Starry Starry Night/Cosmos

November 25, 2018 5:41 PM

In 1866 Nathan Mills gave a lecture, the subject of which was Astronomy. The chart he used was a bed quilt so quilted as to represent the solar system. Perhaps his visual aid looked much like Ellen Harding Baker's Solar System Quilt. Sarah Ellen Harding Baker was living in Cedar County, Iowa ten years later in 1876, the date on this wool quilt.

and over in Australia this year: Behold, a Massive Knit Map of the Cosmos
Three colors of yarn, seven panels, and all 88 constellations. Knit Cosmos

posted by MovableBookLady (5 comments total)

Buried lede?

Ellen used the quilt as a visual aid for lectures she gave on astronomy in the towns of West Branch, Moscow, and Lone Tree, Iowa. Astronomy was an acceptable interest for women in the nineteenth century and was sometimes even fostered in their education

posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:03 PM on November 25, 2018 [9 favorites]

Haptic Labs makes a template so you can make a constellation--not a solar system--quilt of your own or buy a completed one of theirs.

These are gorgeous!
posted by crush at 6:20 PM on November 25, 2018 [4 favorites]

(More info on that last one at Sarah Spencer's blog: http://heartofpluto.co/ also Etsy https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/HeartOfPluto ... not a paid shill, just a fan :-) )
posted by nickzoic at 6:33 PM on November 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

The modern version comes printed on Tyvek: www.palomarweb.com/product/crumpled-sky/

(On sale today, actually, and I am sorely tempted because I have wanted one for so long!)
posted by wenestvedt at 8:59 AM on November 26, 2018

So cool, thank you for posting.
posted by theora55 at 12:15 PM on November 26, 2018