page_title: Ellen Harding Baker
section_title: Solar System Quilt
hierarchical_section_title: Ellen Harding Baker / Biography / Solar System Quilt
caption_attribution_description: English: Created in 1876 by Ellen Harding Baker and used to assist with her astronomy lectures. The quilt has a wool top, embellished with wool-fabric applique, wool braid, and wool and silk embroidery. It is currently owned by the Smithsonian Institution, donated by Patricia Hill McCloy and Kathryn Hill Meardon.
context_page_description: Ellen Harding Baker, née Sarah Ellen Harding was an American astronomer and a teacher. She is known for her Solar System Quilt, used as a teaching aid in her lectures on astronomy.
context_section_description: In 1876, Ellen Harding created the Solar System Quilt to assist her during astronomy lectures.
  She may be the woman from local newspapers in the winter of 1883–1884, which mentioned that it took seven years for an Iowa woman to embroid the Solar System on a quilt.
  The quilt has a wool top embellished with wool-fabric applique, wool braid, and wool and silk embroidery. The quilt bears a striking design which resembles illustrations in astronomy books of her period. The quilt shows the sun at the center and the eight planets of our solar system (with indicated orbits around the sun), as well as the asteroid belt. The myriad of stars that exist beyond our solar system are also shown. The Galilean moons of Jupiter, as well as moons of Earth, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus are included, as are Saturn's rings. A comet with an eccentric orbit is also present - perhaps Halley's comet which had last been seen in 1835.
  The quilt is large; it measures 89 x 106 inches (225 cm x 269 cm).
  The quilt is currently in possession at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, donated by Patricia Hill McCloy and Kathryn Hill Meardon. However, since 2018 it has not been on view.
caption: Created in 1876 by Ellen Harding Baker and used to assist with her astronomy lectures.
exif: {}