It's a good thing that our last post's mission to Mars was postponed because there was a wonderful event last week as the Perseverance Rover landed on Mars. It was a huge success and is now immortalised in the Pinwheels & Stars baby quilt.
A Safe Landing on Mars
I never thought that I would be interested, but it's amazing what NASA has done since I was last interested in space (which was Armstrong's landing on the Moon which I watched at my Uncle's cabin in the woods). In my last post at the end of January (see Related links below) I talked about the Artemis Mission and free motion quilted (FMQ) the Moon, the Space Launch System (SLS) Rocket and the Orion Space Craft.
Since the Perseverance Rover landed on Mars last week, that's my FMQ for this post.
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| Mars and the landing of the Perseverance Rover |
Here is a detailed look at the capsule as it takes the Perseverance to Mars. I watched part of the live landing but if you want to see how it was done, your best bet is to fast forward through the "entry-descent-landing" simulation on NASA's website. The links are all in the Related links below.
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| A close-up of the capsule taking the Perseverance Rover onto Mars |
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| The Pinwheels & Stars baby quilt so far |
What I learned
- Mars, the red planet (although more brown than red) is the closest planet to Earth. Although smaller than Earth and barren, it does have traces of having been eroded by water at some point.
- I'm finding it difficult to FMQ colourful planets on a white background. Since it's a baby quilt and I said that I would FMQ the centre as a wholecloth quilt, I don't want to add or appliqué fabric to it - but wouldn't it be great with some sheer overlay? So I've had to figure out how much FMQ to do to add colour. I may end up going back on some of the less quilted elements and add more colour to them.
- Since I've had the energy and the interest to research and FMQ the Perseverance on Mars, I guess that my rest period was effective.
Related links
Linking parties
I will be linking up to these fun linky parties. Join us and see what's going on in quilty blog land. Put Your Foot Down, Needle & Thread Thursday, Let's Make Baby Quilts, Peacock Party, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Off The Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Midweek Makers,
Free Motion Mavericks
Welcome to Free Motion Mavericks, week 320. We've been having a good number of link ups. Thanks! It's really inspiring to see FMQ by other quilters. This week I want to draw your attention to Key Elements' Fire and Ice quilt. If you didn't catch it, it's worth taking a look (after you link up of course😊)
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| Details of Fire and Ice quilt by Key Elements |
Wow, you're getting super detailed there Andrée! It's looking good so far. It sure was amazing hearing it had landed. I, too, remember Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, though I don't have much of a visual, more of a memory of his words.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sandra, it's been a lot of fun learning about the latest in the space program. I even got to listen to a talk at the Canada School of Public Service by two women in the program and how the inventions for the space program eventually are adapted for public use. It was really interesting! Take care.
DeleteHow interesting to add that bit of current events to the quilt through the quilting! Make sure the label for this one includes all of that information. One day the little one that gets it will be thrilled to know how much they are a part of that space exploration history!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder Vivian. That's a great idea.
DeleteTon baby quilt avance bien, et quelle bonne idée de reporter toutes ces info en FMQ. Ca va être un memory et historique quilt !
ReplyDeleteMerci Frédérique. Maintenant que nous allons seulement vers Mars, le restant sera plus de mon imagination :-)
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