One of the treasures that Margaret Johnson sent with her hopeful bundle earlier this year was the wonderful vintage Silkworm Machine Twist Thread which I used heaps of in the Hopeful Lunacy scarf & found a whole box for sale at the fabulous shop Habadash in Castlemaine, am looking forward to lots of experimenting with needle lace in 2013. You can see the beginning of a new piece called Flame Tree in the embroidery hoop that was started on the Solstice with echoes of the old Cold Chisel song of the same name after we had seen this beautiful tree on the side of the road.
it really started to come together yesterday when the wonderful cloth conjuror Grace wrote about the ragged edge, it’s the beginning of a new scarf to play around with ideas of lace and memory and nostalgia, perhaps the Winter Solstice will be on the other end…
tea stained scrim, very old cotton cloth and batik are all gifts from Margaret Johnson and inspiration is from Jude Hill and her Spirit Cloth community
Have put away the Hopeful Lunacy scarf for now but it’s always there for when I need to stitch more hope into the world
indigo and rust stained silk from Arlee Barr,
indigo dyed scrim, organza moons and silk velvet moon from Glennis Dolce Shibori Girl
inspiration in trying to make lace from scrim from Deanna’s Eclectic Meanderings and Karen Ruane’s exquisite embroidery
and the most helpful word of advice was from Jude Hill – “slow”
now it’s time to get back to the drawing board and see if I can finish the Road to Malabar before midnight…
& a few hours later here it is time to put it away and onto song no 17!
Road to Malabar illustration by Mo 2012
So long 2012!
Posted: December 30, 2012 by Mo Crow in It's Crow TimeTags: feathers, hope, Margaret Johnson, talismans, thread
Comments
It's Crow Time 
Truly beautiful Mo, I love what you’re doing…
thanks for having a look Cathy we must catch up for a gallery crawl very soon!
Mo, your Flame Tree is exquisite, as is Hopeful Lunacy. You have such a light touch, perfect for such delicate work. I can’t wait to see what you do in 2013.
Thank you Carol, look forward to lots more inspiration & good conversation with you & your Barnacle Goose
Oh – my – these are magical!!
it’s the influence of Jude Hill’s community of cloth conjurors, the magic is contagious!
Exquisite work Mo! I have been given an heirloom tablecloth with crotcheted edge made from parachute silk WW2. The corners need to be sewn together and I’m freaking out in case I get it wrong – wish I had your expertise!
what a good excuse for us to catch up, I would love to see it!
I love these Mo, and I agree absolutely about the ‘ragged edge’, I remember writing a post about it ages ago because it had finally dawned on me why I love rough edges so much, and it echoes what Grace has to say. I think it’s why I love these so much, and also Jude Hill’s gorgeous work, but traditional quilt making doesn’t appeal to me at all. Here’s the link to my old post:
http://amermaidintheattic.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/beauty-of-ragged-edge-limitless.html?m=1
your writing about the ragged edge is one of my favourite pieces Christina, you say it so well, thank you for the link and the good words!
the lunacy scarf has so much to look at; different little bits all over it.
it will be an ongoing piece for the rest of my life, there is always room for more hope in the world!
Mo…breathtaking. just surreal. just beyond breathtaking and surreal. it’s been
SOME YEAR, hasn’t it. and here we go again. i think We All might be the Luckiest
Women on the planet.
and don’t forget to bring back his car
Much Big Black Wing love to you, g
Aaaaarrrrrk! Aaaarrrrrrkkkkk! Aaaaaaarrrrrrrkkkkkkkkk! Happy New Year from the crack of dawn here in Oz
i just love that new tree you are working on. are those orange stitches on the tree or is it bits of cloth? lovely effect.
thanks for the good words Deanna, the red is tiny torn scraps of Luxador randomly x-stitched with a sturdy red upholstery thread but then it looked like a broad domed Poinciana so I ripped out most of the Luxador and stitched back in lots of tiny dots with a favourite rainbow coloured thread using all the blue bits on the lettering in Hopeful Lunacy
love your work. I wish you a happy new year and a lot of time to create. as Grace said: here we go again …. slow but imperturbable
Happy New Year Doris!
excuse me I forgot my name its
Doris
Just Beautiful Mo and so delicate. A happy, healthy and creative year to you and Rod . Marg, ox
Here’s a toast to you and Mike too & a big thank you for all the gorgeous materials! the Flame Tree wouldn’t have happened without them & love how that little scrap of Batik brought it to life. Have spent all day making a summer nightgown with the delcious assortment of laces and cloths you sent for xmas, the lace yoke made a perfect starting point & I am loving the Singer for sewing the seams, feels like deja vu or maybe i used one in a past lifetime!
i don’t know how i managed to miss the hopeful lunacy scarf! indeed, now i don’t know where to begin to express the emotion and memories and hopes that it inspires in me as i contemplate it. so many worlds. dreams. lessons. my stars!!
Gosh! Thanks for the kind words Joe, 2013 is going to be an amazingly magical year & we are so lucky to have ended up in this amazing community of cloth conjurors!
Enjoying the creative buzz in this post. Oh the feathers sewn into your Hopeful Lunacy Scarf…. and the name …. wonderfully whimsical! Happy New Year Mo!
Looking forward to many more good conversations and inspirations Robyn Happy New Year!
Love your tree, it is so delicately stitched.
thanks for the good words Mimmin Dove (I love your gentle name!)
Thank you, and I love crows! Mimmin is my daughters name for me, real name Katie 🙂
she’s a wise daughter!
Ha, she’ll like that, I’ll tell her! I found you through Grace and Jude x
this is a beautiful post and I am honoured to be mentioned in it, thank you. I also wanted to say that I love your thoughts on bringing things ‘out of the cupboard’…food for thought.
I have been given two embroidered linen hankies and a table runner in the last few years that are exquisite examples of embroidery yet have never been used and are all at least 50 years old. I want to figure out a way to both use & honour them at the same time.
Beautiful work mo, love the flame tree especially! Happy new year
Xx Bronwyn
it’s okay to visit completely out of sequence, right? landed here tonight, mid-April, 2013, and agog at your vision and witchy way with images and animals… the scarf is amazing. but then so is the tree embroidery. and the CroWs!!