Saturday, June 8, 2024

I have been interested in a temperature quilt since I saw photos from the latest Saskatoon quilt show. A temperature quilt uses blocks that incorporate the high and low temperatures of any particular day. My first thought was to do the quilt to represent the high temperatures for 2023; that was a leap year and I thought that would be fun. And my interest in yo-yos worked into that same project because the high temperatures would be done with a yo-yo on a neutral background.

I found a source for all the historical temperatures of 2023 so I was set. Stacia sent me a gizmo that made making the yo-yos a breeze. So I started experimenting. I wasn’t too pleased with the results in the one on the left so I made another and added a button to cover the gap in the gathering. I was still skeptical.

The more I thought about the project I thought I’d rather have a circle in the centre. I purchased a set of Perfect Circles and attempted to create a circle that could be placed on the background. Immediately I realized that wasn’t going to work. Stacia advised me that I wasn’t using the perfect circle tool in the right way but another test didn’t work out so well either. I really wanted this to be a hand-stitching project so I ruled out machine appliqué even though that would have given me the near-perfect circle I was looking for. So why don’t I try using an English Paper Pieced hexagon for the centre? I was happy with how that test turned out.

The more I thought about the project I decided I should also incorporate the low temperatures for the day. So the hexagon would be the high temperature for the day and the background colour would be the low temperature. And wouldn’t it be more fun to do a year of temperatures based on my first year of life (September 20, 1950 to September 19, 1951). I was able to find a site that listed those temperatures in the Saskatoon area; close enough to Elrose temperatures.

I decided on my temperature ranges (-40 to 36) and picked my colours. I didn’t want to purchase any fabric. I had a line of fabric that I had originally planned for a Tumbling Blocks quilt that I’ve now decided not to make. I recorded all the colours I would need for each day but on closer examination of the charts I realized that on several days the highs and lows were within the same temperature range.

For those particular days the background fabric and the hexagon would be the same colour and wouldn’t stand out very well. So why don’t I go back to the yo-yo idea in order to make each block more 3-D so when the colours were the same they would stand out a bit from one another. But this time I’ll use the flat side as the “good” side.

Next thing I had to do was to ensure I had enough fabric for each colour. I counted how many yo-yos I needed for the high ranges as well as how many background blocks I needed for the low ranges. Provided I’ve done the math right I’ll be fine.

So I’ve come full circle (pun not intended) and I’ll satisfy my yo-yo and temperature quilt urges in one project.

Thursday, June 6, 2024

We had such a good holiday spending time with family. First stop was Calgary where the weather changed every half hour – sun, rain, hail, and more sun. The wind was howling in Saskatoon but the weather didn’t stop us from having a good time.

Our first task in Calgary was to get Asher’s graduation gift framed. I had phoned ahead and was told that as long as they had the supplies in stock we might be able to pick it up on the day of the ceremony. We chose a very simple mat and frame and were promised it would be done by the end of the day on the day of graduation. Mid-morning on graduation day we got a call that it was ready so we were able to pick it up before the ceremony. We visited a quilt show at Heritage Park did a bit of shopping, as well as enjoying Asher’s celebration.

Then we were on to Saskatoon. We spent quite a bit of time with Kathryn and crew and it was fun to watch the hockey games with them. We visited the Western Development Museum as well. We stayed with Stacia and Ron but Deloise and Laurie were just a five-minute walk away; Ken is within a short driving distance too so we saw lots of everyone. Sunday night Stacia and Ron hosted dinner for 24 – almost all the Saskatoon relations were able to attend.

Thanks to everyone for spending time with us and to Ray for letting us borrow his vehicle. Pat may just make an offer to buy it as it was a very comfortable ride.

It was a long day yesterday as we made our way home but we were able to have lunch with Peggy and Bill before catching the ferry. We both managed to walk up the steep hill from the ferry; we were too cheap to take a cab and I was too impatient to wait for Pat to get the truck to pick me up. I had a long sleep last night and I don’t think any harm was done by pushing myself.

We went out for groceries this morning and I caught up on some computer work. This afternoon I’ve been playing around with my new idea for a temperature quilt. As soon as I finish matching temperatures to colours I’ll be ready to do a sample.

I’m off to a Guild meeting tonight. I’ll be filing the last report for the Blog as it will be static until/unless someone comes forward to take it over. I still have some work to do to archive the pages and posts but there is no hurry for that.

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

My plan for today was to get out in the yard and do some weeding. Our gardener has had a couple of medical issues and hasn’t been able to come yet this year. In the meantime our plants are all coming up, along with the weeds. Having the green compost pickup every week is a real motivator and, since it has been too damp to do a proper mowing of the lawn, I wanted to get it filled up for collection day on Friday.

But it rained over night and the forecast was for showers this morning so I didn’t go out. Instead I wiped down the outside of all the kitchen cupboards and drawers. It has been on my list to do for awhile (I won’t tell you how long) and I felt that since Pat was out for the morning it would be a good opportunity to get it done. I put on my music and I was surprised that it went as quickly as it did. At some point, when I feel motivated enough, I’ll start cleaning out each of those drawers and cupboards.

By the time I finished my cleaning the weather was looking pretty good so I went out and got at some weeding. I didn’t feel like doing the patio so I started on the beds. I didn’t get through the whole width of them but I managed to get all the way around the fronts. When Pat came home he picked a few weeds too and the compost bin is relatively full. If the sun really shines this afternoon and tomorrow we may get a chance to cut the grass and we’ve left enough room for the clippings.

So I can’t do it all, but I can do a little!

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

I’m making excellent progress on my grad gift, as I should be after several days of non-stop working on it. I’m at the border stage now and we’ve decided to have the project framed in Calgary so that will buy me at least a couple of extra weeks for stitching.

I was worried about the border design and was very disappointed when the stitching didn’t match the pattern at the first corner. I had sorted out how I was going to amend the pattern when I noticed I had made a small error just a few rows back. It was relatively easy to take those stitches out (I’d had a lot of practice in reverse stitching over the last few days). I was very happy when, after fixing my mistake, the first corner matched up perfectly to what the pattern showed.

I had my hair trimmed today. Pat had a meeting so he dropped me off at the salon and I walked home. I’m still using my friend’s cane; it helps a lot on the stairs but whenever I’ve used it for a longer walk my wrist is very sore. I have problems with my wrists all the time – I can’t knead bread, crocheting and knitting bother them, as does walking with my poles. It leaves me wondering if it is better to have a sore knee or sore wrists.

I made it back to my sewing room today. I mailed out my last April card on Monday so it was time to get busy on my May cards. I made a start on one last week but when I came to the point where I had to do some reverse stitching I quit. I’ve fixed that particular problem today and have that card finished. I’ve made a start on a second card and now that I know what I’m doing I think they will move along quite quickly.