These three quilts were made for the “Fly Me to the Moon” art quilt project. Its goal is to celebrate the upcoming anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing, and all things lunar. I’ve loved the night sky since I was about 8 years old, and got a telescope when I was around 12. So one quilt wasn’t enough - I made three!

Each one is 18"W x 30"H. This project was organized by Suzanne M Jones. See her website for more; the exhibition schedule is there and also on my Schedule page. A book by that name is also available, with color photographs of every quilt and explanatory text.

Far Side Geology

The far side of the moon is utterly unfamiliar to most of us. It is very different from the side of the moon that faces us, lacking the large maria (seas), instead covered completely by craters. This quilt depicts about half of the far side. The thread colors and quilting stitch patterns depict various geologic features, broken by stripes of greys, showing the terrain. As a cartographer, I naturally feel that geologic map design involves art along with science.

My source, The Geologic Map of the Central Far Side of the Moon, was produced by the U.S. Geological Survey. As an United States government agency, the map is considered in public domain.

• _Cotton fabric, threads
• _Machine quilted

Michael Collins

I’ve long been fascinated by Collins being the first human to be utterly alone, while on the far side of the moon. Collins recalled that Armstrong, Aldrin, and 3 billion people were “…all over there, and if I looked in the other direction there was God knows what: only me and the rest of the universe. I liked that feeling, being a part of the rest of the universe instead of part of the Solar System. I didn’t mind being in that corner of the universe alone by myself. I enjoyed that. I wish someone would have communicated with me, but no one did.” My quilt imagines him floating alone and vulnerable, a speck of white above the moon. He reaches out to an awe-full nebula above, an infinity of galaxies within.

• Machine applique and quilting. Painted and drawn, figure is fused to background.
• Commercial prints (including black glitter on cotton - partially painted over), paint, ink, colored pencils, fabric pastel

Apollo IV

Apollo IV, an unmanned mission, was the first to use the big Saturn V rocket, powerful enough to reach lunar orbit. It also tested the heat shield on the capsule during reentry. Since this mission did not leave Earth orbit, in order to replicate the same reentry speed as the later moon shot missions, its last orbit fired it up a “roller coaster” and back down a very steep path (depicted in the map graphic in the lower left).

• Cotton, organza, fabric paint, threads, colored pencil
• Machine pieced, appliqued and quilted; thread sketching