How time flies

The sock puppets were a wonderful diversion, if not exactly as I had imagined they might be ...

Boys will be boys ...

And if the weather wasn't as sunny as usual, still there is nothing better than a walk on the beach ...

Unless maybe it's a bonfire with s'mores ...

or a trip to the aquarium ...

or a dip in the pool ...

or making cookie dough (with some baked cookie dough for those who prefer such things) ...

There was even some stitching on a family sampler long in the making, now nearing its end ...

All our grandchildren together for one last picture ...

until next year.

Whimsy

Last year I decided to make sock puppets at the beach with the grandkids, after which they could put on "shows."

Logan (then 12) helped me shop for supplies: feathers, colorful foam shapes, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, glue dots, and socks (some gently used).

Unfortunately, the boys were only 3-going-on-4 years old ... too young to visualize how to put puppets together, let alone put on "shows." So this year, I decided to make the puppets myself ...

then see where G and J's 4-going-on-5 imaginations might take them.  And I don't doubt that 2-going-on-3 Jace will get in on the action, too.

Even if the whole idea goes nowhere, I must say I had a lot of fun making sea gulls ...

pelicans ...

jellyfish, rainbow sharks ...

sea horses, coquina clams ...

turtles, blue crabs ...

and whales ...

However, with any luck, there will be pictures of the puppets in action to share next week. We'll see.

A functional work in progress

I put myself on deadline so I could finish this in time to show my teenaged granddaughter when we go to the beach. Happily, the placket cloth is now usable as a shoulder bag ...

even though there are minor details to be attended to, such as substituting proper sized D-rings for the top knot (the ones I got are too wide) and managing the fringes so they don't go any farther (although I don't think that would be the end of the world, actually) ...

Overall, I'm quite pleased ...

The interior pockets are just the right size for my wallet and phone ...

while the very deep back pocket will serve well for odds and ends that get used less often ...

Best of all, I can still add stitching on the go ...

which is sure to get me some side-long looks at the airport next week!

Imagine ending

Three more pins are heading out to Janet in Washington, Bridget in Florida, and Louise in Canada ...

and as I stitched the last one ...

I found myself intoning, "Imagine ending."

And I do think it's time, for now, to close the Peace Pin Project. 46 pins have gone to 40 individuals (myself belatedly included) ...

from Australia and New Zealand to England and the Netherlands. As far north as Canada and as far south as Hawaii. From Washington and California on the west coast of the U.S. to New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida on the east coast. Not to mention the Midwest states of Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, the mountain states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Montana, and the Lone Star state of Texas (although I prefer to claim the tiny island of blue that is Austin).

Take heart, as I don't see this as a permanent ending, more like a hiatus. It has been too cool getting shout outs like this one at Kaizen Journey

http://kaizenjourney.blogspot.com/2017/05/thanks-liz.html

...

not to mention all the real mail that has graced our snail mail box. But still.

There are other projects that call to be completed: the flowers for Little P's room ...

and the placket cloth bag in progress ...

Others are waiting in the wings, such as a new Land of Flood and Drought cloth for 2011 ...

and The Land as the Crow Flies ...

which I muse on as I work daily NYT crosswords ...

cloth strips already torn from thrifted linen shirts, waiting to be woven ...

And so it goes ...