Northern Lights Block of the Month
Welcome fearless travelling companions! Andrea - from the Willow Cottage Quilt Company - and I are delighted that you can join us to create a quilt that will whisk us away to the edge of the world, where stormy seas meet starry skies…
Over the next nine months we will follow the aurora borealis that trip the light fantastic across the ink blue skies of the arctic circle to explore the folklore of the far north, fictional forays into the unknown and the fabled journey of a Venetian merchant.
Your parcels of goodies will be posted on the second Tuesday of each month and, if you've joined us before, you'll know that there will be some fun extras and a bonus project or two along the way. Andrea will also email you a link to our sparkly new filmed tutorial!
I like to think of this page as our group journal where I'll share my inspiration for each block along with extra tutorials to help you on your journey, so be sure to check in every month when you've received your parcel. Scroll down the page to access each month's journal entry. You can also join our private Facebook group so that you can come and chat with us - and each other - or find us on our special Instagram account. We encourage you to share your progress on Instagram and Facebook with the #northernlightsbom hashtag, we love seeing your posts!
Month 1: January, Ursa Minor
Month 2: February, Star of the Sea
Month 3: March, Rorbu
Month 4: April, Puffin
Month 5: May, Lodestar
Month 6: June, Reindeer
Month 7: July, Fire Fox
Month 8: August, North Star
Month 9: September, Skrei and assembly
Northern Lights: month 1
Welcome to month one of Northern Lights, Ursa Minor
Our expedition to the Arctic Circle begins ...with a star-gazing Polar Bear.
The word Arctic does actually come from the Greek word for bear: Arktos. But the name doesn't refer to the majestic Polar Bear, but to two constellations of stars in the northern sky, Ursa Major (the Great She-Bear) and Ursa Minor (the Little Bear).
The brightest star in Ursa Minor is Polaris - the North Star - which shines brightly above the North Pole, encircled by the other constellations. Two and a half thousand years ago the Greek astronomer Thales was taught by seafaring Phoenicians to use Ursa Minor for navigating the seas, because the miraculous North Star is always constant in an ever-changing night sky.
Down on the Arctic ice cap, the female Polar Bear will be spending the sunless winter in a cosy den waiting to give birth to her cubs, who will emerge with her in the spring, whilst her solitary mate roams the shifting sea ice hunting seals. And maybe gazing at the stars.
This month's parcel includes the Northern Lights pattern book, some glittering thread to embroider the Ursa Minor constellation - along with a chalk pencil to chart the position of the stars - and last, but not least, a gorgeous 'quilting is my true north' tote bag to keep your blocks in, adorned with our handsome, star-gazing bear.
We are using the first of our low-volume prints for the bear, so he will stand out beautifully against the bluestone Linen Texture background. I used Aurifil 50 weight in a denim blue colour (1126) to sew my blocks, but choose any mid-toned grey, taupe or blue that you already have in your thread collection. And remember to save your scraps for later blocks!
Finally take a look at the techniques box, right, for my hints on snowballed corners and - new this year - watch my filmed tutorial over at www.willowcottagequiltco.com (Andrea will email you all a link.)
Just a quick note for North American friends: you will have Fat Quarters in your January parcels; please be sure to set the extra fabric aside for future blocks.
This month's technique...
Snowballing the corner of a piece of fabric - by stitching down a square of another fabric diagonally - gives the illusion of a rounded corner, or in this case, the hind quarters of a polar bear.
It's a really wonderful technique that avoids sewing with fiddly bias edges and I think I've tried every trick in the book to make my snowballed corners as accurate as possible.
Here are my favourite tips:
a: Use a sharp pencil/fine marker to draw the diagonal line from corner to corner and sew directly on the line. What will really improve your accuracy is using a lovely, fine thread like Aurifil 50 weight.
b: Pin each side of the line. It seems like an unnecessary step, but it's so much quicker than unpicking a wonky seam.
c: Press back first to check that you're completely happy, before trimming away the back layers of fabric. Again, it might seem quicker to trim first then press, but once those back layers are gone, they're gone!
d: If you are sewing with a composite square - like the polar bear's ear - 'test' your square in place first, to make sure it's the right way up, before marking the diagonal.
Northern Lights: month 2
Welcome to month two of Northern Lights, Star of the Sea
In the autumn of 1431 a Venetian merchant set sail from the Kingdom of Candia. Better known to us now as the island of Crete, in those days it was a possession of Venice, the fabled city quite literally built on water with the proceeds of trading exotic spices, luxurious silks and precious stones from the far off lands of Asia. Our merchant, Pietro Querini, was bound for Flanders with a crew of 68 and a full hold.
Mapping was still in its infancy so, although he endeavoured to chart a course that followed the coastline, Captain Querini would have relied on celestial navigation to guide his ship in the open waters of the Atlantic. He calculated the ship’s position by measuring the angle of the sun or the North Star above the horizon with a quadrant, an instrument perfected by Arab astronomers. When poor weather obscured his view of the celestial bodies, he relied on the ingenious compass invented by the Chinese to chart his course.
But as Captain Querini headed north towards the English Channel the weather worsened: violent storms tore at the sails of his heavily laden ship, damaging the mast beyond repair. And as the storm raged on, he lost his bearing and the ship began to drift…
This month we're meeting intrepid traveller, Pietro Querini, in the first instalment of his adventures on the high seas. We're also going to explore the scraps from last month's Ursa Minor block, combining them with the fabrics in this month's parcel to make our Star of the Sea really sparkle.
And as we will have four darling little quarter-square triangles left over from piecing the block, this month's treat is a simple idea to turn them into tiny heat pads to pop into your pockets on wintery walks.
Look out for the link that Andrea will be emailing you to watch our month two tutorial over on the Willow Cottage website.
This month's parcel includes a ¾ yard piece of background fabric, which I want you to set aside for the Maelstrom setting blocks.
Northern Lights: month 3
Welcome to month three of Northern Lights, the Rorbu
This month we are going to take shelter for a while in a cosy Rorbu.
In days of yore Norwegian fishermen took to their boats in the harsh winter months and travelled beyond the Arctic circle to the Lofoten Islands to fish for cod. After exhausting hours on the icy seas they pulled their rowing boats ashore and turned them over to sleep under.
But C12th sagas recount how King Øystein Magnusson ordered cabins - the Rorbuer - to be built for the thousands of men who flocked to Lofoten every fishing season, raised above the roiling tides on timber stilts. And like most utilitarian buildings in Norway they were protected with coats of red fish oil paint.
Now they are more likely to be used by Lofoten's tourists, while the fishermen keep to their modern, well-equipped and comfortable boats.
We'll be decorating our Rorbuer with two of Cadence's beautiful red prints and creating the bracing for those characteristic timber stilts with the cotton satin ribbon in this month's parcel. Using ribbon is one of my favourite ways of adding the small details to a block that we might normally achieve with bias tape and I've shared my favourite tips for sewing it into place in the techniques box. We'll also be dipping into our scraps again to make some colourful roof tiles and cosy candlelit windows for our Rorbu.
The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that the cutting dimensions were omitted from step 3 of your Rorbu block pattern, so please refer to the diagram below: -
I'm also grateful to Barbara for picking up the following errors: -
You will only need a 2½" x 21" strip of the cream print. And in step 10, you should be using a light red 1½" square, not dark red as stated (you will already have used the two dark red squares on the window elevation of the Rorbu). Apologies for any confusion lovelies.
This month's technique...
This month we will be creating the bracing for the Rorbu's stilts with ¼” wide cotton ribbon, which will be appliqued onto our block. I like to glue baste my ribbon in position and then machine-appliqued it in place.
My first tip for machine applique is to reduce the tension in the top thread - down to 1 on my Janome - which allows the ribbon to 'sit' on the surface of the fabric and stops any puckering.
My second tip is to line up the edge of the ribbon with the inside edge of the presser foot and - tip number three - turn down the speed on your machine for this step to help keep the stitches neat and even.
Northern Lights: month 5
Welcome to month five of Northern Lights, Lodestar
We left our intrepid traveller, Captain Querini, battling to save his crew and his ship in a raging storm that had set them adrift in the North Atlantic. The men took to the ship’s two lifeboats and Querini watched in horror as the smaller boat disappeared, never to be seen again. The remaining crew drifted northwards into the terrifying darkness of the Polar night.
Medieval maps populated unknown lands and seas with dragons and mythical sea monsters. Although the Vikings had voyaged across the Atlantic to settle Iceland and explore Greenland, Columbus was yet to make his famous voyage to ‘the new world’. Querini and his dwindling company of men were swept on the tide into the unknown and spent three harrowing weeks without sight of land until - in the first days of 1432 - their ship grounded on the rocky shores of a mysterious snow-covered island.
They were stranded on the remote Norwegian island of Røst, named after the old Norse word for maelstrom as, just a few miles north, the fearsome Moskstraumen whirlpool separated Røst from the Lofoten Islands. It would surely have dashed their boat to pieces. Just sixteen men out of the original 68 survived but, at last, their luck had changed…
This month we are making our second star block, the Lodestar, which repeats four vibrant Cadence prints on each of its eight points to create a whirling effect, inspired by the maelstrom in our story. And as we're using our trusty snowball technique, repeated blocks mean that you can chain piece your units *hurray*.
If you're new to chain piecing, essentially you can follow the steps in the pattern to create each of the four Ray and four Centre units, but instead of snipping your threads after sewing the first unit, feed the second unit under your presser foot, followed by the third and fourth, then snip them apart ready for the next step. You'll save thread and save time: win, win. Finally, this month I have a cute bonus project to share with you: the Koselig Cushion.
This month's parcel includes a ½ yard piece of aqua linen texture fabric, which I want you to set aside for the Maelstrom setting blocks.
EDIT: I've noticed a typo in the background cutting directions: you should be cutting 2 1½” x 12½” pieces and 2 1½” x 14½” pieces (not 4 1½” x 14½” pieces)
Northern Lights: month 4
Welcome to month four of Northern Lights, the Puffin
This month we are going to meet the charming little Puffin, who divides his year between the wild open seas and the rocky coastline of the north Atlantic.
Despite their long winters alone, Puffins are social birds and return to teeming nesting grounds in April each year, reuniting with their mate and building their nests in deep burrows where they raise a single chick together - rather adorably called a Puffling - before departing at the end of August for another winter at sea. Although scientists aren't entirely sure whether Puffins are loyal to their mate or their chosen nesting site (a little like choosing a wife by finding her already ensconced in your favourite house).
The Puffin's short wings and large feet make them wonderful swimmers: they can dive down up to 200 feet in search of their favourite sand eels. Smart black and white plumage provides perfect camouflage out at sea - both from above and below the water - and their spectacular bill has a unique ridged edge which allows them to carry a bountiful catch back to their nests.
Our Puffin will be sporting some rather fabulous plumage fashioned from my favourite Cadence print - which reminds me so much of Norwegian Rosemaling folk art - and we'll be shaping his distinctive beak using placement templates. I'll be going through my method in lots of detail in this month's video tutorial, but I thought a photo tutorial for quick reference would be helpful too and you can find the link in the techniques box.
This month's parcel includes a ½ yard cut of cream Linen Texture fabric, which I want you to set aside for the Maelstrom setting blocks, EDIT: once you've cut your Puffin pieces.
This month's technique...
Many of you will be familiar with templates used to CUT fabric and many of the ones we use now are made of acrylic so that we can use them with rotary cutters. Placement templates are used to MARK fabric, so the sharpest thing you'll be using with them is a pencil.
Using templates to cut fabric usually results in small, irregularly shaped pieces with stretchy bias edges that can distort as we sew them together. Using templates to mark placement lines allows us to add a slightly oversized piece, stitch first then trim to size.
It borrows a little of it's method from foundation paper piecing (without having to piece everything back to front, or tear out foundation papers, phew!) and the stitch-and-flip method we've been using to make snowballed corners.
Click here for my photo tutorial
Northern Lights: month 6
Welcome to month six of Northern Lights, the Reindeer
This month I'm taking you for a thrilling ride across the Arctic tundra in a Sámi sled, pulled by their gentle Reindeer.
If you're reading this in North America, you'll better know the reindeer as a caribou. but whatever you call them, they are supremely adapted for life in the Arctic, with thick fur - even the undersides of their hooves are furry - a deliciously velvety nose, which warms the air and retains moisture in freezing temperatures, and knobbly little knees which click as they walk, helping the herd stay together in the fiercest of blizzards. In the dark Arctic winter their golden eyes turn bright blue, giving them near ultraviolet vision and helping them to spot their favourite lichen in the snow. Unusually, female, as well as male, reindeer have antlers in order to defend their favourite lichen patches while they're carrying their calves. Never argue with a pregnant reindeer!
Reindeer have been a source of food, clothing, transport and shelter for Arctic peoples from the end of the last Ice Age and were domesticated some three millennia ago. Herding is an ancient and essential part of Sámi culture, as I found out when I visited Finland.
We'll be fashioning our reindeer's fancy antlers with scraps from previous blocks and creating the reindeer's legs using the same placement template technique we used for the Puffin block - just with a different angle - and I'll be going through my method in lots of detail in June's video tutorial. And this month I also have something exceptionally on-theme and rather special to accompany you as you sew...
This month's parcel includes a ¾ yard cut of background fabric, which I want you to set aside for the Maelstrom setting blocks.
This month's treat...
...is a little bit unusual. Back in 2015, BBC4 broadcast a slow TV Christmas special: All Aboard: The Sleigh Ride, which you can now watch on YouTube as you sew your Reindeer block.
Filmed in Karasjok, 200 miles above the Arctic Circle, it captures the traditional world of the Sami people. For two magical hours we travel with them on their journey over undulating snowy hills, through birch forests, across a frozen lake and past traditional Sami settlements. There's no commentary, no music and no presenter - just the crunching of snow and the soft tinkle of a reindeer bell...
Northern Lights: month 7
Welcome to month seven of Northern Lights, the Fire Fox
This month we're meeting the mythical Finnish Fire Fox, silhouetted against its namesake constellation, Vulpecula, or 'the little fox'.
Cultures all around the Arctic Circle have attempted to explain the Northern Lights in their myths and legends: the Sámi believed they were the spirits of their ancestors who could reach down from the sky and carry them away; the Vikings thought they were light reflecting off the armour of the Valkyrie, as they lead slain warriors into the afterlife; but the most poetic myth of all was the Finnish legend of the Fire Fox, an elusive creature who leapt across the snow, lighting up the sky with sparks from it's magnificent tail.
At the turn of the 20th century, Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland theorised that the Northern Lights were, in fact, caused by electrons emitted from the sun and guided toward the poles by the Earth's magnetic field. His theory was ridiculed at the time and proof only came in 1967 - long after his early death - when a probe sent into space proved their existence.
We'll be dipping into our scraps once again to create our Fire Fox's equally magnificent tail and exploring one last tweak to my favourite snowball technique to create his body. This month's treat is a very special one: my sparkly new template, which we'll be using to make our Maelstrom setting blocks. Along with a magnificent Cod fish. But that's for another month...
This month's parcel also includes your ½ yard cut of Cadence binding fabric.
PLEASE NOTE that there's a typo in step 7: you will be using the 2½” x 6” cream print piece that you cut in step 2 (not a 2½” x 5½” piece). Thanks Bernice!
This month's treat...
Although there are templates at the back of your pattern book, this month's notion is my brand new Maelstrom Template.
Here is another copy of the instructions, just in case yours go astray (look out for a dedicated video tutorial in September)
Please note that the template is used to mark a line rather than for cutting - as tempting as that may be - as I've found keeping the background piece in place as a foundation will give you more accurate results.
Northern Lights: month 8
Welcome to month eight of Northern Lights, North Star
Captain Querini and his small band of survivors found themselves stranded at the very edge of the world, in a land of perpetual night. Sheltering under the remains of their boat, they melted snow to drink, fished by moonlight and wondered what the curious lights in the sky foretold.
As the days passed they were overjoyed to see the sun return, shining for a little longer each day until, at the end of January, they saw a boat silhouetted on the horizon. Their ordeal was over. Their rescuers - a local fisherman and his sons – took them home to be cared for by his family. Living simply in turf-roofed houses and relying on the bounty of the sea, Røst’s fishing community shared generously with the survivors and Querini’s men, in turn, were enchanted by the honest beauty of their lives. And they fell in love with their food: in particular, the curious Tørrfisk, or stockfish – cod, wind dried and cured in the cold, salty air – which sustained the community through the winter.
Ever the trader, Captain Querini recognised just how useful the long-lasting stockfish would be on sea voyages. So as summer approached and the men were strong enough to make the journey home to Venice, he took a consignment of Tørrfisk with him, instigating a trading relationship which endures to this day...
As we say goodbye to Captain Querini, we travel on to the next section of our quilt. Our penultimate block is the North Star, twinkling with a myriad of jewel-coloured Cadence scraps. This is a simpler block to piece, which will give you a little bit of breathing space if you've stopped to admire the view and are a bit behind with your blocks.
Next month we'll be getting up close and personal with some Arctic Cod!
This month's parcel includes a ¾ yard cut of background fabric, which I want you to set aside for the Maelstrom setting blocks.
This month's treat...
If Captain Querini's story has piqued your interest in fifteenth century travel you can explore the visionary world map created by Fra Mauro, a Venetian monk, just a few decades after Querini's return home.
Northern Lights: month 9
Welcome to month nine of Northern Lights, Skrei
For our last block we're joining Lofoten's fishermen and heading out to sea!
As we discovered when we made our Rorbu block back in March, the annual Lofotfisket (Lofoten fishing season), held between January and April, dates back to the Viking Age. Legend has it that the Vikings followed the cod shoals across the Atlantic to North America half a millennia before Columbus.
Literally translated, the Viking name Skrei means 'wanderer', recalling the 1,000-mile journey the cod make every year from the icy Barents Sea, high above the Arctic Circle, to the (slightly) warmer waters off the Lofoten coast to spawn. Their arduous journey gives the skrei a delicate flavour and pearly white flesh which is sought after by the world's finest chefs. And, as our Venetian merchant Pietro Querini learned, cod can also be preserved in Lofoten's icy, salt-laden winds by hanging the fillets to dry on the distinctive A-frames that dot the coast.
Skrei are typically larger than coastal cod but probably not as big as a fishing boat - forgive me my artistic licence - but in the 19th century, before over-fishing decimated stocks, fully mature cod caught on the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland could be six-feet long.
Our plucky little fishing boat and giant cod will make good use of the Maelstrom Template you received with your July parcels and give you a little practice session before you tackle (see what I did there?) your Maelstrom setting blocks. There will be an extra video tutorial this month - which I'll post next week - to guide you through making the setting blocks and then, my adventurous friends, our journey to the edge of the world, where stormy seas meet starry skies will be at an end.
This month's technique...
We're using simple raw edge applique to create the cod's fins, so you can use up your tiniest scraps: -
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Trace a fin onto the paper side of the fusible sheet (the bumpy side is the glue) and cut 1/8” away from the line
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Place bumpy/glue side down on the back of the fin fabric scrap
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Press with a dry iron for 2 seconds
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Allow to cool, trim on the line then peel away the backing paper
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Place the fins around the cod using the block photo as a guide
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Press with a dry iron for 6 seconds
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Hand/machine stitch around the edge
You can choose any stitch to secure your cod fins in place - I always find straight stitch very forgiving - and then stitch slooooowly around those edges. The hand crank is your friend when you get to the corners!
A couple of corrections for you this month: -
Cutting, step 1: the 2 2½" x 10½" background should both be 2½" x 10" ;
Shaping the wheelhouse shelter: please note that the templateFishing Boat A isn't quite correct. Please draw a line ¼" away from the shelter placement line, either with a ruler of with your Maelstrom template (as shown in the photo). To be honest it isn't the end of the world if you use the templare as it is, you'll just have a slightly more generous wheel house shelter!
