2018 Temperature Quilt

Moving from Virginia to Massachusetts has made me acutely aware of the temperature.  I am FREEZING!!!  And I grew up in Maine, so I should be OK with this, but I'll be the first to admit that my blood has thinned!  Thank goodness I know how to knit and quilt - I am staying warm with hot tea and lots of handmade coziness.

Back in Virginia, one of my yarn shop customers made a temperature blanket last year.

I love the idea, but wanted to translate the idea into a quilt.  I love the quilt that NeedledMom made with her sister last year using flying geese, and I know the ones they are making this year with square in a square blocks will be cool as well, but with everything on my plate right now, I wanted something even simpler so that I am likely to actually finish it.

Then, yesterday, as I was contemplating the floor tiles in the bathroom at work...

This would be super simple, faster and easier than the flying geese or the square in a square, but still allowing blocks that represent both a daily high and a daily low temperature.  My plan is to make blocks that finish at 3.5", and to add in 12 monthly averages at the beginning of each month and a yearly average block at the end of December so that I have an even 378 blocks, resulting in an 18x21 block quilt that measures 63"x73.5" without a border.

I decided to visit my local quilt shop, which just happens to be having a sale, and stock up on some Kona Solids.  I'm using the same colors that NeedledMom and her sister used - why reinvent the wheel?  They didn't have all the colors I need, but enough to get me started.

Terrible nighttime artificial light.  Here are 19 of the 30 colors I will use for this quilt, tracking temps from -23 to 96.  I have other colors ready in case it gets hotter than 96, and I'm praying that it never goes below -23 (although we've already experienced -20 this winter)

This quilt might end up looking really random, but that's OK; it will mean something to me.  So far, I really like the colors.

The 10 January blocks I can make with the fabrics that were in stock when I went shopping.  The rest will have to wait until the missing colors are back in stock.

My plan is for the daily high to always either be on top or on the left.  I am pinning tiny notes on the back of each block so that I know which date it represents and if the seam is supposed to be vertical or horizontal.

Meanwhile, I'm still plugging away at my On Ringo Lake mystery quilt.

I have most of the block pieces done, but not trimmed.  Then it is construction time!

We have a long weekend from work coming up at the end of the month, and I have designated that time as when I need to start hand quilting my new niece/nephew's quilt.

In the meantime, I've put a bunch of yarn in my ETSY shop on clearance, so I'm getting my daily steps in going back and forth to the post office several times a day.  I love how my ETSY shop supports my fiber habit, whether it be yarn or fabric.

I'm linking up with Monday Making and Oh Scrap!