Tag Archives: Air and Space Museum

National Air and Space Museum has two venues. The oldest is on the Mall in Washington DC. The newest and largest is at Dullas airport just outside of DC. It houses the Space Shuttle Discovery, the Enola Gay and other historic planes. It also houses the restoration and research center for the museum. All is part of the Smithsonian Institution.

Did you know the Space Shuttle is a Quilt?

Two interesting things to talk about this week.  First, we are back from a weekend in Washington, DC – the city of my birth.  I do love DC.  There is so much to interest anyone – fiber people included.

Our first stop was the Air and Space Museum at Dullas Airport.  It is the larger part of the collection that has another building downtown on the Mall.  The big attraction now is the Shuttle Discovery.  How impressive to see her.  She is absolutely awe inspiring.

What I did not realize is that she is covered in fabric:

The black tiles are still in place for the heat dissipation during reentry – but the original white tiles have been replaced by a composite fabric.  Who knew – the Space Shuttles are quilts!!  Sounds like the inspiration for new quilt sometime in the future. . .

The second thing to celebrate is a Dye Day yesterday with some yarn friends.  The five of us dyed 30+ skeins of wool (Merino, Cormo, and others), wool/silk, alpaca, wool/silk/bamboo, cashmere/silk and wool/silk.  That is all I can remember at this point.  But, take a look at the final result. . .

What a wonderful day spent with fiber friends.