Blog entry
August 2020
The outside world is very strange and it's not so dependable right now. Routines have been obliterated, and the ordinary has been lost. In our city of Chicago, each day contains unwelcome surprises.
The backyard world of the garden is true and dependable. There are always changes, mostly gradual and sensible. Every year the garden is a little different, but always a delight.
These Japanese morning glories have just begun blooming. Since the days have been so hot here, the flowers don't last very long. They sort of melt in the hot morning sunshine.
November 2
November has arrived suddenly! It's been gorgeous - chilly and fresh, and tonight there may be a little snow. I've been rushing to plant hundreds of tulip and daffodil bulbs before it gets really cold.
There's so much to be done that I can hardly begin. One thing I have gotten done is to sort through some of the giant collections of silk scraps. Above is a little of the walnut dyed vintage silk.
Scraps of indigo dyed silk
Inspiration on the ground.
Warmth and inspiration!
b
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
Suddenly it's warm! The garden is joyful and beautiful. The back-yard colors inspire natural dyeing.
These silks were dyed with walnut hulls, coreopsis flowers, weld and indigo
Crocus
Violet shades from madder, lac and indigo
King Alfred Daffodils
Greens, yellow and blues from weld, coreopsis flowers and indigo
The very brave Scilla
.jpg)
Indigo
Warm morning sky
I'm very grateful for this rare, lovely and warm Spring day.
Ice and snow
A little snow and ice fell overnight.
Yesterday I made a path through the mud with old Christmas tree branches. The birds are making their own path of footprints.
Walnut brew left outdoors
Indigo dye project left out overnight
Sweet, furry Daisy seems to like the cool on her tummy.
December Silks
December has been filled with beauty and busy-ness. Happily, I've been able to squeeze in some of my favorite projects, including the dyeing of more silk threads.
After soaking in alum
Indigo
Indigo and weld
Cochineal, madder and indigo
Baby pastels (indgo, madder, weld, walnut)
More madder and cochineal
Coreopsis flowers, weld and madder
Walnut hulls
Cochineal and madder
Walnut, cochineal and madder
.jpg)
Cochineal and snow
Walnuts
Every summer for many years, I've collected a supply of black walnuts for dyeing from a huge tree in the neighborhood.
The fruits of this tree usually ripen and fall to the ground around middle of August. This year each time I visited the tree I found barely any walnuts. The ones I did see were tiny. They gave very little color. I resigned myself to waiting another year for the beautiful browns and creams of walnut hull dye.
Elsewhere