Fabric of the Cosmos Skirt

Images from PBS.org

We've been watching the Brian Greene, Fabric of the Cosmos, series on NOVA lately and have been completely fascinated. It's mind-blowing in the best way, and I want to watch episodes over and over again just to soak it all in. If you haven't watched it yet, I highly recommend checking out the PBS web site to watch online.

Of course, as he talks about the "Fabric" of the Cosmos, my brain instantly goes to textiles. I have some ideas for bigger, more complex projects on this subject, but was in need of some instant-ish gratification this week and decided to do a simple skirt to scratch the itch.

This was one of those projects that comes together so seamlessly (pun intended) that you know it was meant to be. As soon as the idea popped in to my head, I could instantly put my hands on just about every material I'd need for the project and it came together very quickly.

For the base of the skirt, I wanted a fabric that resembles the weave used in the graphics in the Fabric of the Cosmos show. I happened to have this awesome Alexander Henry fabric that I got at the Stitch Lab ages ago that was perfect. It's a yummy, heavy fabric with a great cross-hatch print. From there, I pulled out my stash of hand-dyed fat quarters that I made in my surface design class with Kat. I was able to find pieces that resembled each planet (ok, ok, Jupiter is a tad ... psychedelic, but it works!) and did a quick applique. I embroidered the rings of Saturn, but getting the needle through the heavy fabric and the fusible webbing proved much tougher than I'd anticipated. Instead of stitching many rings, my fingers could only stand to stitch one.

I've lost count of how many of these simple, elastic-waist skirts from my Beginning I sewing class at the Stitch Lab I've made. My pattern from the class is starting to show its age, and needs to be re-drawn before I lose it completely. I love how easy it is to create a fun piece of clothing to wear. I may not have the sexiest wardrobe on the planet, but it is fun and personalized. I wear one of these skirts almost every single day, and I'm glad to have this latest geeky one to add to the rotation.

Today is the First Ever World Wide Space-O-Lantern Carving Day!

A Yuri Gagarin Space-O-Lantern (I call him, Gagarkin) by me, Rachel Hobson. 

That's me with the knife and crazed look in my zombie eyes ... Ahhh ... college days. 

Y'all already know that I'm a massive space geek, but what you might not know about me is that I'm also a huge, HUGE fan of carving pumpkins. Ever since I was a little kid, one of my very favorite parts of Halloween was carving jack-o-lanterns. I was always in charge of scooping out the pumpkin guts, because not only did I not mind manhandling the slimy innards of a pumpkin, I relished it. In college, my friends and I would have pumpkin carving parties that were great fun. We'd line our jack-o-lanterns up at the end of the party and get a great picture of them all lit and ready for the front porch.

Awesome STS-120 Space-O-Lantern, carved by Liz Warren

A while back, fellow Space Tweep and brilliant scientist for the International Space Station, Liz Warren (aka - @spasmunkey) posted pictures of the amazing space-o-lanterns she's been carving for ages. Most replicate the patches of various shuttle and ISS missions, and they are all spectacular. She's even posted a time-lapse of a pumpkin-in-process. From the first time I saw them, I joked with Liz that we needed to host a Space-O-Lantern carving party where we could get our space geek friends together and carve pumpkins with space-y images. Last week, we did just that. A small group of Space Tweep friends came over to my house and we spread out in the studio and carved the geekiest, most awesome space-o-lanterns you could ever hope to see. It was a total blast. At the end of the party, we lined the space-o-lanterns up outside and photographed them like we were nerdy paparazzi. We then rolled the telescope out on to the back deck and looked at the moons and stripes of Jupiter. It. Was. Awesome.

Our line up of Space-O-Lanterns: L to R Yuri GagarKin (by Rachel Hobson), Space Shuttle Tribute (by Robert Pearlman), Timmy from Think Geek (by Liz Warren), Space Shuttle landing (by Carl Carruthers), Ghosts - we like to think they are space-y ghosts! (by Sheila) Thanks to our carving cheerleader extraordinaire, Cindy, for taking pictures and live-tweeting the event! 

A few days later, we joked on Twitter that there should be a World-Wide Space-O-Lantern Carving Day and decided that we didn't even need to wait until next year to start it. So here we are. The First Ever World-Wide Space-O-Lantern Carving Day, October 28, 2011. What does that mean? Today is a day to carve - on your own or with friends - a pumpkin with some kind of space themed image. Rockets, shuttles, planets - you name it. Anything that celebrates space exploration goes. At our Space-O-Lantern carving party, we had shuttle pumpkins, a Wernher von Braun pumpkin, a Timmy (Think Geek) pumpkin and a Yuri Gagarin pumpkin (or Gagarkin, as I liked to call him).

Awesome STS-130 Space-O-Lantern by Liz Warren 

Call your friends and set up a Space-O-Lantern carving party. Share ideas for space-y images and get carving. Share telescopes and look to the skies for even more inspiration. Live-tweet your carving parties with the hashtag #SpaceOLantern. When you've carved your Space-O-Lanterns, be sure to add them to the Space-O-Lantern Flickr group. From here on out, the last Friday before Halloween will now be known as World-Wide Space-O-Lantern Carving Day, so start planning your carving parties now! Next year, I'm totally making a Hubblekin.

Awesome planetary Space-O-Lantern by Jen Scheer. 

There she goes ...

Last launch ever ... and my art is on there

I still haven't really found the words. Be back when I have.

(Well, I found these words just minutes after the launch. They are shaky, tear-filled, nerding-out words, but they came when I was still feeling the power - on all levels - of the launch through my body. So ... ya know ... forgive my blabbering.)

I will say the easiest words to come by right now, though: THANK YOU.

Announcing the World of Geekcraft Book Winner!

Thanks to all who entered to win a copy of Susan Beal's new World of Geekcraft book, and for being so understanding of my big ole craft FAILs. I loved reading all about your favorite geeky possessions from childhood. It made me want to go scour ebay to find some of these things. (especially the E.T. glasses - I used to have a set but lost them during one of our many moves over the years.)


I'm so excited to announce the winner, because I happen to know her! The random number generator picked comment number 22, which is Jen (@FlyingJenny on Twitter). I met Jen through twitter ages ago, and she's actually quite the space crafter as well. I've featured her work on Craft before, and her bad ass needle felted Hubble Space Telescope was a finalist in the Etsy/NASA Space Craft Contest. She's a very prolific crafter and is constantly posting cool things that she makes over on Twitter. Congrats, Jen! I can't wait to see what you make from this book!

And now, I've got to bust out on unpacking boxes in my studio. We've gotten just about all of the house unpacked and settled, but of course my studio has gotten pushed to end. Time to get it set up before I head out to Maker Faire next week!

Contest results are in! (commence jumping up and down in 3 ... 2... 1...)

(that's an ATC I made years ago! Figured y'all have the Moon embroidery burned into your skulls by now)

More than a year ago, I worked the first stitches on my high texture hand embroidery of the Moon. It traveled with me across the country, and kept me inspired and busy for many months and thousands of stitches. Last fall, I entered it in the Etsy/NASA Space Craft contest and was overwhelmed by the generous support and kind words from readers, crafty friends, space geek friends and folks I'd never known before. On Friday, a group of incredibly impressive judges gathered at Etsy Labs in Brooklyn and judged the finalists in the contest.

We were told we'd find out the results sometime today, which meant there was much fretting and wringing of hands over the weekend (ok, just some nervous wondering). Then came the news: I had won the prize for best 2D Original Art. I was honored and humbled to be recognized, especially given the gorgeous pieces of art in my category.

Initially, I was a little bummed - for a couple of reasons (hear me out). First, two of my good Space Tweep art friends, Jen Scheer and Catherine Baker, hadn't won. We'd all been cheering each other on for months, and so I was sad that we weren't able to pull in a Space Tweep Sweep and all get to celebrate.

I also thought that only the Grand Prize winner would have the opportunity to have their work (or a photograph of it) flown on-board the space shuttle, and really ... that was all I cared about. Gift certificates to Etsy are awesome, but mostly I wanted to see my embroidery make its way in to space - where I've wanted to go since I was a kid. Jen pointed out, though, that the announcement article mentioned that all winners' work had the potential to fly on-board the space shuttle. (silly me and my skimming!)

So ... WOW. You guys ... just ... wow. There's a decent chance my embroidery will actually fly on-board the space shuttle in.to.space.

I'm just - well I'm speechless to be quite honest. And I've been talking up this Moon project for so long, I'm sure a lot of you are sick of hearing about it! But thank you - thank you for sticking around, for the support and kind words and voting, for blogging, for the interest in embroidery and space and for creating a creative community in which works like this can blossom.

The hardest part of all of this was saying goodbye to my embroidery. I packed it up (in GOBS of bubble wrap) and shipped it off to Brooklyn for the event, knowing that the only way I'd get it back was if I didn't win. So just as I started to jump up and down and celebrate winning, I got a bit of a letdown to know that I'll not ever have the embroidery back in my possession again. I don't have all the details yet on where it will end up, for how long, who will be in charge of it, what will happen to it after it's been on display (or flown) and so I have a bit of heartache tonight, too. This was one of my first pieces of true, honest-to-goodness, pour my heart and gut and soul and everything in to, art piece. I spent hours upon hours with this piece. I had conversation after conversation over it. I shared excitement and information with people over it. I had quiet time alone with it. It was a huge piece of me. And now it's ... gone. Not GONE gone, but just not here with me. And that's harder than I thought it was going to be.

But I'm still hugely thankful, and excited to find a way to get out to Florida for the launch. I didn't win the trip out there, but I'm already working on a way to afford the trip out so I can see my artwork launch. And believe me, I'll take every word of support, every wish for winning, every good thought/vibe/love you all have sent over the last few months, with me.

Thank you. No other words say it better. Just Thanks.

Moon Update: Judging Event on Friday!

House stuff is going really well, and we're actually getting close to being done. I'll be posting more pictures and progress very soon, but also wanted to give an update on the Moon embroidery project and the Etsy/NASA Space Craft contest.

Friday night, March 18, is the live judging event in Brooklyn, New York. I carefully framed and wrapped up my embroidered Moon and shipped it off. We got word today that the show is all set up, and the panel of judges is ready to go. It's an incredibly impressive (and intimidating) panel.

I'm in very good company. Two fellow Space Tweep artists, Catherine Baker and Jen Scheer, are also finalists (along with 117 others) and have really awesome entries. Just seeing this much space art enthusiasm makes my heart happy. I'm so inspired, and I'm already plotting my next space art project. Thanks again, so much, for all the kind words, thoughts, support and votes. I'll keep you posted on the results!

More on the Moon: VOTE NOW.

Space + Craft = Awesome from Rachel Hobson on Vimeo.

Photos of the embroidery by sweet Jote

Just more than a week ago, I was crushed to find out that my High Texture Hand Embroidery of the Moon had not made the first cut in the NASA/Etsy Space Craft contest. I realized it was an opportunity to remember exactly why I started the project in the first place, and I've truly delighted in sharing the inspiration, information and stitch "education" behind the project over the last week. Thanks so much for your incredibly kind words and thoughtful support.

So I was very stunned to get news today that there was an apparent technical glitch in the way entries were culled from the Etsy listings for that first round of voting. And now, my Moon embroidery is eligible for voting. That's right, folks .... there's still a chance this puppy could fly in space.

I'm still trying to fully understand what happened, and I have to admit, it feels a little weird (I assure you I never contacted Etsy about not making the cut - I was over it, and had just gotten down to enjoying sharing the project here.) but I can't let that keep me from asking you to vote and spread the word.

You'll have to register with Etsy to vote, but it truly takes just a minute or two. Here are some resources for you in case you'd like to easily share the piece with friends to ask them to vote. Blog it, tweet it, Facebook it - whatever. I appreciate your support. The top 20 vote-getters (and this includes those who were voted on before the glitch was discovered) will go back to judges for the final call on the winner.

• My video about my love of space and craft
• Flickr pictures
• My original post when I thought I hadn't made the cut
• GO VOTE NOW! :)
  

Wow. Just ... wow.
Now, uhhhh - go vote! And be sure to check out all the folks who are included in this second round, including my pal Jen whose rad needle felted Hubble Telescope was included this time! Hurrah!

Space + Craft (still) = Awesome.

All the photos in this post were taken by my good friend
and all-around awesome human being, Jote.

UPDATE!

Apparently there was a glitch in the way Etsy pulled tagged entries for the contest, and it turns out that now my embroidered Moon is up for voting! Go vote and tell your friends! Thank you so much!

This should have been a different post. I'd hoped I'd be posting a request for help to vote for the embroidery I created above for a chance to help it possibly fly in space. A few weeks ago, NASA and Etsy announced their Space Craft contest. My heart started beating out of my chest as I read the contest details, which include a possible opportunity to have your handmade item fly in space on board one of the final space shuttle flights. (heck - is wasn't just a high heart rate I experienced. When I read the part about flying the object in space, I got totally choked up!)

This is my high texture hand embroidery of the moon that I entered in the contest. I'll fill you in on the specifics of the project soon and will share some great space and embroidery resources as well. What I'd hoped I'd be doing this weekend was spreading the word far and wide that I'd made it to round 2 of the contest where folks would have the opportunity to vote for their favorite space-inspired hand-made item. I won't lie, while I wasn't arrogant enough to think I might win this whole thing, I did feel confident I would at least make it to the voting round, and I was prepared to work my backside off to spread the word for voting. My good friend, Becky, even helped me make a nice little video giving some insight into why I was so passionate about the contest. Maybe I jinxed myself, but hey - when you want something badly, you want to "bring it" and I was fully prepared to "bring it" in a big way.

Space + Craft (still) = Awesome (even if I didn't make the vote cut)
from Rachel Hobson on Vimeo.
(ignore the "vote for me" portion of the video ;) Thanks, Becky! )

I was not prepared to not have the chance to bring it. And when the voting opened last night, and I quickly realized I hadn't made the cut ... I was crushed. I commiserated with good friend and fellow Spacetweep, Jen, whose amazing needle felted Hubble Space Telescope also didn't make the cut in her category, and there were several very kind people on Twitter who shared some lovely words about my embroidery. That helped, but I have to admit I was very disappointed and deflated.


It wasn't just the opportunity to "win" a contest I was excited about. Absolutely, I was thrilled (to tears) about the idea of something I made flying in space, but more than that, I was excited for the opportunity to share my two biggest passions - space and craft - with a wider audience. I was excited to share resources with people, get folks who might not be fired up about space to get interested in it and to hopefully inspired people who would never consider picking up a needle and thread to do so. I was excited about the chance to connect and share with more people.

I decided I needed to lay off the social media early last night, and started to watch a great documentary on the Apollo program instead. As I watched, my heart filled with excitement once more and I was reminded why I spent so much time on this project; why I stitched craters until I had calluses on my fingertips, why I took the piece with me everywhere I went so I could stitch at any given opportunity, why I delighted in sharing the subject matter with anyone who was gracious enough to ask about it.


It wasn't because of the contest, it was because of the Moon. And space. And embroidery. And the pure joy that these things bring to me. And I can't let what a random handful of judges think of my work keep me from loving these things and sharing them with other people.

And so that's exactly what I'm going to do. Over the next few days, I'll be sharing more background information on this project. It was my most massive embroidery undertaking to date, and I fell madly in love with it. I'll share information about the class in which I started the project, some of the stitches I used, some of the threads I used and more information about the moon and why I love it so much. I've also set up a page of embroidery and space links in case I've inspired anyone to explore these two passions of mine. If you have any questions about either subject, just let me know and I'll do my best to answer them in the follow up posts.

• Follow up post - More on the Moon: Sharon B's Sumptuous Surfaces Embroidery Class (in which I started this project)
• Follow up post - Highlighting the various stitches I used in the project!

Space and Embroidery - you can do it!

As you know, I'm a huge space geek, and my craft of choice is hand embroidery. I truly believe both subjects have a lot to offer in terms of education, creativity, innovation and inspiration. Because I'm also a big internet junkie, I've collected loads of resources that will help you explore both subjects. Enjoy!

Hand Embroidery Resources

Classes - I can't tell you how many times I've had a student in one of my embroidery classes say how much of a difference it makes to have someone, in person, show them how to do hand embroidery. Do yourself a favor and check out your local sewing or craft studios to see about trying a hand embroidery class.

Sublime Stitching - Jenny Hart has a lot of great patterns and tutorials on her web site. They are a great place to get started and are a lot of fun to stitch.

Needle 'n Thread - Mary Corbet is a master of embroidery, and provides some excellent tutorials and great how-to videos on her web site.


The CRAFT embroidery archives are filled with all kinds of great inspirational projects and how-tos.

Mr. X-Stitch is a great site for modern embroidery. Lots of interesting and fun stuff!

Pin Tangle - from Sharon B. I started this moon embroidery project in Sharon's Sumptuous Surfaces class.


The Flickr Embroidery Group offers loads of great inspiration and a great, supportive embroidery community.

The Flickr Embroidery Group Blog - Feeling Stitchy

Space Resources

NASA - NASA has done a great job of reaching out to folks through social media. Their Twitter feed is great, many astronauts are now on Twitter (some even tweet from space!) and their "following" list is filled with many must-follows on Twitter.


NASA TV - If you are lucky enough to have NASA TV on your cable line-up, be sure to check it out regularly. Even if you can't watch it on your television, you can watch it online. Watching NASA TV during a shuttle mission is especially exciting. It blows my mind to think that we can watch a spacewalk taking place *live* more than 200 miles above our heads. If we can, we should.

Space Tweep Society - This group has been huge in my connecting with loads of interesting, kind, supportive and enthusiastic space geeks on Twitter and beyond. I've made great friends, learned tons and have really enjoyed this community.

collectSPACE.com - Robert Pearlman has an incredible wealth of knowledge on all things related to the history of the space program. Members of the collectSPACE community are active, supportive and very knowledgeable. (and just darn cool)

Astronomy Picture of the Day - sometimes you just need some quick, visual inspiration. APOD is a great place for that!


And for more gorgeous inspiration, check out the Hubble web site.

These links are just a sampling of some of the great online resources for hand embroidery and space exploration. Consider them a jumping off point, and feel free to fall into these favorite obsessions of mine. :)

Space and Stitchery (a.k.a. My Happy Place)

Having the chance to combine your passions is a pretty darn special treat, and when other folks respond positively to that ... well, it doesn't get much better. I'm so excited/honored/thrilled/stoked that my Hubble cross-stitch project won First Prize in the Funniest category of the ESA Hubble Pop Culture contest. Can you believe it? Nope - I can't, either.

I don't know that I was going for "funny" when I made the project, but considering the fact that humor is how I make it through any tough situations in life, I'll go ahead and take it. Not to mention the fact that First Prize carries some insanely awesome prizes. Hurrah!

This is the second time I've had a crazy idea for a project that combines my passions, but seems a little ... odd. One part of me said, "This is so dorky. Why would you bother?" but the bigger part of me said, "So what!? I like it! I'm doing it!" And when I went ahead with it, really fantastic things followed.

photo by Robert Pearlman of collectSPACE

So what does this mean to you? Well - I've had a postcard on my desk for years (actually, I can't find it at the moment, but it's seared in to my brain, so ...) it says, "Trust Your Crazy Ideas."

For reals, y'all. Trust those crazy ideas. Love what you do - do it with passion and most importantly, HAVE. FUN. DOING. IT. Don't worry about what other people think. And be sure to take things ... well ... One Screw at a Time.

You can read the full story behind the project in my original post about it.

When I was contacted about the win, the ESA folks asked several questions, the final one being if I had any favorite Hubble images. Here was my response:

I find most every image in the Hubble gallery inspiring, fascinating and humbling. Some of my favorite images, though, are pictures of the astronauts who have serviced Hubble through the years as they work on Hubble. More proof that humans are critical to space exploration.

John Grunsfeld-Inspired Hubble Cross-Stitch

UPDATED! My project won First Prize in the Funniest category of the ESA Hubble Pop Culture contest! Read about the win and why you should trust your crazy ideas after you finish reading this post. Mmmmmkay?

We all draw inspiration from different places, and it's obvious that much of my inspiration comes from space and astronomy. This latest project came to mind months ago when I first saw the Hubble IMAX 3D film (which, by the way, you must go see as soon as you finish reading this). Hubble is amazing and inspirational in its own right, but I really love hearing stories from the people who work on the space telescope. John Grunsfeld is one of my favorite astronauts. He's a brilliant astronomer, and from interviews I've read or seen .... he just seems like an all-around fascinating person.


At one point in the Hubble IMAX film, he talks about a particular portion of one of his spacewalks that involved unscrewing more than 100 tiny screws on a part of Hubble.

Now, just take a moment to imagine with me, if you will: Put giant oven mitts on your hands. Now slip a tiny tool between your fingertips. Know that you have more than 100 screws to unscrew on a piece of equipment that is worth millions of dollars and holds great scientific significance. Oh, and don't forget that you are more than 300 miles above earth on a spaceship that's traveling at roughly 17, 500 miles per hour.

Feeling a little lame complaining about the intensity of your to-do list today yet?

Here's where Grunsfeld impresses once again. He talks in the film about how, at this point in his spacewalk, he switches to zen mode. He focuses only on the one screw that he is unscrewing at that very moment. Never how many he's already undone, never how many he has left.

Just one screw at a time.

For some reason, this brief part of his interview really stuck with me. It's so easy to get overwhelmed with daily tasks, life dreams, everything going on each day. My last post about summer glossed over the stress and overwhelm I feel with trying to keep up with work while entertaining and enjoying my kids during the next few months. Inside, I start to freak out.

It seemed the perfect time to tackle this project that had been pinging in the back of my mind since March. I could use a nice visual reminder to not let overwhelm get the best of me.

I'd never designed my own cross-stitch project before, so it was a bit daunting, but I just kept reminding myself, "One Screw At A Time." I found a cross-stitch alphabet I liked, and practiced sketching it out in my handy Maker's Notebook (grid paper FTW!) Once I stitched the words, I realized it needed something else - a little something that would bring Hubble in to the picture (and, hopefully, keep those gutter brains from making jokes about screws). I knew I wanted to include an image of Hubble, but was stumped on how. I didn't have time to do a full-scale Hubble stitching. I needed something simple.

Then I remembered one of my favorite finds and posts over on CRAFT this last year: a Hubble-Shaped paperclip. I pulled up the image and sketched it on my grid paper, cross-stitch style. It worked, for the most part. I did goof on one part while stitching, but I'll just pretend it's not so obvious.

Hopefully this is a good reminder for you, too. Don't get overwhelmed. Just think, "One Screw At A Time."

Seriously Awesome Space Shuttle Cuff

A few weeks ago, I received the most awesome gift in the mail from Austin jewelry designer, Christine Terrell of Adaptive Reuse. I first met Christine a couple of years ago, and love her cool tin creations. She has a fantastic way of turning everyday tins into super cool adornments.

It's hard for my friends to ignore my space obsession. Folks who read my blog, follow me on Twitter or are friends on Facebook are pretty much inundated with my space-y blathering. I'm thankful that, rather than being annoyed (I hope) they seem to be very responsive. And it's so sweet that they would not only get excited about space, but also help fuel my love of the subject by generously sharing space-related objects with me.

Christine made this rad tin cuff and sent it to me. It arrived on the afternoon of a particularly grueling day, and brought the biggest smile to my face. I love that. Thank you so much, Christine!
Be sure to check out Christine's web site and shop. Here are a few of my favorite pieces of hers:

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?