Stitching Endeavour's De-orbit Map

You know how you have a million project ideas floating around in your head at any given moment? Things you've wanted to tackle for a while, but the timing just seems off? And then - in one blissful moment, your idea meets with the perfect resources and just the right amount of time and you're able to pull it off. Isn't that just one of the best feelings ever?

It's a rare feeling for me, but I take it when I can get it, and I got it last night.

I've wanted to embroider a shuttle's de-orbit map for a long time. The instant I saw one, my brain pinged, "STITCH IT!" which I think is a common occurrence for embroiderers. We see any kind of line drawing and immediately think, "Hey! I could stitch that!"

I particularly love the old school computer display look of the de-orbit maps (thanks for the Wargames reminder, Matt) and just love the idea of the symbolism of such a simple path home for such a complicated vehicle and mission. It seems though, that all the previous missions whose de-orbit maps I've wanted to stitch have never come together at just the right time - with all those magical elements meeting.

I started eyeing Endeavour's de-orbit maps a couple of days ago, and knew that if there ever was a time for me to make this project work, it was now. How could I not stitch the de-orbit map of the first shuttle I've seen launch? I didn't want to jinx her landing, though, by stitching the first de-orbit map only to find that she was delayed or rerouted to some other location. So I waited and held out hope that the pesky weather would clear and I could get to the business of stitching.
And it did. Just more than one hour before she was set to land, she was given the all clear for weather and the go ahead to execute the de-orbit burn that would commit her to landing. I literally jumped out of my chair, ran to my craft room and gathered my supplies. I had one scrap of black fabric, perfect for the background. I grabbed one of my many containers of embroidery floss, and it just happened to have every color I needed. I printed the map, transferred it with carbon paper and was off.

Two weeks ago, in the wee hours of a chilly Monday morning, I was in the press room at Kennedy Space Center, waiting to see if Endeavour would be given the all clear for weather and a "go" for launch. They'd gone back and forth and back and forth, and the speculation, coupled with the increasing crowds and noise in the press room, started to get to me. I bundled up, grabbed my laptop and escaped to the water's edge at the press launch viewing site, with the giant countdown clock just behind me. It felt so nice to break away and soak in the moment, with very few people around me. It was a privilege to sit there and watch Endeavour on the launch pad, knowing her crew was busy inside hoping just as hard as I was that they would be launching soon. I was so glad I took the time to escape and quiet my surroundings so I could focus on what was going on.
I felt the same way last night. As soon as Endeavour was given the "go" to land, Twitter went haywire - all abuzz with racing comments and recap of what was happening on NASA tv. And while I adore Twitter, stepping away from it for one hour to stitch and listen to the soothing (to me, come on, I'm a dork!) chatter of Mission Control was one of the best things I could do.

I kept the project small - about 5 inches square - and stitched as fast as I could. But you know as well as I do - you really can't rush stitching. And you can't multitask with it either. So I stitched and stitched and stitched. And just as I was getting to the part of stitching the flight path, Endeavour showed up on the screen as a little red triangle, slowly (well, actually pretty darn fast) going down the same path I was stitching.
With just under 10 minutes to spare, I completed the stitching and was able to sit back and watch her landing with a giant smile on my face. (and, yeah, tears streaming down my face)

As I looked at the piece this morning, I can see its glaring imperfections. Uneven stitches, could have worked the final bits of the flight path in a more interesting way, didn't have time to stitch in all the numbers, but I don't care. I'm so glad I jumped up and forced myself into a project. It took me less than an hour to complete something I've been thinking about doing for almost a year.

Image courtesy collectSPACE

What can you whip up tonight?

Gone Spacing

Crafting is still happening (in fact, I've even been teaching in the midst of all this space craziness!) but I am knee-deep in the bliss of STS-130 so I'll report back on the classes and astronaut embroidery update soon!

Want to join in the mission fun? Follow me on twitter!

Embroidered Peg Board & a look at my craft space

Over on CRAFT, we're just wrapping up one of our most fun and most popular series: Make Space For Crafting. During the last month, we've featured numerous craft spaces of some of our favorite crafty peeps as well as loads of tutorials and projects that are perfect for organizing your own craft space. I love that we've had spaces from tiny craft closets to vast, gorgeous studios, and projects that range from fast and easy to more elaborate. I highly recommend checking out the complete series archive.

I just posted up a peek inside my craft space last night. Mine's not completely finished - I still have some art to hang on the walls and a curtain to hang over my closet and roman shades to make/purchase/hang, but it's getting there, and I love it oh so much. Having my own space - especially since I work from home - is so important. I can go in there and really feel comfortable and inspired to work. Love that.

One of my favorite things in my craft space is my peg boards. Peg boards are one of the handiest organizational tools around, and I decided to gussy mine up with some embroidery with yarn. I love having over-sized embroidery stitches up on my wall.

Check out the piece and more pictures over on my Flickr stream. Do you have any favorite craft spaces to share? Any tips of your own? Let me know in the comments. Our main Make Space for Crafting series may be over, but with response as great as we've received, we're working on ways to keep it alive in some form.

Astronaut stitching in progress

In a few weeks, I'm teaching my first session of Hand Embroidery II over at the Stitch Lab. As part of the class, we'll work on transforming a photograph into an embroidery pattern. I wanted to stitch up an example for the class, but wasn't sure what picture to use. I decided I wanted something space-themed (remember the Space Geek side of me?) so I started to dig around on the Great Images of NASA web site and found my inspiration pretty quickly. It's not too hard to be inspired by the amazing wealth of images over there.

I have to admit, this is one of the most difficult pieces I've ever set to work on. It's not necessarily a complicated piece, but there are tiny details and lots of parts that need to be stitched just right so they make sense. Stitching faces and eyes is hard! Those eyelashes? That's stem stitch in one strand of embroidery floss. Sure, to the classically-trained hard core needle artist, that's nothing big, but for someone who generally sticks with basic patterns and pre-fab designs, this is a step up for me. I'm feeling a bit out of my element and intimidated and a bit concerned on how the piece will turn out.

I'm not usually this way. I'm queen of "Don't worry about perfection, just have fun!" So what's changed?

I guess I'm just looking for a challenge and wanting to see something big all the way through. I may not like to admit it, but I tend to be a shortcut kinda gal. I get fired up about something and then peter out a bit when things get tough. I'm enjoying the idea that this piece is forcing me to overcome that.

And on the subject of space - I have another adventure that is exciting and thrilling and pushing my comfort zones a bit. I'm covering the launch of STS-130 Shuttle Endeavour for MAKE magazine. I can't believe my luck, and I'm looking forward to soaking up as much fun, information and as many opportunities as possible out of the next two weeks. You can keep up with my coverage over on MAKE, Twitter and Flickr. Hope you'll come along for the ride!

So what are you doing that's challenging you these days? How are you staying motivated to keep up even when you're intimidated and feeling a bit out of your element?

What have I made lately ......

I was hanging out with a friend over the holidays, and the conversation turned to crafting. She asked me, "So, what have you been making lately?" and I instantly thought, "Well, gee, nothing I guess."


And then I had to start thinking again. You see, I haven't been blogging much of what I've made lately, but I have actually been making loads of things. I realized that I have a whole mental list of blog posts about things I've made, and just haven't been so efficient in getting them ... posted. I kinda blame Twitter. I post loads of stuff there that I forget to formally photograph and post here. Don't hate!


I keep waiting for Google to be able to actually read my mind, take pictures of my projects and post them (it doesn't seem too far stretched for them) but until then, here's a simple list of some things I've made that I'll post more about soon:

• A rocking charm bracelet in the fun vintage charm class with Jennifer Perkins
• Some very cool space geek tote bags that I made in Kat McTee's Easy Screen and Stitch class
• Gingerbread Houses! Like, from scratch and everything! It was a messy, delicious-smelling adventure!
• Dot-to-dot embroidery!
• Holiday towel embroidery!
• crewel work!
• ribbon embroidery!

And more - really! Just hang tight, ok? :)

The Handmade Telescope & what it's meant to me

So my husband made the most awesome gift for me this year: a telescope.

Yeah. A t-e-l-e-s-c-o-p-e.

He worked on it for more than a month - evenings, weekends, he was holed up in our garage, working away. It never occurred to me that he was making a telescope. I mean - who does that? Especially when they haven't made anything before. That's right, this was my husband's first woodworking project.

I was excited to get to share it with the MAKE readers yesterday, and was surprised to learn that it had been picked up by Gizmodo. (although, no, Chris hasn't cheated on me.)

Because you can read about the actual telescope everywhere else, I thought I'd examine some interesting thoughts and emotions that have surfaced in the wake of revealing the project.

Setting the bar high
A friend's husband emailed her when he saw the project on Gizmodo, saying Chris had "raised the bar" on husband/wife gifts. I guess he has, but here's the thing: Chris and I rarely exchange gifts. I've actually watched said friend exchange sweet, small gifts with her husband for years, and wished Chris and I did more of that. There's something to be said for small, meaningful, frequent gifts. Sure, a handmade telescope that ends up getting a lot of internet publicity is cool, but it doesn't mean that smaller gifts aren't special or should be made to feel inadequate.

A gift for gift's sake
The closing line on the Gizmodo post really zinged me:

So Rachel, you've got a really nice husband, but he's probably cheated on you in the past year. That's the only logical explanation.

I know this is just hipster snark, and that's fine and all, but really? Are we all so jaded that we can't accept that someone would make a gift for gift's sake (or for - gasp - love!)? I also like to think this was as much a gift for Chris as it was for me. He works a lot, and the hours he spent in the garage with his favorite music playing was an excellent way to unwind and relax and get creative for a bit. To me, the gift of the telescope is secondary to that gift of time for himself.

Inspiring some low self-esteem
One thing that has surprised me about myself from all of this is a bit of a feeling of inadequacy. (and, yeah, I know this is just my own little issue and I'll get over it just fine, but it's still worth mentioning) Remember how I said this was Chris' first woodworking project? It's really his first project of any sort, and he nailed it. Like on-the-head nailed it. He decided to do it, found plans online and excecuted it perfectly. Has my first version of anything I've made ever been anywhere in the same vicinity of perfect?

Hell. no.

What gives? I'm suppposed to be the creative one in our equation. I'm supposed to be the "Maker" here. He's the accountant, the spreadsheet guy, and now he's showing me up in the field of making stuff, too? It's causing me to reevaluate my methods. Sometimes I'm a little too happy-go-lucky-fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-give-plans-the-finger. Maybe there's something to be said for his extrememe focus, determination and fortitude. I rarely finish a project on time, I'm always scrambling, procrastinating ... playing. He started and finished the project BOOM-BOOM-BOOM. Done and done. Do NOT get me wrong, playing is essential, but sometimes I mistake lollygagging for playing and my work suffers.

I know Chris didn't expect all this to come from the telescope project, and if anything it's just an interesting way to see how a handmade gift can spark more thought and discussion than you imagined. Who knew a gift made to look out into the heavens could turn focus so much closer to home?

Get Your Glee On!

It's finally here! The Official Grand Opening Soiree for the Stitch Lab! Leslie and Carol have put together an amazing weekend of the most awesome indie crafters in Austin, and the Lab is all decked out for a glee-filled event. Saturday and Sunday, noon to 8PM, guests can peruse the goods of more than 20 of Austin's best-loved artisans, munch on seriously tasty vittles and sip festive bevvies. Best yet, all of the yummy fabrics and wool felt at the Stitch Lab are a whopping 20% off. I was just in the Lab this week, teaching a class, and saw some of the newest fabrics Leslie has stocked. Oh. My. Goodness. I wanted to lick every last bit of it! It was all so dreamy!

You can read all about the event and all the vendors over on the event page. I can't wait to get over there and splurge on some fabric and felt and other goodies as a little Christmas gift to myself. ;) Hope to see you there!

And in case you missed it, my good pal, Misty, did a beautiful write up and house tour of the Stitch Lab for Apartment Therapy. The pictures are divine! Enjoy!