Endurance Quilt Block(Grounded Series)

Endurance Quilt Block (Grounded Series)

Today I am thrilled to start our new series “Grounded: A Quilt Block Series That Will Sweep You Off Your Feet and Help You Find Your Footing” with the flooring from a story that has intrigued me for years.

The story of Earnest Shackleton and his ship the Endurance.

The Endurance (with its beautiful flooring pictured below) now lies almost 10,000 feet under ice covered waters at the bottom of the world.

Although the Endurance only sailed on a single expedition…it was the expedition of a lifetime.

Our story begins on December 17, 1912 as Sir Earnest Shackleton with his crew of 27 men left Norway for Antarctica. Their goal was first and foremost to reach the south pole with the secondary purposes of crossing the continent of Antarctica on foot and establishing a location for a base. If the goal was completed this would be an absolute triumph for all involved!

Shackleton and his men sailed on a vessel christened the “Endurance”. And while this was her maiden voyage it would also prove to be her last.

Tragically, after two long years sailing the length of the Atlantic ocean, the Endurance became trapped in an ice pack. At the time located only about 100 miles away from the desired destination….the South Pole.

It was January 1915.

The crew worked tirelessly to free the ship but it was to no avail. Eleven months later, with no movement and on November 21, 1915 , the Endurance sank to the bottom of the Wardell Sea just off the coast of Antarctica. Her hull crushed by the pressure of the freezing water.

However, not a single crew member perished in the disaster.

But the crew was not safe.

Hundreds of miles into relatively uncharted territory, surrounded by a desert of ice and freezing temperatures with no remaining provisions, shelter or way to communicate with the outside world this group would need to work together to find a way to save themselves.

Which is exactly what they did.

A camp was constructed about 2 miles from the site of the submerged Endurance. Here the crew stayed until spring (April 1915) when they loaded themselves into the life boats that had been salvaged before the sinking of the ship.

These men successfully navigated the icy waters until they reached a small patch of land known as Elephant Island. The island was uninhabited but was land none the less.

Realizing the window of opportunity for rescue was small Shackleton again set out in a life boat with 5 of his crew mates. They made their way to South Georgia where, after an overland journey to find help and 3 failed rescue attempts due to ice, Shackleton was finally able to return to Elephant Island and rescue all of his remaining crew members.

All were unhealthy, cold, and starving….all had been through a traumatic ordeal….but every one survived.

19 months after becoming trapped and then stranded just off the cost of Antarctica, in a dark and frozen wasteland, all were rescued.

Everyone survived.

This story fascinates me. I’ve read books and articles about it. Watched documentaries and movies about it. I could write about it for days….how Shackleton selected most of his crew not for their skills but for the quality of their character…how the men helped and supported one another through those bleak months of isolation and starvation….how Shackleton was determined to make sure all of his crew returned home…and, among other things, how I love that the name of the ship was the Endurance.

Endurance.

It is a powerful word….and a force of nature…here are a few of my favorite definitions of it:

*the quality of lasting, continuing, or remaining*

*the ability to withstand hardship, adversity, or stress*

*the strength to continue despite fatigue, stress, or otherwise adverse conditions*

*the power to endure a difficult process or situation without giving way*

The ability to withstand hardship, adversity, or stress…..the strength to continue despite adverse conditions….these are pretty great descriptors of Shackletons crew. Truly.

But recently I feel like it is a pretty great descriptor of so many of us….enduring adverse situations without giving way….lasting, continuing, remaining…..

Navigating our ways through a number of difficult situations, everything from mental health issues to financial problems, family tragedies, health struggles, uncertainty about the future, overwhelm to…well….you get the idea…

Sure kids graduating and moving out isn’t the same as being stranded at the South Pole…but it can seem as lonely. And showing up to work two different jobs back to back while struggling with depression can feel as impossible as finding an island in the middle of the ocean while rowing a life boat in the dark.

And I can tell you that losing a family member can feel as cold as freezing temperatures…and that when you lose more than one in rapid succession your blood itself can turn to ice.

But here we are lasting…continuing….remaining….

And it was with these thoughts that I chose the first quilt block for “Grounded: A Quilt Block Series That Will Sweep You Off Your Feet and Help You Find Your Footing”

I first saw this image in a documentary about the Endurance that I was watching with my son. As soon as I saw it paused the show and pulled out my phone.

My son asked if I was seriously thinking about making quilts while watching a show about a ship wreck….see, he knew without asking that I was taking a picture of that magnificent flooring for quilt inspiration.

And magnificent it is!

This month I will be working on a quilt using blocks inspired by this floor.

Next week I will be sharing the tutorial for creating the first of those blocks:

Until then….stay with us, keep stitching, and keep enduring.

We need you. The world needs all the mending and the quilters it can get.

-liZ

*Side Note: As I have mentioned before, I really have found a lot of peace through the turbulence, sadness, and uncertainty of the last few years quietly sewing alone in the early hours of the morning when I can’t sleep. There is something cathartic to creating order from chaos and in stitching together something useful from scraps (something I have been using a lot of as of late). Don’t underestimate the healing power of quilting. In so many ways it has saved my life and helped me to endure.

***The Endurance Quilt Block Tutorial is now up and you can find it HERE.***