Welcome to the world

Parker Mae arrived at 4:32 in the afternoon on Thursday, April 27, 9 lbs. 4 oz., and 21.5 inches ...

She was welcomed into the family by G ...

who has fallen in love ...

along with the rest of us ...

Reader alert: there's more to come

Joy-full

I went to a dyeing workshop a couple of years ago and brought home sample pieces that then sat unused because they felt too precious. My recent reorganization brought them together with other dye, rust and discharge trials ...

Then the peace pin project opened my hands to start letting them go. The truth is I find so much more satisfaction now seeing them out in the world rather than hidden away.

In fact, I'll be choosing from this lot in order to make a pin for a long-time friend from Virginia ...

who has since moved to California and started (yet another) design business ...

http://akinderspace.com/

There has been a new peace pin sighting in New York, from Jude who is most responsible for my journey into slow cloth:

http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/spirit_cloth/2017/04/only-puzzle-pieces.html

Which triggered an email requesting a peace pin from Laura in New Hampshire. Laura also sent a picture of a beautiful saori weaving she made for Earth Day, which I'm posting here with her permission ...

There was also this post about a peace pin landing on Hazel's Word cloth ...

http://handstories.typepad.com/blog/2017/04/peaces-pieces.html

that inspired my Remember 2016 cloth

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/search/label/Remember%202016

That in turn generated a comment from Shelly requesting a lavender pin ... but with no contact info, so I'm hoping she'll read this and send her mailing address to lizackert@gmail.com.

While I've been busy making pins, Don has kept busy, too. He found a funky duck in a Johnson City Gallery ...

which he has since stained and painted ...

He also scored a couple of pieces while we were antiquing with Williamsburg friends who stopped by for a couple of days ...

Love the business card, which reads in part, "raw materials for creative living" ...

I spotted some indigo Ikat while we were there, but it was a tad pricey. If it's still there next time, I might try to dicker them down. 

Lastly, we found a cool mixed media roadrunner painting at a Wimberley art show last weekend ...

which displaced the clock up and to the right in order to make room for it on this wall ...

So I'm thinking it was no coincidence that this fellow showed up when I drove into town today ...

No doubt about it ... roadrunners are aptly named!

To be continued ...

The final round (for now) ...

From the top and moving clockwise, one in coral and gray ikat for daughter Meg, fuschia and teal for younger daughter Meliss, prairie tea dyed and cochineal for Gill in the UK, orange thrifted shirt linen and cochineal for Gale in Georgia, black and white for Anna Lisa in Rhode Island, and last (how did it take me this long?), a green and madder dyed coral pin  for myself (note: the colored links lead to posts about the dyestuffs used to make them).

B-sides ...

And while I always intone "imagine peace" as I stitch, this batch had a decidedly pink/peach/coral vibe that had me hoping to be interrupted by a call from Austin. No such luck.

So. There have been 30 pins so far, but I will happily do more if anyone regrets not having put in a request at the outset. Just leave word(s) and color(s) of peace in a comment on any post in the blog, then send an email to lizackert@gmail.com with your mailing address. 

I've remedied some omissions by going back to all the posts, which are now grouped under the Index heading "Peace Pin Project" and created a photo link in the right column. I also added links to all the Kindred Spirit mentioned in the posts and addenda where those blogs have featured posts about the arrival of the peace pins ...

In Australia 

https://itscrowtime.wordpress.com/2017/03/31/manly-artists-book-award-2017

New Mexico

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2017/03/kindred-spirit.html

Massachusetts

https://deemallon.wordpress.com/2017/04/04/imagine-peace

England 

http://louisemaywatson.blogspot.com/2017/04/peace-pin-arrives.html

and Washington (state)

http://handstories.typepad.com/blog/2017/04/peaces-pieces.html

If I missed anyone, please let me know!

With thanks to all who have participated so far ... and those yet to come. Because  there can never be too much peace, nor can it ever be too late to imagine it.

P.S. Barry Smith, who started it all, has a wonderful post over at Rustnstuff today
http://rustnstuff.blogspot.com/2017/04/pieces-for-peace.html

Green peace pieces

Two pins in green heading out on Earth Day to Kristin in Montana and Beth in Illinois ...

Both backed in indigo on vintage linen.

Interesting to note that two thirds of the pins have been blue and/or green by request.

And a love letter to the land ...

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N.B. There are a few folks who haven't sent mailing addresses. Margery, Janet and Annalisa ... please send me an email if you're still interested (lizackert@gmail.com).

If at first you don't succeed ...

Note: I had so much to write that I divided things up into four posts, all of which should show up on your screen as you scroll down.

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I couldn't decide whether to make Saskia's peace pin in blue and green to match her beautiful, watery pictures of the Netherlands, or to go with earthy natural dyes from the Texas Hill Country. So I did both ...

The first from a thrifted green linen shirt, the second a windfall lichen dyed linen napkin. They were backed with indigo shibori cotton and thimble flower dyed muslin respectively ...

And then, because we're still waiting on our granddaughter's appearance, we headed out to Gruene Hall to hear the Mystiqueros. Knowing Saskia heard them play in the Netherlands a few years ago, I decided to wear one of the pins.

As we walked over to the hall, Don said, "Doesn't Bart de Win usually come around this time of year?"

"Now that would be cool," I replied.

And sure enough, as we entered ...

there he was ...

Even though they didn't play It's Only Rain, we did get to hear Rain All Night ...

Then Bill Small turned over his usual bass, and picked up a six-string ...

while Mark Nelson, who often paints during Gruene Hall shows, worked away ...

Bill was absolutely shredding it ...

which was when I realized ...

that he was Mark's subject ...

Now, for this synchronicity to make sense, you have to know that I watched Mark paint Bill once before, but was too timid to ask about buying the painting. This time, however, I took a look when Mark walked away during the set break and decided to work up a little courage ...

Then I went over to Bart de Win and showed him this post written by Saskia two and a half years ago 

http://www.saskiavanherwaarden.com/2014/10/westerly-wind.html ...

"That's my living room!" he exclaimed. After which I told him about the connection between his house concert in the Netherlands and my Texas Hill Country blog

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2014_10_22_archive.html ...

By the end of the evening, we purchased Mark's painting of Bill and headed home with Saskia's peace pin well-embued with Mystiquero magic ...

But still no granddaughter. Next up: we're gonna try house guests from Virginia. Maybe that  will do the trick!

Road trip!

We're trying our best to encourage our soon-to-be-born granddaughter to arrive sooner rather than later. Since having a party for a 20-some people on Easter didn't do the trick, our next gambit was a 170 mile road trip. The draw was an Indivisible rally in Kerville focused on environmental issues as our member of Congress is (ironically) the chair of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, but currently hell-bent on dismantling the EPA. The rally featured several speakers ...

and a roadside sign-along ...

after which we headed home at 75 mph, as I tried to take pictures of wildflowers ..

And for those of you who think Texas is flat and dusty ...

there is a reason we call it the Hill Country ...

I confess, we did stop along the way to pick up a souvenir ...

What's that to the right, you ask? My hastily wrought rally sign ...

which may see a little more action this coming weekend, unless our granddaughter decides to (finally) make her appearance.

3 + 1 = 4

Addendum: Link to peace pin arrival here ...
http://louisemaywatson.blogspot.com/2017/04/peace-pin-arrives.html

More pins sailed away to Nancy in California, Judy in Pennsylvania, and Cynthia in Vermont ...

plus one that got away unphotographed to Louise in England because I was so excited about the moon stamp that I put the pin in the envelope and sealed it before realizing the omission.

Easter revisited

We experienced our St Louis family's Easter from afar ...

but consoled ourselves by having our Austin daughter visit with her family ...

and a few friends ...

15 adults and 7 children in all (one at 9 months old was too young to pose) ...

and definitely too young to draw ...

or hunt Easter eggs with the big kids ...

There are three more babies expected to arrive before next Easter, at which time G ...

will be able to help his little sister find eggs and bunny tracks ...