Continuing … The International Day of Peace

September 21, 2017February 10, 2019 ~ Liz A ~ 9 Comments

The sun has risen on the Texas Hill Country, the same sun that has already risen and set over The International Day of Peace in Australia, where Fiona Dempster’s peace bell rang out …
https://paperponderings.blogspot.com/2017/09/international-day-of-peace.html

As I often do, I called my congressman this morning (which is to say I talked to his staff), leaving him best wishes on this International Day of Peace and expressing my hope that he will take actions toward securing peace in the days ahead.

My own actions will include stitching more peace pins, like the ones pictured here …

resting on the back cover of Mo’s Illustrated Lyrics of Old Man Crow

https://www.etsy.com/listing/459307256/the-illustrated-lyrics-of-old-man-crow?ref=shop_home_feat_1
before they fly away to new homes.

To which I add this further ripple of peace from Mo’s blog It’s Crow Time
https://itscrowtime.wordpress.com/2017/09/16/mending-our-beautiful-broken-world-with-love-and-peace/

As many of you know, the first peace pin flew to Barry Smith in Maleny
http://rustnstuff.blogspot.com/2017/09/imagine-peace-international-peace-day.html
seven months ago …

It was a response to his call,

“It’s time … may hope and peace prevail”

Since then, more than 50 peace pins have traveled to six countries and 19 states within the USA … sent in response to the comments left here.

Those comments are now being stitched into a peace shawl. Some are but a single word, such as this one used with permission from Dana at Raven and Sparrow

http://ravenandsparrow.typepad.com/raven_and_sparrow/2017/09/lucky-me.html

Others are phrases, such as this one used with permission from Beth at Still Life Pond

https://still-life-pond.blogspot.com/

All will eventually be worn asemically …

in hopes that their outward appearance will trigger questions that lead to conversations about peace.

I intentionally used up the last of the tannin and cochineal dyed linen from the first peace pin. Until now, I had been wanting to “save it.” Now I realize “it’s time” to let it go, so it can be a part of something bigger.

—————-

N.B. For those of you who share my love of cloth, I commend to your attention the following about tannin and cochineal:

Dana’s beautiful series of posts about the tannin-dyed chuppah she created:

http://ravenandsparrow.typepad.com/raven_and_sparrow/chuppah/

And these two articles about the preservation of cochineal dyeing practices:

http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/summer12/dye.cfm

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/science/mexico-textiles-natural-dyes.html

How long a day

September 20, 2017 ~ Liz A ~ 25 Comments

It is 9:00 am on Wednesday, September 20th in Texas, but it is tomorrow in Australia … just past midnight on September 21st, the dawning of the International Day of Peace.

I have already sent greetings to Mo, Barry and Fiona. And as I contemplate the hopes for peace that circle the globe, I also envision the ties that stretch from “sea to shining sea” here in the United States.

These two peace shawl patches have already been bound together …

One was stitched with words from Dee on the east coast,

https://deemallon.wordpress.com/2017/09/19/peace-is-a-leaf-sent-round-the-world

the other with words from Hazel on the west coast.

http://handstories.typepad.com/blog/2017/09/gifts-of-peace.html

This stitched on indigo-dyed cloth gifted by Hazel …

and in the original Peace Pin Project post, Hazel’s comment was followed by this from Dee, stitched on cloth originally dyed for the Hearts for Charleston quilt …

Call and response.

And if my camera refuses to focus today, I will blame it on the tears of frustration evoked by the reckless words uttered at the UN yesterday. Already I have called my senators pleading that they “do something, anything, to keep the president from launching a thermonuclear war.”

Only then can we turn to working on reducing global warming, enabling DACA dreamers to become full citizens, and ensuring equal access to quality healthcare for all US citizens.

We will need to use every minute of this day and the next …

What if less was more?

September 19, 2017 ~ Liz A ~ 14 Comments

I’ve been wondering for a while now if the peace pins could/should be simpler.

So I tore a strip of rusted cloth, folded it over a pin, stitched around the edges, and wrote on it …

Except that wasn’t quite what I had in mind.

Next I tried folding some indigo-dyed shibori cloth, wrote out the words, stitched through both sides, then threaded the pin through the top and stitched it in place …