I've been fascinated by all of the temperature quilts I've seen, and have decided that this is my year to make one. I'm having a quilt along so that we can all join in and share the fun! This will be a great year-long quilt project that you can do in very little time each day along with any other projects you have on your list.
A temperature quilt is simply a graphical representation of the temperatures in a location over the course of an entire year. Most show the high and low temperature for each day. Some also note any record high or low temperatures, and sometimes even the weather. How you choose to show these things is completely up to you. I have seen quilts using rectangles, squares, half square triangles, half square rectangles, and flying geese. I'm sure there are lots of other ideas that would work as well. How about a square in a square unit? You could even do something with English paper piecing and hexies if you like. Use your imagination and make it your own!
My plan is to make a flying geese unit for each day, with the main "body" of the goose showing the high temperature for the day, and the two side triangles showing the low. I live in Texas, where the temperature range is approximately 20 degrees to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. I will use one color for each five degree range, plus an additional color for anything lower than 20, and another for anything over 105. So I'll need 19 colors. I see a shopping trip in my immediate future!
I'm going to make my flying geese 2.5 by 5 inches finished, meaning that I'll make them 3 by 5.5 inches unfinished size. I will be using Bonnie Hunter's Essential Triangle Tool for the cutting, which will allow me to cut both the goose body and the side triangles from 3 inch strips. The same thing can be accomplished using the Easy Angle and Companion Angle rulers. Using just one size of strips will help me avoid wasting fabric and also to stay more organized. Keeping things organized will be important with so many colors and such a long term project. My quilt will have one column of flying geese per month, and will finish at approximately 60 by 77 inches.
If you're planning to use flying geese in this arrangement, here are some finished sizes for various sized flying geese units. Keep in mind that that these are the finished FG sizes, after they're sewn into the quilt.
1.5 x 3 inch flying geese ----------------------------------------- 36 x 46.5
2 x 4 inch flying geese ------------------------------------------- 48 x 62
2.5 x 5 inch flying geese ----------------------------------------- 60 x 77
3 x 6 inch flying geese --------------------------------------------72 x 93
3.5 x 7 inch flying geese ----------------------------------------- 84 x 108.5
The other thing I'll need to do is to choose my weather data source. I've found the web site that I plan to use for my high and low temperatures and have put a handy icon on my desktop so that I can easily pop over to check on it each day. I've also got a blank spreadsheet ready and waiting to keep track. Although I plan to keep up on the flying geese units each day, we all know that life can and will interfere at times, so keeping the data where I can see it and check off the units as I go will be super helpful.
Short list for getting started:
- make a plan for design and size of quilt
- find temperature data source
- decide on temperature range you'll need
- choose colors; buy fabric
- get ready to have fun!
