Beth Anderson, Children's Writer

Just as perspective led to Karen Nyberg’s global quilt project from space, author Ann McCallum Staats found the heart of A QUILT OF STARS: ASTRONAUT KAREN NYBERG STITCHES A DREAM by exploring perspective. In this fascinating story, a bit of tradition and old-fashioned skills find their place in space!

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Congratulations to Lisa Connors, the winner of WINTER SOLSTICE HILL from Cathy Ogren!!

How a Patchwork Quilt Reflects a Patchwork World

By Ann McCallum Staats

My newest book is co-authored with astronaut Karen Nyberg. A Quilt of Stars shares the hurdles Karen overcame to achieve the seemingly impossible dream of reaching the stars. It’s also about how Karen, privy to a perspective few of us will ever be fortunate enough to experience, devised a way to unite the world through a patchwork quilt. 

When I first approached Karen, I was writing High Flyers: 15 Inspiring Women Aviators and Astronauts, a YA nonfiction title. I was looking to interview a couple of astronauts, people who could tell me what it’s like to train for and then live in space. With Karen, I didn’t immediately focus on the sewing projects she initiated while living on the International Space Station (ISS). Nor did I fully realize the impact of her quilt challenge that garnered participation from across the globe. 

Instead, I focused on Karen’s aspiration to travel to space. It was fascinating and inspirational, but there was something else niggling me even after the book was released. There was an additional story there, one that would morph into what ultimately became the picture book A Quilt of Stars: Astronaut Karen Nyberg Stitches a Dream. It took me a while to understand this story’s heart.  

Here’s what I knew. From a young age, Karen loved to gaze at the night sky. Space piqued her curiosity, and she yearned to experience it for herself. Early on, she told her parents that she wanted to be an astronaut. “How cute,” they said at the time. “What an imagination.” It seemed like an impossible dream—except to Karen. 

As she grew up, Karen worked towards the lofty goal of joining the astronaut program. When things got particularly challenging—often—she told herself, “Set your mind on success. Engineer a way to solve the problem, and don’t give up until you do.” 

Karen’s journey to become the fiftieth woman to travel to space includes fortitude and a years-long, dogged determination. Her path leads to the heart of this story, a profound sharing of connection and gratitude. It about how, when Karen stared from the cupola of the International Space Station (ISS), she didn’t see country borders or any of the conflicts that plague our daily lives. Below her was a united patchwork of people and places.

Karen is a creative person who has always enjoyed sewing, so it’s not hugely surprising that she sewed both her son and husband small gifts while on the ISS. Then the mesmerizing view of Earth from the cupola sparked something that led to a more global reach. 

Karen sewed a quilt square in space and NASA invited participants to contribute to the Astronomical Quilt Challenge. The response was overwhelming.  Over 2,400 people from 30 different countries sent star-themed quilt blocks to NASA. Volunteers stitched together not one, but 28 full-sized quilts.

But how to share this sense of awe and human bonding? How could I relate to Karen enough to write a book together? She’s an astronaut; I’m a teacher and a writer. Sure, I’ve written about other people before, but this seemed more personal. 

As I dug deeper, I identified common threads such as the fact that we both come from humble roots. Like her, I grew up in a beautiful but professionally limiting small town. In my case, Nakusp is in the middle of British Columbia, Canada, and to this day boasts a single traffic light and hundreds of miles of wilderness surrounding it. Karen left her own tiny hometown to pursue her goal. Though I didn’t become an astronaut, I, too, felt the tug of ambition to leave and explore the wider world. 

Skip ahead several years. By the time Karen was chosen for a mission on the International Space Station, her son Jack was three years old. Now life wasn’t just about her; she had a family to consider. Could she leave them for the six-month commitment? A mom myself, I can imagine her conflicting emotions—elation at having earned such a prestigious assignment along with the hardship of temporarily leaving her family. 

Most of us will never experience a firsthand view of Earth from the outside. However, we can all pause to savor the beauty of this world’s people and places. This guest post is all about finding that special heart of a story. In A Quilt of Stars, the heart is Karen’s gift to the world: a star-themed quilt collection that underscores the bond all of us humans share regardless of who we are or where we live. When writing this book with Karen, I came across heart that will stay with me forever.

Enjoy the trailer for A QUILT OF STARS here!

Don’t forget to leave a comment below to get in on the drawing for a copy of A QUILT OF STARS! (US addresses only, please. Winner announced 9/4/26)

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