Temperature Quilts

 

Temperature quilts are quilts that use color to chart the daily temperatures for a given location over a predetermined time frame. The time frame could be a month or a year, and you can start a temperature quilt on any day you wish. Temperature quilts can record both the daytime highs and the nighttime lows or just the daytime highs. 

The first step in making your own temperature quilt is to choose a pattern. There are a multitude of ideas on the internet, and Pinterest is a good place to start. Depending on the pattern you chose, a block can represent a day or a week. Ann chose to use rectangles in her quilt, Sue is using squares, and Jean is using triangles. 

Here are some websites with patterns or directions for patterns:

https://weallsew.com/how-to-make-a-temperature-quilt-part-one/

https://www.canuckquilter.com/2020/01/temperature-quilt-2020.html

https://mariebostwick.com/how-to-make-a-temperature-quilt/

https://darcyquilts.com/2022/10/20/how-to-make-a-temperature-quilt/

 

Each color in the quilt represents a temperature range, generally between 3 and 6 degrees. The smaller the range, the more colors would have to be selected for the quilt. You can use either prints or solids, but solids are a good choice because of the range of colors available. And if you use solids from one fabric line, you can reliably buy more fabric of a particular color if you run out. 

Very recently, Moda wrote a post on their blog (November 30) all about temperature quilts, complete with examples of temperature quilts and a discussion about fabric choices.

https://modafabrics.com/inspiration-resources/tempquiltintro

 

There are websites with weather archives that you can use to find your temperatures, such as wunderground.com, noaa.com, and timeanddate.com. Or you can record the daily temperatures for your area from the local weather channel.   

 

Other sources for information:

McCall's Quilting magazine Nov/Dec 2021

Quilting Arts Magazine Winter 22

What's the weather like in your neck of the woods?

Little tree quilts like this one are all over the internet these days. I decided to join the fun with this little wall hanging. It is perfect for the door to my sewing room during the Christmas season. I stitched a facing instead of the usual binding. 

Donna W. loves applique. She put her considerable skills to work for this Autumn quilt from Primitive Gatherings. 

Donna got to enjoy patchwork, applique, and embroidery in this wintry wall hanging from The Birdhouse called Christmas Blessings. It is so good to have seasonal quilts-they are up for a little while and then stored away for the rest of the year. Hanging them again the next year is like seeing an old friend. 

 

Anne T mastered the art of the folded star! Now that is an accomplishment!

Anne T is known for her cute pinafores. This one is no exception plus she added a pixie hat. Dress pattern is Dress No. 1 from Sonya Phillips. Pixie hat pattern from Twig Tales and was made for a child's birthday party. Fun! The pinny uses African waxed fabric, a gift from a travelling friend. 

Anne T cleverly used surplus from a bargello Christmas stocking to make a jacket. I'm sure she will model it for us when it is completed. 

A craft sale turned up this awesome log cabin style Christmas quilt for Anne to enjoy. Sometimes it is nice to have someone else do the work!

Jean is teaching herself how to assemble dog portraits. It is a mystery to me, but Jean looks like she's nailed it with these two pups. 

Adorable dogs! Jean watched YouTube videos from Lola Jenkins to learn how to do this. 

Carol T. made this strip quilt using horse fabrics from her stash. Very inspirational setting! Carol is donating this quilt to our 2022-2023 charity, CROWNS. 

Donna M. used her sidekick ruler to make this wintry blue table mat. 

Donna M. used the Sweet Jane Tea Party quilt pattern for this Maine themed baby quilt that will be sailing away to England for some lucky baby.

Janice made this flowery purple quilt. Quilted with a butterfly motif. Another donation for CROWNS. 

Sue R made this colorful quilt from our Tacoma stash leftovers. The pattern is from Missouri Star Quilt Company's tutorial called Sashed Tumblers. This will be a donation to Maine Veterans.

Barb showed us this very pretty quilt. The pattern is from Elm City Quilts, a free pattern from Red Rooster Fabrics many years ago. The pattern was inspired by the quilting novels by Jennifer Chiaverini.  

Barb also finished this Turning Twenty quilt. Book 9 by Hope Chest Treasures by Tricia Cribbs, 2012. Barb said that she started this one in a workshop by our own Sherry F. 

Here is Barb stitching another quilt after our meeting was over. We love how she coordinates her outfits with her quilts. 

Sue R and Anne W explained the current quilting phenomenon that is temperature quilts. Have you been wanting to make one but did not know where to start? Here is Anne's interpretation. She chose a range of blues and greens for the low temps and a range of reds and yellow for the high temps. One strip for each day. 

Sue R tracked both the high and low temps for the day. You can set your own parameters for your temperature quilt. How about the year your were born? Or the year you got married? 

Jean has an intricate color system with half square triangles. 

Wunderground is a commercial website that offers lots of local weather information, as does NOAA. Lots of information on this type of quilt . I'm sure if you search, you will find there is something out there  for you!

Raffle Winner!

 

Juliana McClain

After some delay, we were able to present Juliana with her winning raffle quilt! Kaleidoscope Rainbow was completed by Tacoma members in November 2019. We meant to show this raffle quilt at our 2020 quilt show but Covid shut us down for 2 years! We were able to resume raffle ticket sales at Maine Quilts 2022 and we drew the winning ticket at the quilters yard sale in September 2022. There were delays in meeting up with Juliana but Barb was finally able to hand over our labor of love at a local coffee shop in November.

Juliana sent us this photo of her cat Plover. Plover did what any sensible cat would do and immediately took over the quilt. Smiles and purrs all around!

Congratulations Juliana!

Retreat Reverie

Donna M and Sherry

Sue Rap and Sharon R

Melis, Barb, Sandy H

Brenda D and Marcia

Jean

Betsy

Beth and Donna

Elly

Sandy H and Melis

 

The days of pumpkins and cider

 The days of pumpkins and cider, falling leaves and shorter days are upon us. At this time quilters relish the time to get in our sewing rooms and sew, sew, sew. Summer is all well and good but a chill in the air brings us indoors and sharpens our creativity. Well, when the temperature is still 70, what are we to make of that? Many Tacoma quilters have been busy, no matter the weather.

I (Beth) showed my kawandi quilt that I made from a workshop with Sue Duvall. This type of quilt was brought to India by way of Africa. Patches of fabric are sewn onto a layer of batting and backing. The patches are sewn all along the edges, moving in to the center. All of the patches are attached with lines of big stitch quilting. The corners are decorated with "fula", meaning flower. A kawandi quilt is not considered complete without these fun little fula!

I made this scrappy spiderweb quilt using lots of blue scraps. I was inspired by Bonnie Hunter's spiderweb quilt. Machine quilted by Kathy Boudreau.

Carol showed us this lovely Dresden Plate quilt. The quilt top was made by the mother of a friend. Blanket stitching around the edges of the 1930s fabrics. Carol tied the quilt for her friend. So many beautiful fabrics!

Carol set up this Nativity scene so we could all enjoy it. Stitched from a panel. 

Donna was the very lucky winner of this Dear Jane quilt made  by members of the Back Roads Quilters. Machine quilted by Anne Hussey. I'm sure Donna will spend many hours pondering over this beautiful quilt. Look for it at Maine Quilts next year!

Andrea showed us this table topper that is a variation on the log cabin technique. Andrea called on her sister Kim to finish the binding, which is very tricky with all those angles! Can't you just imagine a candle or a bowl of candy sitting in the center? Or a mini Christmas tree! So pretty.

Andrea used her serger to piece these homespun fat quarters together. Very up to date technique, Andrea! She got the fabrics as a thank you gift for volunteering at Maine Quilts. Machine quilted by Anne Hussey. A Christmas gift for a child or grandchild, perhaps?

I sat beside Jean at our recent quilt retreat and watched her sew this Christmas table runner. Jean used some really fresh takes on Christmas fabrics for this eye catching runner!

Jean made another table runner, this time using "Cha Cha Cha" pattern from Atkinson Designs. Jean will take it with her to spice up a rental property this winter. Good idea!

Sharon showed us what she made at the quilt retreat. She is using the potholder method to bind and sew these four patches together. Coming along nicely, Sharon!

Isn't this pretty? Ann made "The Lady" from Villa Rosa Designs. She told us it takes a jelly roll and one yard of fabric. Simple and effective. Ann machine quilts her own quilts. Doesn't the quilting really add another beautiful dimension to this quilt? 

Leanne is a new member to Tacoma and she tells us she has not been quilting very long but she has been sewing all her life. She may be a beginner but is coming up with some great quilts! This one is a free pattern from the Accuquilt website. Love those chickadees!

Leanne with a quilt she made using EQ8. I've had EQ8 for years and I might just need lessons from Leanne! This one uses paper piecing. Expecting more from this Tacoma quilter!

Another quilt using paper piecing from Leanne and another beauty! A Judy Niemeyer pattern. 

Meliss made this bright quilt from flowering snowball templates. It is a crib quilt and sure to make any baby giggle. So cute!

Meliss showed us what was surely the biggest quilt of the day! A feathered star king size quilt for her nephew. A Lynn Jordan pattern. Lucky nephew!

Here is a peek at the blocks members made for our BOM. The theme was Country Fair and 1930s fabrics were suggested. The lucky winner was our 1930s queen Sherry! It will be interesting to see what Sherry does with her winnings!

Until next time, keep on stitchin'!