I’ve been thinking the whole day about all the women in the past who used plants and minerals to dye their clothing and household linens. They must have had big cauldrons going and known how much to use and how long to boil it and whether it was best to do in Spring or Fall. And I was thinking about all the daughters who learned all this from their moms and how excited they probably were to know that their mothers were dyeing cloth for all their special occasions.

I reboiled the quince flowers (lower right) and the branches (big one in the back) with fresh water today while I was doing the taxes. When I went to peak in the kitchen how they were doing I spied the yellow daffodils left over from Easter and I threw them in another pot and got that pretty yellow on the left. I strained it all and mixed the new stuff with the old stuff from this morning. I am so happy I can definitely see the difference in the colors now. I will keep the dye in the fridge tonight and try to get the mordant soaks going. Please keep the suggestions coming I have never gotten this far with natural dyes before and probably wouldn’t have without hearing from you.

I found this old rusty saw blade when Peter tore down the old shed and I’ve been saving it for something but i wasn’t sure until now what that something was. I hope there is enough rust on it to make a nice iron mordant. I think it will also make a nice rusty print one day.I finished the taxes and mailed them off. 2011 is officially over and I think 2012 is going to be a great year.

xoxo, Marjorie