From the collection of:
Museum of the American Quilter’s Society || VAM Home

Two Michigan sisters, Pat Holly and Sue Nickels, made this quilt in tribute to the U.S. space program. They were inspired by NASA mission patches and received permission to re-create them. The quilt, completely machine-stitched, won the Bernina Machine Workmanship Award at the 2004 American Quilter’s Show and Contest. It had previously won the Pfaff Masters of Machine Artistry Award at the 2003 International Quilt Association Judged Show, International Quilt Festival, in Houston, Texas.

About the Artists

Sisters Pat Holly and Sue Nickels quilt separately and together. They live in Michigan, about 180 miles apart—Holly in Muskegon and Nickels in Ann Arbor.

Nickels began quilting in the 1970s, starting out with hand work and gradually focusing on machine quilting. Holly, who had sewn clothes and doll clothes since she was a child, studied weaving, fabric design, and graphic design at the University of Michigan. After her first child was born in 1983, she asked her sister for quilting lessons. The two now alternate joint and individual work, making quilts together every other year and concentrating on separate work in between. They have also co-authored books on machine quilting.

Other award-winning quilts by the sisters include The Beatles Quilt, a tribute to the music group, which won Best of Show at the 1998 American Quilter’s Society Show. Says Nickels, “I am inspired by antique quilts, looking at them for ideas in design and symbolism. I also like when a quilt tells a story about the quiltmakers and their times.”

Classroom Ideas

Discussion: How are the elements of art and principles of design used in this quilt? What images did the artists use to honor the space program? What other visual approaches might have been taken? How do you think working collaboratively on the design would differ from working individually? Take a look at The Beatles Quilt by the same artists. How do these quilts “tell a story about the quiltmakers and their times”?

Activities: Choose a subject or issue of importance to you and work in teams to plan a quilt design on that topic. What colors and images would you use?

Select an astronaut who has flown with the U.S. space program. Find out how he or she decided to become involved. Learn about the training astronauts receive to prepare them for space travel. It has been suggested that The Space Quilt should go on the next space mission. Do you think that is possible? Find out whether astronauts use blankets or quilts to keep warm on their missions. What types of personal items do they take into space?

Links

To learn more about Sue Nickels and Pat Holly and see images of their quilts, including The Beatles Quilt, visit Sue Nickels’ web site.
[www.sue.nickels.com]

Begin your study of the space program at NASA.
[www.nasa.gov]