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According to my calculations, July 2nd marks the year’s halfway point. So it seemed like a good time for a temperature quilt update for the quilt I started at the beginning of the year.
But before I get to my temperature quilt update, let’s do a little review…
What Are Temperature Quilts and How Do You Make Them?
As I explained in my initial post on the topic, back in January, the idea behind temperature quilts is pretty straightforward.
They’re composed of 365 two-color quilt blocks, one block for every day in the year. One of the colors will represent the high temperature for a particular day, the other color will represent the day’s low temperature. You can make a block every day, sew a week or month of blocks at one time, or just sit down and play catch up whenever you have time.
Though I began with the intention of stitching a block a day, the “catch up” method has come into play for me pretty often. So if you’re intrigued by the idea but reading this post halfway through the year, it’s not too late to start a temperature quilt for yourself. You’ll just have to catch up a bit.
Whatever the schedule, the idea is to spend a year creating a colorful quilt that will serve as a visual reminder of the temperature and fluctuations over the passing months, as well as a memento of that year.
Solid fabrics work well for temperature quilts. I picked a variety of hand-dyed fabrics by Cherrywood, in a range of colors to represent 5-degree temperature ranges. But when it comes to block patterns, the sky is the limit.
If you want to get more detail about methods and possible patterns for temperature quilts, you might want to review my original post on the subject.
My Temperature Quilt Update – Halfway Through the Year!
For my first attempt at making a temperature quilt, I decided to keep things simple.
When it comes to quilt blocks, it doesn’t get a lot simpler than stitching together two triangles to create a square, but I figured an easy block makes it easier to keep up with the project. The last thing I need in my life is another UFO!
For those who may be unfamiliar with quilt-ese, UFO stands for UnFinished Object. Most quilters collect a ton of them and I’m no exception. But though it was touch and go for a while, I am proud to report that my temperature quilt is right on track!
However, I will admit that there were a few moments when I considered kicking this quilt to the curb.
Letting the Temperature Quilt Do Its Thing
The Pacific Northwest is known for its temperate climate, so I didn’t expect to see a whole lot of fluctuation in temperatures and the corresponding fabric colors in the early months. But this year, it seems like the rain and gloom went on, and on, and on!
Not only were the dreary days getting me down, they were also threatening to make my temperature quilt look really boring. And if that wasn’t bad enough, all those 30s to low 50-degree days meant I ran out of cool colors and had to order more fabric.
In spite of that, I did stick with it.
Luckily, for my spirits as well as my quilt, the mercury finally started to inch up in June. Once I got to bring in a little more color, I really started to like how my temperature quilt looks! Here’s how it looked as of June 23rd.
More Temperature Quilt Updates to Come
Forecasts are calling for temperatures that are more in line with what we’d experience during a normal summer now. Hopefully, that will mean I get to add some warm colors to my quilt soon. I’ll be sure to do a final temperature quilt update at the end of the year so you can see how it turned out.
Hmm….that gives me an idea.
If you’re making a temperature quilt this year, please send me a photo when you’re finished. In early January of 2023, maybe we can have a Virtual Temperature Quilt show and tell!
Sound good?
