seeing stars: haptic lab's constellation quilt

One of the nice things about having this blog is I'm able to feature products or ideas that I wanted to, or tried to, feature in a magazine story but couldn't for whatever reason (time, space, story focus changed, art department was concerned it wouldn't photograph well, etc). 

Haptic Lab's handmade quilts were one of those products I got super excited about when I first saw them in person and I've been hoping to find a way to showcase them since. The colder weather recently made me think of the quilts again, so I went to the studio's website to see what was new.

Part-craft, part-science, the five-foot-square Constellation Quilt is a hand-embroidered rendering of a swath of October night sky around the 40th parallel in the Northern Hemisphere and features constellations including the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Orion, Gemini, Leo, and Taurus. Gold stars create the constellations' boundaries while French knots depict the Milky Way diagonally across the quilt. A 14-inch letterpressed star chart is included with each quilt to help you orient yourself. This particular design was made possible by funding through a Kickstarter project.

Right now the Constellation Quilt ($279) is available by pre-order to arrive in time for the holidays.


The story behind artist/architect/Haptic Lab-founder Emily Fischer's work is interesting: Her work was inspired by her mother who'd begun losing her eyesight due to complications of glaucoma. Fischer began designing the quilts as an "experiment in tactile way-finding."

and if you've never seen the city quilts:

New York

San Francisco

Paris

The level of detail is incredible, and these are much larger than the Constellation Quilt. You can just get lost in the maze of streets, alleys, and avenues. LA fans should check out the Los Angeles Burger Quilt.

For the truly talented, DIY kits are also available for many more cities and are cute because you can add your own patches or details based on locations or routes that hold personal meaning. 

Ski Trail map, Telluride, CO

detail of Telluride quilt

And take a look at the page of the studio's intricate custom work. I'm not a skier, but I love this ski trail map of Telluride, CO.

images via haptic lab

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