A former NASA astronaut is sharing her work at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah inspired by her time in outer space, including some works she stitched while floating miles above the earth’s surface.
In the exhibit “The Stars are Aligned,” which opened last week, former NASA astronaut and engineer Karen Nyberg is sharing some quilts she’s made over the years depicting both terrestrial and extra-terrestrial subject matter. The Utah-based quilter has made two trips into space during her lifetime.
Nyberg said the view of Earth from 250 miles above its surface inside the International Space Station can change a person’s perspectives on life and the planet. This has led to inspiration for multiple different works of art based on her time in outer space.
“I think astronauts become very conscious and aware of Earth’s, you know, fragility,” Nyberg said. “The cupola views pattern, which is the one that has the Earth Views fabrics [in the exhibit], basically imitates the cupola which is the window that we use on the International Space Station that we get a lot of great pictures from.”
Nyberg said she first learned to sew at 6 years old from her mother. Ever since, she’s enjoyed having a needle in her hand to make everything from clothes to textile art. Even while she was attending college studying engineering, she would spend her downtime creating art.
“I used to make quilts and blankets and pillows and things for people as gifts … even before I flew [in space],” Nyberg said. “It was kind of a natural progression when I retired from NASA to move on to do what my other passion was growing up. My first passion, of course, was being an astronaut going into space, and then my other passion was art and sewing and creating.”
The former NASA astronaut has taken two trips into space in her lifetime. Her first was in 2008 as a passenger on the Space Shuttle Discovery on a trip to build a new laboratory with Japanese astronauts on the International Space Station. That mission saw her in space for 14 days in what she said was a “very choreographed” construction mission. She returned to the ISS five years later in 2013 and spent five and a half months living in orbit.
While in space during that second mission, Nyberg sewed a star-shaped block, inspiring an astronomical-themed quilting challenge from the ISS for quilters from around the globe submit quilt blocks — small squares of fabric — to be used in a larger piece of work about space. The project saw hundreds of submissions and dozens of quilts made as a result.
“[In 2013], I made a quilt block when I was in space, and then we collected over 2400 from around the world,” Nyberg explained, adding that a few of the quilts in the Paducah exhibit are from that project. “And there are two additional [quilts] that have never been publicly seen before … those will be on display for the first time.”
Nyberg said she’s excited to visit the exhibit herself when she comes to Paducah later this month. The quilt artist said she’ll be attending the American Quilter’s Society’s QuiltWeek show in Paducah and will be participating in some of the festivities– including leading a discussion on one of the days. During the celebration of fiber arts, she hopes to connect with both other artists and quilt enthusiasts alike.
“I’m excited to meet the people there, and — if anybody’s interested to come on by then — I’d love to meet [them].”
(This story first ran on WKMS, the public radio station at Murray State University.)
