You never know where you are going to find fabric, patterns and inspiration.
This was the nearly first successful flying machine, lots of cotton fabric, wood and wires!
Then there was the ultimate space orbiter with its heat resistant tiles, made from silica and all positioned like a jigsaw with all the numbers on the tile pointing towards the nose. Just like laying out a quilt to achieve a balanced pattern and then marking it up so as it will still fit together when it is sewn.
Taking the photo of the shuttle caused me to look up properly and realise how pretty satellites can be and potentially an abstract/modern design.
The weather provided its own display last evening with a thunder storm and there has been a bit of rain hence the visit to the Udvar-Hazy Centre. However it cleared up sufficiently to have a walk around Henry house on the Manassas battlefield and see the statue of Stonewall Jackson followed by a barbecued steak.
Moving on to Fredericksburg today.