Temperature Quilt Along - Week 6 & 7

I did not have much to share last week, so I figured I'd skip one...
It seems like there have been quite a few locations where low and high temperatures have fallen in the same range this week. I've had some questions regarding this.

Firstly, this is bound to happen to most of us somewhere along the 365 days of this year. The fewer fabrics/ranges you have, the more likely you are to have repeat blocks as well as blocks where the low and high are the same color. Don't fret.

My advice is to make the block as you would any other block, i.e. don't be tempted to just slap down a single piece of fabric. Even if you're using the same fabric, the seam in the block will give it continuity with the rest of the blocks in your quilt.

This week I was reminded of the importance of liking the fabrics you choose. The green in this dot has been the high color for 12 blocks so far this year! And it's been in a total of 17 blocks.

I've sewn together the first two rows of my quilt! Somewhere along the line I dropped the "snake" idea. The quilt will now read like a book - left to right and top to bottom. I also removed the appliqued "2019". Just didn't like it. I'll come up with something else for those blank blocks.

(I haven't been able to press it properly because I still need to add batting to the circles in the first row.)
I added a teenie weenie little month marker which won't interfere with the flow of the quilt.

We had our first giveaway last week and I'm planning one for each month, so be sure to follow along on Instagram for an announcement (#tempquiltalong).

Moda Love Quilt - Kind of

I have SO many WIPs and UFOs I really have no business starting any new projects...but the Moda Love In sew along and the Moda Love Quilt were VERY tempting. I resisted however...until I saw Jane's interpretation on Instagram.

Since I needed a Valentine's Quilt to replace the Tree Lot Quilt still hanging on the wall, I saw this as the perfect excuse to jump in.

I played around with the pattern a bit and this is the final result:
On the wall:

I whipped up this little quilt in less than a day, including the straight line quilting.

My version consists of 3" squares and I added a 2" border to make it fit the existing hooks on the wall. Since I've had a couple of requests for my design, I drafted it on EQ8 quickly.

Also, I have all the Moda Grunge fabrics I used available in the Etsy store!
They are: Vanilla, Gris, Raspberry, and Ocean.

To make my version, which finishes at around 28" x 28" you won't need more than 1/2 yard of each fabric. If you want to add the border, I'd recommend getting a yard of Vanilla. You won't regret it. It's my new absolute favorite neutral.

Temperature Quilt Along - Week 5

And that's it for January!

Here in Central Iowa we had 7 days where the minimum temperature was 0 degrees or less. And 1 where the high temperature was 0 degrees or less! (That's -17.78 in Celcius!)

I hope everyone is staying warm and safe. It's supposed to be close to 60 degrees here on Sunday. That's ORANGE!

Today I want to tell you a funny story...

After I made my first couple of blocks, I asked my hubby what he thought of my idea. He said they were really cute, but they looked like...

...condoms!

Seriously? I attributed it to the fact that men have one track minds, but it stuck in the back of my head. That, and the fact that the little creases showing through to the front was bothering me a tad already.

This is why I started cutting away some of the background fabric as I showed in my YouTube tutorial. This helped a whole lot and will be just fine if you make a quilt with the circles here and there but this quilt has A LOT of circles.

This is what I'm doing now:
Everything is the same up to where I cut away the back.
After that, I cut a circle out of batting the same size as the appliquéd one on the block.

I then insert this through the gap, making sure that is behind both the background and circle fabric. Be sure to hold it in the center so it doesn't move.

So much better! Someone on Instagram said they look like "Beat the Buzzer" buttons but I'm totally OK with that.


Remember when I hinted at a giveaway? It's coming. I will announce the details on Instagram later today or tomorrow and also send an email to all quilt along followers, so keep an eye on your inbox.