Somewhere in Outer Space

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  John 14:1-3 NKJV

I received this "space" fabric as a gift from my niece. She purchased it from the husband of a friend that had passed away due to COVID. So, not only do I love the fabric, but it's special because it had been hers. But how to find fabric that would coordinate well with it? And how to use it in a quilt top without chopping the planets into small, unrecognizable pieces? 
When I found out that one of my great nieces was expecting her second child - a son - I decided that this awesome fabric needed to be used in his quilt. There was about 1 yard, so I decided to make a 3-yard quilt with it, and took it into my LQS to find some fabric that might work with it. The sales associate helped me out, and I'm pretty pleased with what we came up with. 
Finding a pattern that would work was the next step. When I saw the Fabric Cafe pattern, Fascination, I knew that was the one. Not only did it utilize long, wide strips of the feature fabric, which would make the planets still recognizable, but one of the alternate blocks was the Evening Star, and I figured stars suited the outer space theme. I then had to find a Canadian vendor that sold the book, The Magic of 3-Yard Quilts, that contained the pattern. 

The backing fabric was this awesome rainbow-coloured northern lights. And, of course, I chose the Blast Off pantograph to do the quilting. If you look closely, you can see planets, spaceships and stars in the quilting design.
Coming up with a name? Well, I tossed around a few ideas, but I really want my quilts to direct people's minds to God's love for us and His gift of salvation. So, I chose to name it after the first line in this song: 

Somewhere in outer space, God has prepared a place
For those who trust Him and obey.

Jesus will come again, although we don’t know when,

The countdown’s getting lower every day.

Ten and nine,

Eight and seven,

Six and five and four

Call upon the Savior while you may.

Three and two,

He’s coming through

The clouds in bright array

The countdown’s getting lower every day.

I hope that my great-great nephew learns this song and thinks about its message when he uses his quilt. Because, as the text at the beginning of this post says, Jesus is coming again and He is now preparing a place for us, if we are willing to accept His gift of salvation. Check out this study guide, Ultimate Deliverance, on the topic.