TEXTILES.ORG
Recently retired NASA astronaut and artist Karen Nyberg has launched a new fabric line called “Earth Views” in collaboration with the Calif.-based Robert Kaufman Fabrics.
Nyberg spent more than 180 days in space over two missions flying on both the space shuttle and the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, shooting hundreds of photographs of Earth.
She selected 13 of those photos for Earth Views, launched in April. The line includes 30 different color arrangements known as colorways.
The Earth Views fabric line includes sunsets, rivers, lakes, deserts, farmlands and oceans.
The collection is made of 100 percent organic cotton. The process to produce fully organic fabrics isn’t just in the dyes but also in how much water is used and keeping the environmental impacts as small as possible.
“It is important that we’re at least cognizant of those things and how much water we use and what kind of chemicals we use when making fabrics,” Nyberg says.
The veteran astronaut is no stranger to fabrics and crafting. While on her last stay on the International Space Station in 2013, Nyberg brought her quilting supplies and became the first to create a quilt square in space, launching the astronomical quilting challenge.