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 ...

Wascally wabbit

Getting ready for an Easter gathering.

Picking mealy blue sage and grasses for the tables ...

Dyeing blown eggs in a vinegar/water steam bath with an old silk scarf (red), mealy blue sage (green-ish egg on the right), red cabbage (blue-ish egg to the left) and lots of onion skins (rich browns) ...

Our porch garden (mostly) defanged ...

with the very spiny chollas replaced by less hazardous succulents ...

and the converted chaise planted with a second crop of herbs and lettuces ...

One of Don's woodplay efforts landed in a planter ...

Speaking of Don ...

I'm thinking our guests tomorrow will be delighted ...

Gathering momentum

More pins are heading out into the world.

One for Dana in Washington who spoke of cerulean blue skies, and also wrought this study in blue for Dee Mallon's Hearts for Charleston

https://deemallon.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/hearts-for-charleston-dana/

The second for Joyce in Virginia, who loves green and natural dye colors. I confess I thought back to our former home in the Virginia Tidewater as I stitched hers ...

And a third for Jude, who lives on Long Island where I grew up 50 years ago. It was stitched on vintage linen from one of my mom's tablecloths, dyed with windfall lichen from the Texas Hill Country, and backed with more tablecloth linen dyed with indigo ...

I'm sending it with a notecard picked up in Santa Fe, New Mexico after seeing Gustave Baumann's 1920s woodcuts in a museum ...

And as I was thinking back 50 years to growing up on Long Island, this quote seemed timely ...

Although I confess to still feeling this way more often than not (with deep regret that the distinctive voice of Amy Krouse Rosenthal, author of the delightful children's book Little Pea, is now gone from the world).

Wouldn't you think?

Addendum: Link to peace pin arrival here ...

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

It seems like I've made enough of the peace pins that I should be able to stitch them free-hand. Or at least with minimal hand-lettering.

So as I worked on a pin for Hazel, I decided to use a white marking pen to give just a hint of line on madder dyed linen ...

with blue and green to go along with her recent posts ...

http://handstories.typepad.com/blog/2017/04/in-search-of-enchantment.html

Except, as is often the case, what's in my mind doesn't always translate smoothly onto cloth ...

Fortunately, I have one of Hazel's boats close at hand for encouragement so the third time was the charm ...

backed with a bit of indigo shibori ...

and now ready to sail away.

The best laid plans

Fiona Dempster posted recently about how she plans ...

http://paperponderings.blogspot.com/2017/04/planning-and-preparations.html

As always, I loved seeing the process. And if you've been with me a while, you know that Fiona's process has been inspirational in the past ...

http://paperponderings.blogspot.com/2015/04/poppy-progression.html

Her use of upper case lettering within undulating lines fascinated me, ultimately leading to my own work on Hearts for Charleston ...

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/hearts-for-charleston-one-step-closer.html

Which is all by way of saying how I came to try replicating that technique whilst making a peace pin for Fiona ...

But in the end, it just didn't feel right ...

So when this beautiful piece of Poppies arrived, I found myself going in a different direction ...

Soft gray linen with a variegated floss called "soot" ...

 that reminded me of Fiona's letterpress post ...

http://paperponderings.blogspot.com/2016/08/piles-of-peace_28.html

Backed with madder ... all part of a call and response ...

where the plan evolved into something better.

Waiting

The question every mother at 37 weeks and holding asks: "Are we there yet?"

I did manage to eke a pillow out of my unsuccessful crib quilt adventure ...

It too is now waiting for the arrival of G's baby sister ...

Soon, but never soon enough.

Springtime joys

Life has been busy what with trips to Austin and getting the yard ready for an Easter gathering.

Peace pins are always on my to do list, but when we're visiting G it's hard to find the time to do focused work. So I gathered up more shirt plackets to work on a cloth I started earlier this year ...

I figured it would be the perfect project for G's "rest" time, when he usually falls asleep watching me stitch ...

except I didn't anticipate this complication ...

Oh well.

In addition to weeding and rock hauling, I took some time for a couple of picture walks. 

These nerve rays are a favorite, with their boxy, 4-sided buds ...

that open into a spectacular composite flower ...

I still don't know the name for this tiny white wildflower, but it's everywhere right now ...

as is the antelope horn milkweed ...

this one sprawled out in a heart shape, just waiting for the Monarchs to come ...

Our floodplain has been scoured down to the bedrock in places ...

but when flooding water encounters an obstacle like this poverty weed ...

seeds drop out of suspension and establish new bluebonnet beds ...

Now we mimic nature and create our own water brakes (breaks?) to preserve trails ...

and keep the driveway from washing out ...

which in turn creates safe haven for grasses like this little blue stem ...

And if the water is rough on the floodplain, the lace cactus just hang tough ...

I do love cactus blooms, like this horse crippler ...

which are gone in a day ...

Likewise the prairie nymphs ...

Fortunately, the dewberry flowers leave good things in their wake ...

This one's almost ready ...

My fingers fairly itched to pick it!

And here's what's coming next: Mexican hats, aka thimble flowers ...

Aptly named, wouldn't you say?