Rita's Temperature Quilt--post 2

Testing the size of the triangle to square
the end of the braid

When I first reviewed this project, I thought that I would draft a house for the filler blocks for February. I also planned to draft the triangle to be able to square the end of the braid. 

I decided I'd make a house as the label for the quilt and use filler rectangles for February. It was time to tackle the size of the triangles to square the end of the block.

Using freezer paper and an iron, I pressed the end of the block onto the freezer paper. Once the paper was cool; I pulled out a ruler and marked the outer edge. Next, I cut out the pattern and measured it. It ended up being a three inch finished triangle. It was oversized so I could trim it to size.

I cut inch and a half strips of a neutral fabric and stitched three together. I connected the rows together with these strips. I did have a bit of a hiccup. I needed to trim the strips a quarter of an inch more on each side than I did for the first four rows. 

Finished center

When I could see the end of the seam outside of the neutral strip was when I realized my error. I laughed at myself. How long have I been sewing???? The answer is close to sixty years so I should have figured it out much sooner!

Once I stitched the rows together, it was time to decide where to place the legend. Rita had pieced the fabrics together. She had changed fabrics every two degrees for a great many of the temperatures. She didn't have a label for a couple of the upper temperature fabrics so I made a range for those.

 I had to decide if the legend would run vertically or horizontally. I decided horizontally made the most sense. I'm planning to hand embroider the temperatures below the fabric swatch. Likely I will do this in October while I'm recovering from knee replacement surgery.

I also auditioned fabric for the borders. I'll stick with the same fabric I used for the sashing. The print fabric may become the binding. Working on this project was goal number nine on my August list. It won't be long before it is a top!

Linking to Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts and Cynthia at Oh Scrap.