windthread

recent posts

about

elderberry

 

001

002

Mexican Elderberry leaves….the summer after the hard winter.  and all is well

these pics are particularly for Helen Lee/Buzz and Drucilla who might use their Elderberry for their Diaries cloths?

the light here has such a mind of it's own…

all cloths are the same original larger piece, torn.  muslin.  just wetted and pushed into pots of Elderberry leaves,  local water to the top.   steeped in the desert sun one week, some evaporation.

on the left a green that doesn't jump out here, but is green nonetheless, and always consistent from a copper pot.

middle, in the aluminum pot.

right from the rusted cast iron pot  ……..  which in the first few days was a dusky pale violet color.  maybe i'll take it out at that point with the next batch that i'll start tomorrow?

 
 

Posted in

67 responses to “elderberry”

  1. jude Avatar
    jude

    wow these are stunning…

    Like

    Reply
  2. Carine Avatar
    Carine

    yes indeed Grace, gorgeous! are you planning clothing with them?

    Like

    Reply
  3. Kristin McNamara Freeman Avatar
    Kristin McNamara Freeman

    Oh Grace these are so wonderfully done! And I appreciate seeing all the growth in your yard since last I saw a picture, maybe three years ago! As I was sorting books to keep in my move I kept putting the dye books on a shelf together…there is a good collection…and I thought, hmmm, Nance said she was going to do more dying of cloth, Jude dyes, Deb Lacativa dyes, so many folks who do hand work dye….Is that part of the plan for my future that is developing, emerging? Seeing theses fabulous results pushes my desires into that world of the fabric dyer. Thank you for sharing these magnificent pieces of cloth….and for the little shove.

    Like

    Reply
  4. cindy Avatar
    cindy

    look at those! and here you are, and there you are on spiritcloth! wonderful! pots and plants.

    Like

    Reply
  5. Catherine Bainbridge Avatar
    Catherine Bainbridge

    Just GORGEOUS!!!

    Like

    Reply
  6. Tammy Avatar
    Tammy

    Well Grace these are just beautiful!!! I know there are elderberries somewhere growing in the wild .. now just to find them. And I love all the different pots you’ve used.

    Like

    Reply
  7. libby Avatar
    libby

    i didn’t know (hadn’t really thought about) different pots could produce such different results.
    every piece is so beautiful~!!~
    🙂
    libbyQ

    Like

    Reply
  8. glennis Avatar
    glennis

    that cloth looks like it grew up in that garden.

    Like

    Reply
  9. jenni-lynn Avatar
    jenni-lynn

    Ahhh…so amazing and beautiful. I’m inspired AGAIN!

    Like

    Reply
  10. Michelle in NYC Avatar
    Michelle in NYC

    Gasp.
    The landscape…..oh, to have a clothesline in the open air! Abd fresh died cloth hanging for the breeze…and a breeze! Yes and yes again

    Like

    Reply
  11. Michelle in NYC Avatar
    Michelle in NYC

    dyed cloth….not dead – and, not abd

    Like

    Reply
  12. Michelle in NYC Avatar
    Michelle in NYC

    Feathers in the mail……absolutely lovely. My thoughts have turned that feathered way, and cloth thoughts have emerged from long closed closets too – see tomorrows post at my blog. I feel the influence boiling in my psyche. I am being colored by the dye of the stitching philosopher art-craft folk. New words are merging into my vocabulary.

    Like

    Reply
  13. lyn lewis Avatar
    lyn lewis

    Just fabulous!No mordant with them then?

    Like

    Reply
  14. Els Avatar
    Els

    These are great Grace! I’m quite surprised that you took the leaves (and not the berries ….?)

    Like

    Reply
  15. Gilli Avatar
    Gilli

    Beautiful work Grace.

    Like

    Reply
  16. deanna7trees Avatar
    deanna7trees

    beautiful markings on your cloths. i keep looking at the thrift store for a cast iron pot. haven’t had much luck yet.

    Like

    Reply
  17. jennlui Avatar
    jennlui

    oh wow! grace these are beautiful! and i just love your outside space 🙂
    xox

    Like

    Reply
  18. Drucilla Pettibone Avatar
    Drucilla Pettibone

    grace, these just take my breath away. i’d be so grateful for a scrap and it would be a centerpiece in my elder cloth. i can’t imagine getting such gorgeous results myself, although i’m determined now to find a bush!

    Like

    Reply
  19. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    Hi Grace! I’m growing a traditional English elderberry tree in a pot – for flowers & fruit. Is the Mexican one related do you know? If I get berries this year I’ll have to try a bit of dyeing as these cloths are beautiful and I am enthused!

    Like

    Reply
  20. Deb G Avatar
    Deb G

    Turned out beautiful…

    Like

    Reply
  21. Linda Avatar
    Linda

    have to have my say too
    lovely cloth, pushing me over the edge to try it.
    so excited you made it onto the mother ship..
    live is good

    Like

    Reply
  22. judy martin Avatar
    judy martin

    I am so interested in your process. You used the leaves, not the berries. You used different pots and gots such different results…all amazing.
    I had given up on natural dyeing, but your post makes me smile and be reinspired. Thank you.

    Like

    Reply
  23. Sally Jo Avatar
    Sally Jo

    grace, just amazing. i’ll come back to see the answers to some of the questions. i hadn’t noticed the garden – only the cloths; then when people mentioned your garden, i looked at the sun flowers looking at us and then, i noticed a boulder????? on the chair? you must have high winds there or maybe you can tell us. your fabric efforts art just wonderful – i really admire your efforts.

    Like

    Reply
  24. Penny B Avatar
    Penny B

    Oh, yummy, Grace! Well done. They will be fun to stitch. And what a lovely garden to snuggle down in and make a few stitches.

    Like

    Reply
  25. lynda howells Avatar
    lynda howells

    fanastic and as penny has said..will be fun to stitchxx enjoyxx thanks for sharing.xxlynda

    Like

    Reply
  26. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    yes…i am always surprised, each and every time.

    Like

    Reply
  27. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Carine…well…hmmm. no, not really. i wear the same
    same same all the time anymore. denim. denim jumpers
    in warm weather and then levis and hoodie sweat shirts in
    cold weather. i no longer have much interest in style.
    BUT!!!
    AND, i wasn’t going to do it…BUT, there is India’s new
    book. and now it’s on it’s way to me… and i think that
    i have “daughters”, the original and the granddaughter.
    they are of the time of adorning themselves….so….
    who knows?????????????????????

    Like

    Reply
  28. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Kristin…i think that it goes hand in hand to one degree
    or another. and i do know that you grow things and also
    will be in a whole new world now, with many new plant
    beings to explore….
    it just makes sense.
    i still will rely on those who focus on this, but here and there, it just seems right to somehow mark my place within my world.
    and funny…your mention of the growth in the yard…
    it is a mere shadow of itself this year. almost nothing,
    really, in comparison to what it had become. we, the yard
    world and me, just watch this. not formulating any solid
    thought. just observing.
    love to you

    Like

    Reply
  29. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    dear empty pots. that’s where the indigo WAS.

    Like

    Reply
  30. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    HEY! Catherine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hoo hoo!!!!!!

    Like

    Reply
  31. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    the pots were an effort new to me this year. i’ll write
    more about that later. i don’t know what to think at
    this point.

    Like

    Reply
  32. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    eeeee, you mean the dyeing pots!!!!……….i was thinking about the growing pots. yes, the dyeing pots.
    see next to Libby

    Like

    Reply
  33. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Libby…yes. very different. but i am also thinking a
    LOT about how the water here interacts with the pots…
    iron, aluminum, copper
    the water here is from up and over to the west…
    springs up there on the rim it’s not maybe the very
    best, as in just plain spring water?????
    am getting very interested in this. will go talk to
    our water co-op for a run down on contents………..

    Like

    Reply
  34. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    yes…things repeat themselves here, replicate

    Like

    Reply
  35. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    then……..GO!

    Like

    Reply
  36. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    mICHELLE, this is the little cloth line. there is a
    big clothes line, 4 lines worth out back where the clothes
    wave like great prayer flags in the Wind.
    i COULD not live without a clothes line. COULD NOT.

    Like

    Reply
  37. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    i see. new words, vocabulary turning like a tendril.

    Like

    Reply
  38. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Lyn…no…and i don’t know what to make of that. that’s what’s got me thinking about our water here. also, i leave them in the SUN for days. does that do something?
    then, when i take them out, i don’t rinse them right away, but hang them as they came out of the pots for a day or two. it’s 100 degrees plus here lately. that has to have some great effect??????????????????

    Like

    Reply
  39. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Els…the berries have their year of beingness. 2 years ago there was an ABUNDANCE…so so so many, the branches
    bent with their weight. but last year and this, not. this year so few.
    the deepest purpose of me here is to learn my place in the eco system that occurs. and about the elderberries, there are two birds that vie for nesting rights each year.
    Thrasher and the Mockingbird. if it is a fortuitous year, sometimes both will nest in the Russian Olive in the other part of this land. but if not, they compete for
    territory in the spring. both feed their offspring heavily with the elderberries. so..years like this that
    are dry and also follow a very hard winter, i would not
    take any of the berries for my own use.
    i look so forward tho to a different season. i think the berries will make beautiful cloth………..

    Like

    Reply
  40. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    it’s the leaves, the Sun.
    Hi Gilli, xoxo

    Like

    Reply
  41. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    the markings are a mystery, really. some kind of
    oxidation i think??????????????

    Like

    Reply
  42. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    the outside…..yes. it will be hard to leave it when the time comes

    Like

    Reply
  43. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Dru…..i would be honored to honor your beautiful
    Elderberry being.

    Like

    Reply
  44. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Elizabeth…i don’t know….about varieties…am trying to
    do some research. and again, these cloths are from
    dyeing with the leaves.
    i trim the “suckers” off the base of the tree and use
    them.
    i will keep in touch about what i find.
    i love so much coming to your world in Ballarat.
    just like it is a quiet island to me…
    love,

    Like

    Reply
  45. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    again, leaves and Sun

    Like

    Reply
  46. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    i think it’s just a natural response…leaves in a pot

    Like

    Reply
  47. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Judy..above in the response to Els, i think?, the why
    of leaves not berries. i want to try berries when it seems
    fair. and it’s really chemistry. although it feels
    so like alchemy. it’s the make up of the pot.
    as India points out aluminum~alum etc.
    I am so glad to make you smile. You are such a HEROINE
    of mine.

    Like

    Reply
  48. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    sally jo…i forget why that rock ended up sitting on the
    chair…but…there’s been no reason to move it.
    and yes, HIGH WINDS, but that’s not the reason.
    and efforts…there really is no effort at all. i need
    to trim those suckers and snipping off the leaves takes
    one minute, filling the pot with water, one more and
    then smushing in the cloth………

    Like

    Reply
  49. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    well, lovely it is NOT this year, but it hung in there.
    as did i.

    Like

    Reply
  50. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    lynda…thank you for coming here.

    Like

    Reply
  51. Deb G Avatar
    Deb G

    I need to get more leaves from my mother, the sun, well that might be hard to come by. More rain coming…

    Like

    Reply
  52. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Deb….well…that’s the recipe here. and SUN is the
    active force in the process. i don’t use the house
    stove at all. i guess i am too cheap, for one, to use
    propane for dyeing. but then also, since i am winging it,
    there is the thing of stuff cooking in a small place, tho
    well ventilated…..????????
    i was planning to use the outdoor wood stove for this but
    with temps of 100, that became less appealing
    so, i think this is good. natural dyeing takes place in
    all kinds of different settings. they differ enormously.
    results most likely will too???????????
    i remember, i think HelenL/Buzz saying something about
    mold?
    well…this would never happen here.
    but i DO get a kind of rot? in the pot?

    Like

    Reply
  53. Deb G Avatar
    Deb G

    Hmm…these were my results last year. I didn’t use any heat, but I don’t remember what the weather was like, it wasn’t that much warmer than this year.
    http://beecreative.typepad.com/bee_creative/2010/07/dye-pot-elderberry-and-bronze-fennel.html

    Like

    Reply
  54. Susan Avatar
    Susan

    whoa! such striking results – very beautiful. I am inspired to try!
    and I love your garden

    Like

    Reply
  55. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Susan…thank you and i just looked at your latest post…
    whoa….just stunning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! am on my way back there right now……..
    xoxoxo

    Like

    Reply
  56. Drucilla Pettibone Avatar
    Drucilla Pettibone

    the pots are the mordant! copper, alum, iron. it’s brilliant!

    Like

    Reply
  57. Drucilla Pettibone Avatar
    Drucilla Pettibone

    shall i email you my addy? what’s your email? i’m wondering what i can send you too…

    Like

    Reply
  58. Shishi Avatar
    Shishi

    Ahhh, Grace…these 3 are amazing! Love everything about them.

    Like

    Reply
  59. Peggy Avatar
    Peggy

    Grace! A lot of comments already but I wanted to tell you your elder (maiden/mother/crone?) cloth is gorgeous! I’ve got an extra cauldron and will begin a batch with elder leaves tomorrow, am soaking it in milk overnight–what the hey–just felt like it, have no idea if it’ll have an effect. I feel sort of sad that you’re leaving your beautiful land–but I know there’s more beauty awaiting you. Thank you!

    Like

    Reply
  60. Tammy Avatar
    Tammy

    Yes .. i have been away for a day helping out friends and when I read above ….”I don’t know what to think….” I’m wondering hmmmmmmm… then you said eeee… the dyeing pots… yes .. sorry I didnt make myself more clear haha… And I am the same about the water here .. i have well water but its filled with sediment and if you leave it sit in a jar it leaves a red film, not sure if its just red dirt or iron.. but it is definately red and stains the tub .. I am interested in these things too!!

    Like

    Reply
  61. Tammy Avatar
    Tammy

    I am using the Sun too Grace .. it is so hot in my kitchen I can’t/wont heat it up any more with heating up a pot on the stove.. maybe I will show some of my pots brewing today… have to find my camera which somehow I have misplaced!!! AAACCCckkkk!!!

    Like

    Reply
  62. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Like

    Reply
  63. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    also, since i am just guessing, and since India mentions
    the leaves and wood being toxic……i don’t want to
    have those pots cooking inside

    Like

    Reply
  64. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    it is, isn’t it.

    Like

    Reply
  65. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    i do too. leaves. it’s pretty astounding.

    Like

    Reply
  66. grace Forrest~Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest~Maestas

    Peggy…milk…….huh!. well, intuition is the mother
    of so much…i’ll check in on this.
    Leaving…well, things are settling in. She is THERE.
    She is creating her own world. things are feeling
    different than we could or would have imagined before her
    getting there, so it’s all kind of hovering now. has
    EXPANDED and who knows. i feel very very good about trusting the process now tho………no sad.

    Like

    Reply
  67. nance Avatar
    nance

    grace…catching up …have to comment on these… so beautiful. and the skirt… you did shorten it, i see. i was going to offer. and happy birthday to your mom. firsts are… hmmm… a time of remembering.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to cindy Cancel reply