Hello, dear quilters, we are continuing with our Temperature Quilt-Along. Today I will show you how to sew together the individual daily blocks for the Snowball and the blocks of five for the Flying Geese.
Have you made good progress with your sewing? In my last article I showed you how to sew the individual blocks. If you want to take another look, here is the article with the detailed sewing instructions.
How have the temperatures been for you over the last few days? It’s really cold here in the Ulm area at the moment. That’s why we don’t just have to run faster on the dog run, but also put on an extra portion of clothing. Is it rather mild where you are? Then I have a few frosty pictures for you. Let’s get in the mood for winter! Photos by: Franz Hellbach.
New here?
Is this your first time hearing about the Temperature Quilt-Along? Then welcome! We will sew a Temperature Quilt together. This quilt represents the daily temperatures you have measured throughout the year and tells your own personal weather story in 365 blocks. You can join in and sew along at any time.
Would you like to take part? Wonderful! Then read the announcement article with all the information first.
On the following page you will find an overview of all the articles that have been published so far: BERNINA Temperature Quilt-Along – all previous articles.
Today I will show you how to sew the day blocks and blocks of five of the two quilt patterns together.
Sewing instructions – we put the blocks together
Sewing together the day blocks for the Snowball quilt
Lay out the individual daily blocks in the correct direction. Use the snowball reference sheet as a guide. In addition, number the individual days in sequence. Stick a piece of masking tape to the fabric. Myriam from our community had the idea, thanks for that!
Sew 2 days together: First, place both blocks right sides together.
Make sure that the diagonals meet precisely.
Push a pin through the seam. The pin is positioned at the same point on both sides of the fabric. The fabric edge is also neatly aligned.
Now sew both day blocks together with a 1/4″ (7 mm) seam allowance. Do not secure the seam ends.
Before ironing the seam allowance open, be sure to move the masking tape to the edge. If you iron it, the adhesive will come off and stick to the fabric.
The finished block of two is ready and ironed: View of the front and the back in the following picture.
Lay out all the blocks of 2 in the correct order again. This is important because it is easy to make mistakes when aligning them.
Then sew the blocks of 2 together one after the other.
Lay the fabrics right sides together and secure the corners with pins.
Sew again with the specified seam allowance of 1/4″ (7 mm). I’m using the Patchwork Foot #97D.
Press the seam allowance open and also press the fabric on the front. Follow the sewing instructions step by step until you have sewn together all the daily blocks you have so far.
Another tip: Thin and very sharp pins are particularly suitable for pinning patchwork elements together. Below is a photo of a conventional pin for comparison. If you are interested, google a source of supply for: Taylor Seville Magic Pins- Patchwork FEIN 0,5 x 36 mm.
Sewing together the blocks of 5 for the Flying Geese quilt
First, a few tips on organising your workspace when sewing the Flying Geese quilt:
Lay out the cut fabrics on your sewing table in the correct order. And find a place for the Flying Geese sheet with the temperatures painted on it. It makes it easier for you to check directly.
Perhaps you also have space next to your sewing machine for a small cutting and ironing mat?
You have sewn the first 10 days as a Flying Geese? Great. Place the finished blocks of 5 with the fabric side on the cutting mat. Then cut the pattern back to the dotted line using a rotary cutter and ruler. This line forms the 1/4 inch seam allowance. Important: The papers remain on the fabric until further notice and are not yet removed.
Place the two blocks next to each other and check that the order is correct.
Then place both blocks of 5 on top of each other, right sides facing. Make sure that the seam allowances match. Now pin through the corners with a sturdy pin.
The needle point is also located at the corner point on the back.
Slide both pins along the marking line as shown in the picture and staple the layers of paper and fabric together.
Sew both blocks together along the marking with a stitch length of 1 mm. Secure the seam ends.
Press the seam allowance open.
The first 10 days are sewn together.
Changing the direction of the Flying Geese
Fancy a change of direction? I have indicated in the sewing instructions that the direction of the Flying Geese blocks can be changed. This adds an extra dynamic to the quilt.
Would you like to do this? Then you are welcome to sew according to the following instructions. As an example, I have flipped my Flying Geese from 6.1 to 10.1.
Take out your worksheet. Lay out the cut daily blocks from top to bottom as indicated by the order on the sheet. The only difference is that the flying geese are not pointing upwards, but downwards. In the picture below you can see that I have also laid out the FPP template pointing downwards.
Important: the block of 5 is ALWAYS sewn from the bottom up. So I turn the paper pattern and the fabrics 180° before sewing. The bottom is 6.1. and the top is 10.1. Everything clear? Then I sew every 5 days according to the instructions on the FPP template.
I cut back the edge and turned the whole block again. Below you can see my first two blocks of 5.
- The order from top to bottom in the block on the left is 1-5 January.
- The order from top to bottom in the block on the right is 6-10 January.
I sewed the two blocks of 5 together as explained above and created a completely different picture by arranging them differently. This change of direction within the blocks of 5 creates a nice variety within the Flying Geese quilt.
All clear so far? Here are my Snowball and Flying Geese quilt patterns side by side. Only the day colours are the same.
Develop a work routine
Have you already found a routine for how you want to work on the Temperature Quilt-Along throughout the year? No? Then I’ll give you my working routine.
I always check my weather database late in the evening and call up the previous day’s temperatures. I make a note of them in the annual calendar and transfer them to the two Snowball and Flying Geese worksheets and colour in the areas directly.
Then I cut out the fabrics and pin the date to masking tape. For the Flying Geese, I pin the 3 cut-outs per day directly onto the FPP template.
Fabric remnants? Yes, there are lots of scraps of cut triangles. Safe them for now: I will be writing instructions for a small sewing project in autumn that has nothing to do with patchwork.
So, now you are ready to start sewing for January. I wish you lots of fun!
Frequently asked questions – FAQs
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The daily maximum and minimum temperatures have the same colour. What to do?
Nothing! That’s part of a temperature quilt. If the highest and lowest temperatures of the day are close to each other, the day block is still made from 2 pieces. These then have the same colour. This was occasionally the case in my 2023 sample quilt. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, an exciting picture was created. The weather is unpredictable and doesn’t follow a pattern – luckily! -
What do I do with the cut-off triangles?
You are free to use the sections. Feel free to collect them, because later in the year I will be publishing sewing instructions for a small project using these sections. However, this project will have nothing to do with patchwork. Of course, you can also use the triangles to make small pincushions etc.
Show me your pictures!
Many of you have shared pictures in the community section of the blog, in the comments or on Instagram and Facebook.Please continue to do so! I’m always delighted to receive your posts.
And of course you should continue to ask your questions in the comments if something is unclear. I’ll reply promptly and include some questions in the FAQ round in the next blog report. This will be published after 31 January. See you then!
Happy Sewing,
Jutta
I seem to be challenged with cutting the fabric the correct size and shape to complete the flying geese; i.e., pattern sections 3&2. They look as though they should fit but when I go to attach them to pattern section #1, they are too small. There is not an extra 1/4” on the sides. Help! Something is amiss. What am I not doing correctly? Any suggestions?
Hello Danica, please have a look on today’s January article. I give another detailed look on the make of of the Flying-Geese. If you work step by step you will reach a perfect result with the extra seam of 1/4″ on both sides. Best, Jutta
Danica, make sure, both side parts have the additional seam allowance of 1/4“. Cordially, Jutta
\I have finally worked out where I went wrong with my flying geese and have now completed the first 20 days. I live in New Zealand, so it is summer here, hence the warmer colours.
Your flying geese look wonderful! Mine will be the polar opposite of your colors, which will be fun to see alongside yours. We’re having a very cold January in Strongsville, Ohio. I cannot recollect the last time we’ve had snow piles in our yards for most of January.
Its beautiful. Not too cold nights and warm days – what a combination! Thanks for sharing, Jutta
First 18 days done! Had a lot of fun but it is not easy to be sure we are not mixing up a temperature/fabric with so many interruptions 🙂
That looks lovely Clara – great fabric choices. Yes, it’s quite complicated getting the hang of the pattern and the temperature changes in the right order! So glad I’m not doing the flying geese option
Hi Clara, that looks good. And yes, there is a need of an extra of concentration, when sewing this pattern. Go on, you are doing great. Jutta
Hi I am just starting to sew the first 20 snowball pieces and have a couple of questions about this. I notice you say you don’t secure the stitches at the ends for the piecing – is there a reason for this? And you also recommend stitch length 2.00. Do you use the straight stitch option 1, or the quilting 1326? I notice the tension changes to 4.0 from 5.25 with the quilting stitch. Many thanks
Hi Cherie, I usw the straight stitch No. 1 with 2mm length and don’t secure the ends. All ends will be sewn together within the whole quilt. If you feel safe, in securing the ends, please do so. Best, Jutta
Hi! I am making the snowball quilt. What should the finished size of two days together? I think it should be 4.5″ square….mine is a bit short on one side…maybe a scant 1/4″ seam would be better to achieve the 4.5″ square? Thanks for a fun tutorial!