Dwarfs Spinning Through Space
A Tribute to Pluto Formerly Known as a Planet
In the summer of 2006 I was making this miniature with the whirlygig block based on a pattern from Piece O'Cake Design's Quilts with a Spin when we got the sad news that Pluto had been demoted from the status of being a planet*. Due to its diminutive size it would now be considered a dwarf. Since this quilt looked "spacy", I decided that I would honor the former planet by naming this quilt after it.
This batik wallhanging is made with a combination of hand appliqué techniques and paper piecing and then hand quilted. I was so excited when my husband's coworker Patti Hickam told me she was painting the office in her new home purple. This was her house warming gift.
*For those of you more interested in the solar system than quilting, according to the National Geographic a full-fledged planet is an object that orbits the sun and is large enough to have become round due to the force of its own gravity. In addition, a planet has to dominate the neighborhood around its orbit. Pluto has been demoted because it does not dominate its neighborhood. Charon, its large "moon," is only about half the size of Pluto, while all the true planets are far larger than their moons. In addition, bodies that dominate their neighborhoods, "sweep up" asteroids, comets, and other debris, clearing a path along their orbits. By contrast, Pluto's orbit is somewhat untidy.
Next: Facets Blocks