A follow-up on Karen Nyberg’s story, the NASA Astronaut who quilts in space.
NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg hosts quilting bee from space station
With her long blond ponytail floating above her inside the International Space Station, astronaut Karen Nyberg calmly explains the challenges of quilting in weightlessness.
“Now that I’ve tried my hand sewing in space,” she said in a video released Thursday by NASA, “I can say one thing with certainty: It’s tricky.”
As if being a mechanical engineer and astronaut isn’t significant enough, the avid quilter brought sewing supplies including fabric, scissors, thread, five needles (but no pins) to create a quilt block in space. Her video invites quilters from around the world to submit blocks for a star-themed quilt to be made for the 40th International Quilt Festival, scheduled for next fall in Houston.
To keep her supplies from floating away, she attaches them to a Velcro pad and stows them in a Ziploc bag when not in use. To cut strips of fabric, Nyberg said, she has to tape the material down.
Read the rest of the LA Times article here.
For next year’s 40th anniversary International Quilt Festival in Houston, Karen invites everyone to create their own star-themed quilt blocks and send them to her. Get all the details here (this link will download a PDF file).
