Over the last couple days I've be introducing my new Petit FOUR sampler patterns, the Northern Lights blocks, which are sailing into the shop next week.
For the past year Andrea from the Willow Cottage Quilt Company and I have been posting out deliciously curated parcels to our fearless block of the month explorers and taking them on a magical journey to the edge of the world, where stormy seas meet starry skies...
In today's post we'll be meeting three iconic Arctic animals - the Polar Bear, the Reindeer and the Arctic Fox - and exploring their influence on the fables and folklore of the Northern hemisphere.
I did actually meet some reindeer on one utterly magical day – a few years ago now – when my son and I spent time with a Sámi family in northernmost Finland, meeting their beautiful herd and taking a sleigh ride through the forest. He now studies in Edinburgh, which is where I encountered the polar bear and arctic fox on display in the National Museum of Scotland, an excellent place to retreat to in 'dreich' weather.
Ursa Minor
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.
A PDF Pattern for the Ursa Minor block is available here
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.
A PDF Pattern for the Reindeer block is available here
North Star
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.
A PDF Pattern for the Fire Fox block is available here
You can find all of the Northern Lights blocks collected together, along with their marvellous Maelstrom setting, in the PDF Pattern Book here. If you'd prefer a printed Pattern Book, they'll be heading to the shop - and Amazon - next week!
In my last post I'll be sharing the Storm-at-Sea blocks which inspired my Maelstrom setting - and the whole quilt actually - and exploring a new way of making them with my favourite placement template technique. Not a storm in a teacup, promise!
Nicola xx
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