Temperature Quilt 2020

You may have seen Temperature Quilt projects popping up on blogs and social media feeds over the last few years.  The idea is to represent temperatures with colours and to document the temperature each day by making a quilt block with the corresponding colour.  At the end of the year, you have a quilt documenting temperature variations through the year.  If you google "temperature quilt", or do a search on Pinterest or Instagram, you'll see lots of cool quilts.  Some even manage to work precipitation data into their daily block!

Fabric selection and quilt plan for 2020 Temperature Quilt

This year I gave in and decided too join in, but I had trouble choosing a design.  I liked the idea of HST, with one half representing the daily maximum temperature, and the other the daily minimum.  However, I also liked the idea of having one row or column per month, so I could easily process the data in the quilt (because I'm nerdy that way).  Using squares in a quilt like that ended up with a weird aspect ratio, either long and skinny, or short and fat.  I also decided I needed a little bit of blank space to rest my eyes.

Temperature Quilt 2020 plan, 53" x 70"

I couldn't find any design online that ticked all the boxes for me, so I played in EQ8 and came up with this design:  one row per month, daily high temp on top, daily low on the bottom, and blank space for the eyes.  The daily temperatures through the year will determine color placement, but I couldn't let go of design control quite enough to jump in without knowing generally how things might look. I used Weather Underground data for 2019 to color in my design in EQ8.

Tuesday I headed off to the quilt shop for fabric. Choosing a "basics" line seemed like a good idea, since I can only estimate how much of each color I'll need.  Mother Nature will have the final say on temperature distribution! I chose Moda Grunge because my local shop stocks all the available colors, so I had a good selection to choose from.  Last night after work I made a colour key so I would know what fabric to use each day, and added a bit of information to help me identify the exact colour if I need to buy more later in the year.

I was all set to cut, then it occurred to me that labeling each fabric with its corresponding temperature range might also speed things up a bit on a daily basis, instead of having to compare my fabrics to the swatches every day.

As I cut strips for the temperatures so far this year,  I realized I would only cut one square at a time as needed, and I wouldn't want to have to compare the strips to the swatches either, so the strips acquired labels as well.  What can I say, I like labels!

Just a note about the temperatures you can see in my pictures: I'm recording temperatures in Celcius, because after 16 years in the US, I still only have a general idea of what Farenheit numbers feel like. I'm much more at ease conversing in Celcius.  It's odd.  Pounds, feet, inches give me no trouble, but I just haven't been able to adjust my temperature units!

So, I'm all set to start my Temperature Quilt.  I only have a little over a week to catch up on, then I can just keep up with a few seams a day.

(Update 03/18/2020:  I have an update here with tips on getting even more organised for when you need to get caught up on missed days.)

If you would like to join me, google "temperature quilt" and see if any of the designs that pop up appeal to you, or you can use mine.  I wrote instructions to share - and they include a Farenheit scale as well as Celcius.  You can download them here.  Feel free to use them, but if you wish to share them with friends, I ask that you send them here to download their own copy, please and thank you.

If you join in, I'd love to see your quilts come together through the year. Sharing this was a rather impromptu affair, so I haven't worked out the details of how we can all share our progress with each other.  I just wanted to get the instructions posted before too much of the year had passed so there wouldn't be too much catching up required.  I'll post again with my progress and some suggestions about how to share yours...maybe an instagram hashtag, or a FB group, or a linky here on the blog...or some combination.  Ideas are welcome!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  I hope you all enjoyed the Holidays and are refreshed for a brand new quilting year with no seam ripping in it yet!

I gave myself permission to stay away from the computer over the last few weeks so I could enjoy time with family, and recharge my batteries in the process. I'm afraid that means I haven't been very prompt at replying to comments, but I very much appreciate your visits in my absence!

I also missed the ritual review of the year's quilting, so I took some time today to assess what I  accomplished last year.

I think I have blogged about all of these, though I think this is the first look at the finished quilt in the lower right corner.  All of these except the black and red Sparkling Trail were started and finished in 2019.  That's unusual for me! Clockwise from top left we have:

Tic Tac Meow - February

Sparkling Trail mini - finished top January 2015, quilted February 2019

Leftovers - May 

Triple Sunset - October

Sprinkled - December

Geese Across the Table - November

Starlight Plaid- November

Mostly Clear -  September

In the center:

Simply Snow - July

I'm astonished that I do not have a better full photo of Simply Snow, as I was very excited for that finish. I will definitely take better ones when I figure out how to wrestle the pattern into a manageable size.  In the meantime, all the snowflake block patterns without a setting are still available in my Etsy shop.

In the pattern department, I was more productive than in the previous year!

Leftovers, Mostly Clear and Starlight Plaid are available in my Etsy shop.  Triple Sunset is still currently exclusive to The International Association of Quilters, but will be available more widely soon!  Connecting Threads is offering Connecting Geese as a pattern download as well as a kit.

I have four unquilted quilt tops and one unquilted table runner left over from previous years, and I only added two new ones to the unfinished pile in 2019. I think that's a pretty decent showing.

I'm not sure when I'll get to Connecting Geese, on the right.  It's a rich fall color scheme so perhaps I'll squeeze the quilting in for next fall.  Topiaries, on the left, is already about 1/3 quilted.  It is taking longer to quilt than I anticipated, because I'm quilting it more densely than I had planned.  The quilt had better plans than I did.  Quilting pictures of that one coming soon!

Dare I list what I plan for this year?  Let's just call this list inspiration.  I'm sure there will be some distracting squirrels and life in general thrown in here as well, so I won't promise everything will get done, but I can check back here when I don't know what to work on next.

Patterns to write:

• Sprinkled
• Topiaries
• Matt's Kaleidoscope or a variation on it
• Simply Snow - I will make this work!!!!
• Another couple of ideas already simmering

Tops to quilt

• Topiaries - 1/3 quilted at the moment, with a plan for the rest
• HST quilt - I plan to hand quilt this, so don't expect a finish in 2020!
• RSC Butterflies quilt - it's basted, but the quilting inspiration has yet to strike
• Connecting Geese
• Tiles

Scrap busting (do I really think I'll make a dent in my scrap pile?)

• 2020 Temperature quilt
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge 

Well, this look perfectly manageable, I think.  It will be interesting to look back at this list in December and see how much of it got done, what was deferred, and what surprises were added. What are you planning for this year?

Starlight Plaid is a pattern!

I'm pleased to present the quilted and bound cover quilt for my newest pattern, Starlight Plaid.

Starlight Plaid by Canuck Quilter Designs

I had planned to quilt this one myself, but there just are not enough hours in the day. The pattern was written, the tester feedback was in, the edits were made, and still the cover quilt was not quilted.  Something had to give so I sent this one out to Liz Meimann to quilt.  It was the right thing to do.  The longer the top sat unquilted in my sewing room, the more the frustration of not having found time to quilt it ate at me.  With that baggage, I started falling out of love with the quilt.  I handed it to Liz and in a day or two (I swear that woman does not sleep!) I had a beautifully textured quilt to bind.  By the time I finished binding it with a pop of solid red, I had fallen back in love again...and promptly lost the quilt to my daughter, but that's another story.

The greys and reds remind me of cozy plaid flannel, so I had to put some flannel on the back to make it as cozy as it looks.  It is so, so cozy as the weather gets colder.

The pattern features four sizes:  baby, throw, twin and queen.  It also has my favourite stars:  the kind whose points you can't accidentally cut off! 

Get your copy of the pattern in my Etsy Shop at 50% off the regular retail price now through Christmas Eve! (Sorry, cute dog not included!)