Sugar Bear Quilt Along – All the details about the Sugar Bear Quilt

The post in this series are all part of the 2021 Sugar Bear Quilt Along.

To view all posts in this series, click here.

Finally time to go over fabric and supplies! I know so many of you have been waiting for this and I really appreciate your patience. Having this quilt along this close to the pattern release has really bummed you big planners out. I’ll remember this next time, I promise! I’m just trying to squeeze this quilt along and the late summer Little Miss quilt along into the same year and well, it’s been a bit tough.

Please note that this quilt pattern is still in testing, meaning my lovely thirteen quilty helpers are still working through the pattern and looking for my mistakes. I think we have established that the fabric requirements are correct, but I still have two weeks before release date, so it’s possible I could change something on these two pages I’m releasing today. It’s doubtful, but I want to put it out there just in case. I’ve already made this quilt twice and I feel good about the fabric requirements (more on second version soon).

So I’m releasing two pages of the pattern today, the coloring page (so you can plan, and the fabric and supply requirement page. Scroll to see them, they’ll be in big headline print in two different places.

Just FYI, this is the last week the pre-order paper pattern will be 20% off. Also, getting a lot of questions about the PDF pattern (because it’s not yet listed in the shop), there will be a PDF copy, but the listing isn’t there or active yet because the pattern hasn’t been released. If you are after the PDF version of this pattern, you’ll find it available to purchase on March 8, 2021.

Fabric + Supplies

Download page 2 of the Sugar Bear Quilt pattern here.

You are encouraged to use any fabrics you may want to work with. This quilt will be particularly perfect for using fabric scraps. Fabric requirements and cuts will be listed per block or section.

Below is a list for total yardage. Use as many different fabrics as you prefer to reach that yardage.

Quilt top – Foreground in blocks: 12-15 fat quarters (depending on the variety you want)
Foreground for cornerstones: 2 fat quarters (only needed if you want these to be different than the foreground fabrics in the blocks)
Background –  4 yards if using a single background OR 4.5 if using a scrappy background.
Backing – 4.5 yards
Batting – 76×76”
Binding – 1/2 yard

Some Explaining

I used a total of 17 foreground fabrics in my first version of Sugar Bear. I did not use 2 of the fabrics within the blocks, but only used those two in both cornerstones. I had almost two whole fat quarters leftover after completing for the fat quarters used within the blocks, and one of the fat quarters used for cornerstones was almost whole as well. You don’t need 17 fat quarters unless you want them. You only need around 15 for a very scrappy looking quilt and that includes fabric for cornerstones. In my opinion, the quilt looks best when the cornerstone fabric does not get used in the blocks. You may feel different. Be you!

In my second Sugar Bear (you haven’t seen this just yet), I used only 12 foreground fabrics total. Two of those fabrics I pulled out for cornerstones, leaving myself with ten fabrics for the blocks. This was tough! I barely had enough fabrics and ended up using one of the cornerstone fabrics a few tiny times within the blocks. Using just 12 fabrics is do-able, I’ve done it, but I’m saving every scrap to make it work. Luckily there is some very tiny piecing in this quilt.

Bundles

We have already made bundles for this quilt release and we are currently working on more. Find all of those bundles here. Funshine is the bundle I made for my first Sugar Bear and Velvet is what I’ve used on my second (haven’t shown you this one yet, AGF has me on lockdown until the fabrics actually release).

On the Funshine version, I used Kona Ivory background. On the Velvet version, I used Vintage Lace background.

I will be making this quilt again with you during the quilt along and I’m not sure what fabrics I’m using just yet for my foreground, but I do know I want to do this in the scrappy background this time around. If you are interested in this too, we have the Balance background bundles located here. There will be a lot more of these closer to pattern release day.

Rulers

I have two methods of making half rectangle triangles, view those here. One of those ways is by using my HRT ruler. You are strongly encouraged to use the ruler, and no, not because I’m trying to sell rulers, but because it really does make trimming them easier. I designed this ruler myself because of how difficult I found it to trim HRTs. I have several quilt patterns that include HRTs, so this will not be a one time use ruler if you don’t want it to be (I don’t like one time use stuff either). I LOVE HRTs and I definitely don’t plan to stop coming up with quilt patterns to incorporate them.

You may want some fussy cut rulers, because there are so many places to fussy cut in this quilt. As we all know, fussy cutting makes everything more fun. We have this set and this bigger set in the shop. These are not required and you don’t need them, but they’re fun, so just keep that in mind.

We all have our own favorite method of making half square triangles. There’s plenty of those in this quilt! Here is my favorite method and here is the ruler I use or here if you prefer the bigger size.

Skill Level Needed

We (my testers and I) have gone back and forth on whether or not this is a beginner pattern. I had it marked originally as a “confident beginner” pattern. We’ve changed that to an “advanced beginner” pattern.

One of my testers, Julie, said it best, here are her words:It’s pretty easy to muck up the HRT’s if you’ve never done them before. There is the potential that a true beginner will become disillusioned part way through sewing this and never finish it. A question I asked myself was, if a friend asked me to recommend a beginner quilt pattern, would it be the Sugar Bear quilt? Unfortunately, I probably wouldn’t. But as a 3rd or 4th quilt pattern? – absolutely top of my list!

• Half Rectangle Triangles – Explained – Video Tutorial
• Half Rectangle Triangles – WITHOUT My Ruler – Video Tutorial
• Block Building Basics – How To Snowball Corners
• Ruler Tutorial – The Quilt In A Day Half Square Triangle Ruler ( Video Tutorial )
• How To Trim Half Square Triangles With A Basic Ruler
• Block Building Basics – How To Make A 4-Patch

The video tutorials above are also linked throughout the pattern so you can get to them easily as you work through this quilt. Also, I’ve created “working videos” for this pattern. If you are familiar with my Anthologie quilt pattern, then you’ll know just what these are. If you are new around here, my working videos are linked throughout the pattern. You’ll see them at the bottom of almost every block. It’s basically a little video of me making the block. It’s meant to be like we are working on it together. They are very informal and are not exactly a tutorial. We go through picking out fabrics and then every step of the block.

I received a lot of positive feedback when I did this for Anthologie quilt (you can see those videos here if you need a visual). They are packed full of helpful tips and are worth the watch. I do ramble a lot, lol. But that’s what I meant by “informal”, it’s more of a chat between quilty friends than a quick tutorial. Those will be popping up on the blog probably next week and will be there before the pattern releases.

I hope you find this post helpful. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below or send me a quick email.

Download the coloring page for Sugar Bear.