Space Race: Episode 1

Hi Quilting Friends,

Some historical events stay with us forever.  If you’ve been around a while (like me!), you probably remember when Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon.  I was on a hike in the mountains with my family, and we watched the broadcast on TV when we got home later that day.  It was such an exciting time!

The advancements in science, technology, engineering, and math that allowed Armstrong to land on the moon contributed to many of the every-day conveniences that exist today.  Thousands of creative and hard-working men and women pulled together to make the possibility of  space travel move from the realm of fantasy to become a reality.

Today we celebrate the 50th anniversary year of that first moonwalk with our new “Space Race” quilt!  But before we get started with the introductions, here’s one of my favorite “spacey” songs to accompany the introduction.  Enjoy!

Here’s my “Space Race” quilt:

The background and border fabrics that I used are from Northcott’s “Out of This World” collection.  I love how the yellow, orange, and white stars sparkle against the deep blue and purple background.  Another super cool thing about this fabric is the glow-in-the-dark stars. 

I can’t really show them glowing here, but I can imagine that a child would simply adore falling asleep with this starry quilt.  I used a variety of solids, blenders, and subtle prints for the applique pieces to provide plenty of color and contrast.  Many of the applique pieces include our favorite “Toscana”  blenders from Northcott Fabrics.  The sashing, binding, and the friendship stars in the quilt’s borders are made from Northcott’s “Toscana” blenders in navy and gold.  I decided to use just a few pieced friendship stars in the border to avoid overwhelming the applique blocks. 

The finished size of the quilt is 33″ by 42″, perfect for a crib quilt or wall hanging.  If you wanted to enlarge it to create a child’s twin quilt, you could add borders, repeat the blocks, or add some plain blocks between the appliques.  Wouldn’t this be fun for your  favorite little Space Cadet?  

And here are our heroes in the Space Race!  

Blasting off into adventure in the gigantic rocket ship, Captain Pig is checking out the view from the cockpit.  First Officer Kitty seems somewhat apprehensive.  Perhaps she didn’t expect the rocket ignition to be quite so loud.

The Small Rocket Ship is perfect for shorter hops between Earth and Luna, our moon.  Commander Monkey is sitting back to enjoy the view as the navigation system guides the rocket toward the landing zone.  Aren’t the stars beautiful out here?

Held by a tether to the spacecraft, Mission Specialist Monkey is learning all about the effects of zero-G with some first-hand experience.  His space suit provides all of the necessities of life during his space walk.  Looks like fun, doesn’t it! 

We’ve finally landed on Mars!  Let’s go exploring today.  The Mars Rover is the perfect vehicle for investigating the Martian surface, and who could be more qualified to drive it than Officer Rover?  Watch out for that big rock, Rover!  Slow down, you crazy canine driver- you’re going to wreck the rover!

The Space Shuttle is an amazing vehicle, in that it can be launched into space and then return to Earth with its passengers and payload.  But wait!  It looks like we have company.  That little alien seems friendly, so you’d best wave goodbye as we fly past.  We’ll be back next week, so perhaps we will learn more about the alien and her home planet during Episode 2.

Thanks so much for visiting today!  I hope that you’ve enjoyed “Space Race, Episode 1”.  What memories do you have about space exploration?  I’d love to read your comments.

Happy quilting,

Sharon

 

In case you’re interested in purchasing any of these designs, the individual “Space Race” patterns are available for purchase in Ms P’s Pattern Shop!  You can purchase the “Space Race” quilt here:

• Finished Size = 33″ by 42″
• Includes all 10 applique patterns & instructions for the quilt
• $20 USD