Quilt The North Box 2: Polaris

 

Christmas...delivery delays...house guests (still here)...endless food prep...all of these excuses kept me from posting about the December "Quilt The North" subscription box sooner, but I have been bursting at the seams to do so!  The box is wonderful.

If you aren't familiar with Quilt the North, the description on the website tells us this: "It's a quarterly subscription box for quilters who love bold designs, fresh fabric, and a little northern charm. Every box is thoughtfully curated and 100% Canadian, celebrating the designers, fabrics, and places that make quilting in Canada so special. Each box highlights a different Canadian designer and their unique region, with exclusive patterns, Canadian-sourced fabric, and themed extras that bring their local flavor to life. The only Canadian subscription box inspired by the True North."

The program is the brain-child of Monika of Penny Spool Quilts .  I was delighted when she approached me about doing a box from my area in Nova Scotia. Although we were told our designs did not need to be “Canadian” themed (as in lumberjacks and maple syrup), I wanted something with relevance to us. I began brain-storming about how one would actually go about “quilting the north”. Certainly NORTH was key so I started with a compass. I drew my design in EQ8 and pieced it on a background of blue. It was lacking.  

 So I thought more about the bigger picture of NORTH and decided my compass could serve 2 purposes if it were skinnied down a bit to resemble a star. A North Star which of course acts as a compass for many. I re-drew it and re-pieced it.  Better, but still not there.

 

It still needed something, so I added an element Canadians often see in a northern sky - aurora borealis, a.k.a., The Northern Lights.

 

Originally I had signed up to do a summer box, but clearly this was a winter design so Penny Spool Quilts kindly switched me to the December slot and I got busy. I pieced this one 3 times, simplifying and clarifying as I went so that the pattern would not be too complicated, yet still be interesting.

The green, pink, and purple shards of light encircle the star. The strands of colour do not connect in a perfect line, much as the lights undulate across the sky. I’ve named it “Polaris”, the name of the North Star. The fabrics chosen reflect the subject of the design: night blue for the sky, pure white and soft silver-grey for the sparkle of the star, and green, purple and pink for the northern lights. Fabrics are all Canadian-sourced, from Northcott Fabrics. 

Included in the instructions is a link to a tutorial on how to foundation piece. My instructions were sent to editor Cheryl Coville for testing and when ready, they were submitted to Penny Spool Quilts for publishing.  I also included a bit of information about Amherst, Nova Scotia where I live, as well as about the county Cumberland in which our town is located, and a few things about Nova Scotia in general. That was my part done and the rest of what was included in the box was a total surprise for me.  (And it was a very good one!).

The boxes are beautiful and exquisitely packaged with all sorts of goodies inside. In addition to the fabrics, and the pattern for Polaris, is a pattern for a NS lighthouse (designed by Penny Spool Quilts) which is the perfect symbol of Nova Scotia.

There are “East Coasters” made on an antique letterpress in Halifax which contain actual sea (salt) water, a pair of LDH thread snips (designed in Canada), a chocolate bar from Peace By Chocolate, information about Amherst, and about me. The trading card...well, that may well turn out to be your Honas Wagner, so hold onto that! 

If you turn the trading card over, you will see bonus instructions for a sailboat block.

I feel proud to be part of this program, and am especially pleased with the generous contents of this box. If you would like to be part of quilting the north going forward, you can sign up for future boxes at this link.  It's truly wonderful to be able to open a box of Canada.