Hello, dear fellow quilters, today we’re finally getting started. I’ll show you step by step how to sew the Snowball and Flying Geese blocks for the BERNINA Temperature Quilt.
How far have you got with the preparations? I’m sure most of you have already cut the first fabrics. If you’re not ready yet and have yet to do so – here’s the article on cutting.
January has already been here for a few days and the temperatures are creating wonderful wintery natural spectacles. On the one hand, the fog has created wonderful hoar frost. It’s always atmospheric, whether it’s a foggy day or a sunny one. And perhaps you will also find the colours in the photos in my fabric selection for the fabric kit. Nature was my inspiration for the whole year. Photos: Franz Hellbach
And then, while walking the dog in the forest, I found the rare hair ice for the first time. It occurs in mixed forests and forms on dead wood. It requires very specific and rare microclimatic conditions. Isn’t that fascinating?
My temperature quilt will remind me of these special days.
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.
Sewing instructions Snowball and Flying Geese
Today I am giving you sewing instructions on how to sew the day blocks for the Snowball and the Flying Geese.
Both blocks consist of 2 colours. One colour determines the daily high temperature, the other the daily low temperature. Both are sewn together and form a block. You decide whether to sew the snowball quilt in inches or centimetres. The Flying Geese is sewn on paper as foundation paper piecing.
Please read these instructions carefully before you start.
Sewing instructions day block snowball quilt
Cutting
- Colour of the daily maximum temperature chosen by you: 1 rectangle 4.5″ x 2.5″ (11.5 x 6.5 cm)
- Colour of the daily lowest temperature chosen by you: 1 square 2.5″ x 2.5″ (6.5 x 6.5 cm)
Please note that I work with two pattern colours for my instructions. The purple fabric (in some photos it looks blue) represents the lowest temperature of the day, the orange fabric represents the highest temperature of the day. And then in alternating colours.
Machine set up
- Stitch length: 2mm
- Seam allowance is included: 1/4″ (0.7 mm)
- Thread colour: neutral grey
- Recommended presser foot: Patchwork Foot #97
Sewing instructions Snowball
Draw an exact diagonal in the square. Use a dark pencil on light-coloured fabrics and a light-coloured pencil on dark-coloured fabrics. The side of the fabric does not matter for Kona cotton fabrics. For all other fabrics, the marking is on the back of the fabric.
Place the square and rectangle together and pin them in place.
Now sew the two fabrics together on the marked diagonal. The seam ends are not secured.
Now shorten the seam allowance to 1/4″ (7 mm).
Turn the resulting triangle over and press the seam allowances open.
And that’s it 😊. So much for the technical instructions for the snowball block.
Now let’s take a look at the layout.
Arrangement of the daily snowball blocks
Take the worksheet with the snowball template. You can see that 4 consecutive daily blocks are arranged differently.
As the diagram shows, the daily blocks alternate so that the small triangles at the end form a kind of arrowhead. When we sew the first two months together in a few weeks’ time, these points will form the inside of the snowball.
I now lay out the blanks next to each other and on top of each other for 4 days. The direction in which the diagonal of the small square is laid out is important. It determines the direction of the small triangle after it has been sewn together.
Now I place fabric on fabric.
In the first part of the instructions I showed you how to sew the snowball block. Here it is pinned and not yet sewn. The diagonal line points from top right to bottom left. As described in the instructions above, I sew the fabrics together along the diagonals, cut back to 1/4″ seam allowance and press the seam allowance open.
The first Snowball block is finished. The second block is laid out. The diagonal now points from top left to bottom right.
As before, I sew the fabrics together along the diagonals.
I cut the excess fabric back to 1/4″ seam allowance and press the seam allowance open again.
Now I arrange the third day block underneath. The small square is now left-aligned on the rectangle. The diagonal line points from top left to bottom right.
Now sew across the diagonal again and then cut back.
The fourth Snowball block is still missing, here the diagonal line points from top right to bottom left. And the whole procedure is repeated. Then you’ve already done it. All 4 orientations are sewn.
In addition, please always use the snowball sheet as a guide. This shows the orientation of the fabrics for each day:
Corrective cut
The dimensions of the finished day block are 4.5‘ x 2.5’ (11.5 x 6.5 cm). I measure each sewn block and correct even tiny deviations immediately with a rotary cutter and ruler.
Everything clear? Then the snowball quilters can get started now! Choose the right fabrics based on your temperature calendar, cut them out and sew your first blocks.
The rectangles represent the highest temperature of the day, the small squares the lowest temperature.
I will show you exactly how the individual day blocks are sewn together in the next post.
Sewing instructions day block Flying Geese
There are various methods of sewing the Flying Geese block with FPP. I now have one for you that reduces waste of your fabric stash and is easy to cut from the strip width of 2.5″.
Preparation pattern side corners
Take a printout of the FPP-Patterns and use a ruler and rotary cutter to cut out triangle no. 3 plus a 1/4″ seam allowance (as shown in the photo below). This triangle is your cutting template for the small side triangles.
Cutting for the Flying Geese block
- Colour chosen by you for the highest temperature of the day: 1 rectangle 4.5″ x 2.5″ (rectangle)
- Colour chosen by you for the lowest temperature of the day: 1 x shape 3 according to template 1 x shape 3 mirrored.
Again, I work with pattern colours. The dark purple fabric stands for the lowest temperature of the day, the orange fabric represents the highest temperature of the day.
Machine set up
- Stitch length: 1 mm
- Seam allowance: 1/4″
- Thread colour: neutral grey
- Recommended presser foot: Reverse Pattern Foot with Clear Sole #34
Cut off the unprinted areas of the sewing pattern. Leave an additional 1/4″ next to the dotted seam allowance.
Pre-fold all lines except for the dotted lines of the seam allowance.
The Flying Geese is always sewn from bottom to top using the FPP method. Technically, it doesn’t work the other way round. The fabric is placed on the unprinted paper side and sewn on the printed lines on the reverse side.
Place the fabric rectangle on the back of the bottom segment 1, making sure it fits perfectly. You can also work with a copy wheel. Pin the fabric in place with a needle. You can also use a fabric glue stick / spray adhesive to pin the fabric to the paper.
Turn the paper over and fold it along the edge of the right-hand side triangle. Now place the add-a-quarter ruler on the edge of the paper and cut off the excess fabric.
Turn the paper over again so that the fabrics are facing upwards. Now position the first side triangle flush with the edge of the large triangle. Pin both layers together.
Turn the paper over again and sew both fabrics together on the first line.
Unfold the triangle and iron it to the side.
Now repeat the folding process again, place the fabric on the opposite side, pin it to the centre triangle, turn the paper over again and sew on the second side triangle. Unfold it and iron it.
Check the excess fabric and correct it to 1/4″ seam allowance. That was the first day.
For the next segment, place another rectangle on top of the first Flying Geese. Now the center will be the highest temperature of the day and the corner will be the lowest temperature.
Pin the fabrics together, turn the paper over and sew the rectangle along the straight line.
Fold the fabric over, press it and repeat the sewing of the two side triangles.
Here you can see both variants side by side, the Snowball (left) and the Flying Geese (right):
The sequence for sewing the Flying Geese
Finally, an important piece of information for all sewers of the Flying Geese: Depending on which direction you want your geese to face, i.e. upwards as shown here (right in the picture) …
or downwards like here …
… is also the sewing order of the days.
If you let the geese point upwards, you collect the temperatures for 5 days and then sew from 5 January upwards to 1 January. Then again from 10 January to 6 January etc. If the geese are pointing downwards, i.e. in the opposite direction, you sew one day after the other.
I’m well prepared for sewing and will start with the Snowball and the Flying Geese. Here we go at last!
I will show you how to sew the 5-packs together in the next article.
Frequently asked questions – FAQs
-
What additional material do I need to complete the quilt?
For the standard size of 125 x 160 cm you will also need a 150 x 180 cm batting and backing fabric also measuring 150 x 180 cm. Fabric for the binding: 40 cm (fabric width 110 cm) -
Which colour do I sew into the empty days of a month (29.+30.2. etc)?
You can sew the empty days with a black fabric. For this, cut out 1 4.5″ x 2.5″ piece. -
My location does not have the same temperature range.
In that case, you are free to create your own temperature range to use your full fabric stash. -
Which fabric should I use if the temperature is above 36°C?
I recommend a dark aubergine for these very rare days. Note that temperatures are measured in the shade. Even in hot years, temperatures in the mid-latitudes are unlikely to exceed 36 degrees very often. -
Can I replace or leave out a colour that I don’t like in the fabric kit?
If there is no more than one colour, it can be removed. All underlying fabrics will then move forward by a temperature segment of 3 degrees. -
The weather databases do not provide me with exact temperatures for my chosen location
Take it easy. 99% of all Temperature Quilts have the data provided by the country-specific weather stations. We work with 3-degree intervals; small deviations don’t matter. If you want to know exactly, use a digital thermometer and read the temperature from your own garden using an app. Otherwhise use the weather data from a different city close to you.
So, that’s it again from my side. Have fun cutting and sewing. Take your time for every single step and it’s better to look twice more than once too little at temperatures, colours and cutting. Good luck!
I’m so excited to see what your blocks look like. Please show your progress in the community section of the blog, in the comments or on Instagram and Facebook.
And please don’t hesitate to ask your questions in the comments! We will answer them as quickly as possible and include frequently asked questions in the next FAQ round.
Happy Sewing,
Jutta
Hi Jutta, my name is Prue, I live in New Zealand and I am doing your temperature quilt. I am doing the flying geese but I’m having problems with getting the minimum triangles big enough to cover the template. I think this may be my error, as my photocopy did not have an accurate 1″ square and the template was slightly smaller than 2″ x 4″. SO I increased the template to 2×4. However I have now just done a geese using the original template, and it works. I’m not sure if I am the only one who has done this, but I thought I’d let you know. Really enjoying it, even if a bit confused at first. I have attached a photo of both blocks.
Hi Prue, I am sewing both, the snowball and the flying geese. Perhaps you have probs with printing in a European DinA4 Size? That might be the reason that it does not match properly. I tested all before publishing. Prints and cutted sizes were all ok. All European participants do not have any probs with the flying geese – therefore I think it might be the reason? Cordially, Jutta
Thanks Jutta for your reply. I now wonder whether I’ve also cut my template the wrong way, so I’ll recut it and see how it goes together then. I think it is such a fun quilt and your instructions are wonderful. Thank you. Prue
Those are beautiful photos of the frost. I can see how you were inspired by nature to choose the colours.
What colors can be used when both the daily high & low are below the 3 degree reference? for example so far I have 2 days that both the high & low are lower than -23.
Hi Diane, I would recommend “Zinc” from Kona Cotton. And the one below -26 might be “Smoke”.