Some quilts start with a stack of fabrics and a pattern full of small pieces. Others start with a picture so good that the smartest design decision is to get out of its way. That is the idea behind a panel quilt, and the NASA Spacesuit Panel Quilt Kit from Riley Blake Designs, offered through High Country Quilts, is a textbook example: a space-themed quilt built around a single spacesuit panel print from Riley Blake's NASA collection.
What This Kit Makes
The finished project is a space-themed quilt with the NASA spacesuit panel as its centerpiece. Instead of piecing a picture block by block, the printed panel delivers the artwork — the spacesuit — in one large, ready-made focal point. The product title notes the fabric is 45 inches wide and sold per yard, which tells you the panel works at a generous scale: this is a centerpiece fabric, not a small accent print.
Panel quilts in this style are especially popular for kids' quilts, where a big, bold image reads clearly from across a bedroom, and as gifts for space lovers of any age. Depending on how you frame and finish it, the same quilt can serve as a throw over a reading chair, a wall hanging in a classroom or nursery, or a cozy layer on a young fan's bed.
What's Included — and What to Plan Separately
What the listing specifies is the heart of the project: fabric from the NASA collection by Riley Blake Designs, featuring the spacesuit panel, presented as a quilt kit.
Be clear-eyed about what the listing does not specify: it does not list a separate printed pattern, backing, batting, or binding among its stated contents. Panel projects are normally finished with supplies you choose yourself, so plan on selecting a backing fabric a few inches larger than your finished top on all sides, batting to match, and binding — a solid that echoes a color in the panel is a classic choice.
Skill Level and Time Commitment
Panel quilts are among the friendliest entry points in quilting, and this one suits confident beginners well. Because the panel carries the design, the skills involved are the fundamentals: squaring up a printed panel carefully, sewing straight, consistent seams if you add framing strips or borders, pressing well, and then layering, quilting, and binding.
As a planning estimate, a panel top can typically be framed and assembled in a single sewing session, with layering, quilting, and binding spread over a second — a realistic one-weekend project for most makers, and far faster than a fully pieced picture quilt.
Tips for Success with a Printed Panel
Square the panel before anything else. Printed panels can be slightly off-grain. Lay the panel flat, check its edges against a large ruler, and trim conservatively so the spacesuit sits straight — every later step is easier when the centerpiece starts square.
Let the panel be the star. Simple framing — a narrow inner border, then a wider one if you want more size — shows off the artwork better than busy piecing around it. Pull border colors from the panel itself for a coordinated result.
Quilt around the artwork, not through it. Outline quilting near the spacesuit and a simple all-over design in the borders secures the layers without stitching across the printed figure's details.
Press gently and check direction. A spacesuit has an unmistakable up and down. Before final assembly, lay everything out, step back, and confirm nothing is upside down — a quick phone photo of the layout makes a handy reference to sew from.
A Small Quilt with a Big Mission
That is the appeal of this kit: one striking NASA spacesuit panel, fabric from Riley Blake's NASA collection, and a project format that turns it into a finished quilt over a weekend rather than a month. Choose your backing and binding, square that panel with care, and you will have a gift any space lover will treasure.
Shop the NASA Spacesuit Panel Quilt Kit 45" wide fabric per yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
