blocks are all constructed the same way, and placement is what determines the pattern. At 70 x 90,” it is the perfect quilt to curl up with on the couch for binge watching your favorite Netflix shows.
Here is a picture of Kim at Keep Me in Stitches in Largo, Florida, quilting this beauty; followed by a close up of her fantastic quilting.
Here are several more photos of the quilt out and about.
I have taught this class several times and here are some of my students interpretations of the quilt. Click on the links for short videos. They did a fantastic job!
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If you would like to purchase this pattern, it is available on our website here, www.bluebearquilts.com, or on Craftsy here- https://www.craftsy.com/quilting/patterns/greek-isles-modern-quilt/490532
Sharing at the Blogger’s Quilt Festival hosted by Amy’s Creative Side.
Back in March, I relayed a post From Suzan Ellis of Accuquilt regarding a Rob Peter to Pay Paul Quilt love story. It was part 1. Dying to know the rest of the story, I called her and said that fans were anxiously awaiting the outcome. She has posted the conclusion to the love story and you don’t want to miss it.
Here is a picture of the quilt.
Here is the link to the rest of the story. https://www.accuquilt.com/blog/uncategorized/the-quilt-in-the-attic-part-2/
Accuquilt has a die to help you make this quilt with ease. I Want to make one of these quilts now. Enjoy!
Happy Labor Day. I hope everyone is enjoying their time off with their families.
This week’s block is the Jacob’s Ladder. It has a Biblical reference as it refers to the story of Jacob found in Genesis 28: 10-12. The block also has many other names such as “Road To California, “Double Hour Glass” and “Covered Wagon,” suggesting that they were popular with the early pioneers headed west. Here is an example of what the block historically looked like.
Notice that the block is a nine patch construction, which was discussed in a previous post, containing 5 four patch blocks, also discussed in a previous post, and 4 new blocks that are called half square triangles (HST.) See example below. This block is documented as having been made into a quilt at the beginning of the 20th century. It was originally made with two contrasting colors, a light and a dark. The block often has another name, ” Underground Railroad,” associated with it, but it has not been documented that this block existed around the time of pre Civil War, when the Underground Railroad was happening, and may have gotten the name later as a remembrance.
This is an excellent block for a novice quilter as sewing the HSTs together is easy as you just have to sew two triangles together. It can be a little tricky to get those points on the end to match up, so one of my favorite tools to create the Jacob’s Ladder patches is my Accuquilt Fabric Cutter. It precision die cuts the pieces so they are perfectly cut. On the triangles, it cuts off the dog ears (the points that stick out) so that the ends are easy to align. Here is a link to the Accuquilt website, where you will find the fabric cutters and lots of fun dies. http://www.accuquilt.com.
Two “Go! Dies” that could be used to make this block are the 2.5″ square and the 2″ finished half square triangle. You will notice that the dies are two-tone, making it easy for you to place the fabric on the die. Then you place a plastic mat over the fabric and run the die, with the fabric and mat on it, through the cutter. There are manual and electric fabric cutters. Here is a picture of a “Go! Fabric Cutter” and the square and triangle dies. (Click on the thumbnails to make the pictures larger.) They are frequently on sale.
Check out this heartwarming tale of love about a quilt. I can’t wait to read part 2.
