Sunday, November 27, 2022

The Temperature

These HSTs (half square triangles) represent the high and low temperatures of the first eight days of January 1952.  The low temp. is on the bottom and the high temp. on top. 

I've always wanted to make a couple of temperature quilts -- one to represent highs and lows in the year I was born and the highs and lows of the current year.  I thought it would be fun to compare the two quilts.   


Since I now live near where I was born it will be a good comparison of past and present. I'm using weather data from weather.gov and climatological data from Moline Quad City International Airport. 


A lot of temperature quilts I've seen use solids. I don't have many and do not want to buy any. I just decided to go scrappy.  I assigned a different color to each increment of 10 degrees.  I'll probably use a variety of different fabrics in those colors because I don't really have any big pieces of fabrics in my stash except for what I keep in the backing pile. I'm going to try to use the same fabric in each color for an entire month at least. 

I started on blocks for January 1952 just to see how it goes. I was going to then wait and work on a temperature quilt for 2023 but then I figured why not just go with the current year. The fun for me is in seeing the differences in the two quilts so whether I use the new year or the current year doesn't make much difference. Using 1952 and 2022 will make a nice round number (70) of years between the temperatures represented in the quilts. 

And I can work on both quilts at the same time while I'm cutting my HSTs. 

I'm making 4 inch finished HSTs. I figured if I used an 18 x 21 layout then I would need 378 blocks. With 365 days represented in temperatures that leaves me with 13 blocks to work with. So I figured I would use a multicolor fabric and a fabric to represent each month and make HSTs to use at the start of each month.  The last block in the quilt will be the year. That will complete the 378 blocks in the quilt.  Or maybe I should make that the first block in the quilt. Hmmm, I am not sure yet what kind of HST I'm going to make to represent the year. 

I want to sew the HSTs together as I make them (18 x 21) so maybe I should decide on a year and make that the first block so I don't get the two quilts mixed up. 

So far I have the temperature highs and lows for the first eight days of 1952 on top and 2022 on bottom.  

I think this will be fun.



 

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amazing. I've never heard of weather quilts, but what I great way of visualizing the weather for a year. Thanks for sharing and educating.

Julierose said...

I like your scrappy idea for temp quilt--if you'd like some solids I'd be happy to share with you...let me know (colors, etc) hugs, Julierose

Jennifer said...

what a creative adn GREAT idea! i'll be looking forward to see your temp quilts as they progress!

gayle said...

I loved making my 2019 temperature quilt and had plannded to make a 2020 one, but completely lost the thread. (So to speak...)
Never thought about making one for my year of birth. Hmmm...

Anorina @SameliasMum said...

I love this idea of working on the two quilts to compare. Sounds like fun and I look forward to watching your progress.

swooze said...

Using your temp chart!! Thank you!

Linda said...

Not heard of a Temperature Quilt before. Sounds a good idea- challenging I think. Not really sure how it works so I’ll enjoy following your posts to see what it’s all about! I know the year I was born was one of the worst winters for snow we’ve ever had in this country - my Mum told me that story many times!

Kathy said...

Ummm--you live by Moline and haven't listed any sub-zero temps on your chart? I grew up by Kankakee and I'm pretty sure there might be a few of those days, but I could be wrong! You can always add those to your chart, but you can't get much whiter than white as your coldest day. Have fun with this comparison--it should be very interesting!

Quilter Kathy said...

That is a very fun idea!!

Deb Mac said...

This is an interesting concept. But I agree about the subzero days. We do have them most winters. I live about 5 miles from the Moline Airport and had no idea you were from this area.

Quiltdivajulie said...

I've thought about a temp quilt many times - and planned out a few but never cut the first piece for any of them. I think your approach sounds marvelous (especially the scrappy non-solid parts v all the same fabric) and I'm going to enjoy watching these come together.