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wednesday which was work away monday

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late yesterday,  i put some twigs of Russian Sage,  3 I Ching  coins,  a small rectangle of copper and some wisps of steel wool on this cloth.  then…i tied it.  bundled it.  Didn't stuff it because there was nothing to stuff it into…just water in the copper pot.   Heated it on the stove for about 15 min and then took it Out Side.   When i got back today it looked a little different so i unbundled  knowing it was too soon…wasn't much hot today.

 

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i like the color a lot.  A vague greybluesagegreen  vague,  depending on what other things it's near and then some marks.   What i don't know is how much any of this response had to do with the Russian Sage.  Maybe just the copper pot and steel wool?  See….i am not a dyer.  I never know.  And also i don't know if any of this is fugitive.  I'll let it hang on the cloth line in SUN for some days…

 

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Russian Sage,  just beginning to bloom.  There are bees.

 

Peggy,  of  Woman With Wings  has a Post yesterday that i love.   She is telling her seeds….

I will take Care of you

i loved this.  She's in Colorado.  Just the state north of me.  Where my son lives.   I think of her there this evening,  as i am giving water,  think of her there,  whispering to her seeds

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14 responses to “wednesday which was work away monday”

  1. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Fine subtle colored cloth with good markings and the color should hold. Since I’ve never used Russian sage I can’t say whether or not it is fugitive. Steel wool and copper markings hold their color; I have cloths that were made using both from 6 yrs ago and they have not faded but I don’t often let my cloths dry in the sun and none of the cloths that are hung on my walls face sunny windows except for a little one in the kitchen. The kitchen cloth is dyed with walnut, some bits of madder from when I lived in TN, a few bits of acorn dyed cloth and some strips of Chinese pistache; seems to be holding color just fine. .
    Today, I took a cloth and pulled strands of steel wool all over and added a splash of vinegar to activate the rust color…and boy did it activate ! in about 30 min, deep rusty bits of color appeared all around the edges. Some say that you shouldn’t use rust, that it eats away at cloth but again, I have not found that to be the case in the 6 yrs that I have worked with rusty bits. I had done a little pruning of the juniper tams in the front yard and of course, the clippings went into this cloth as well as some spent yellow Spanish broom blossoms that had fallen on the gravel and the dirt. I bundled it all and I have to say that it was a chore because I didn’t chop up the juniper, love the long spiky stemy pieces and put it in one of my large glass jars to sit in the sun…
    All was going well until this evening when the drama of weather here in New Mexico made an appearance. Rich and I sat out after dinner watching the changing sky over the Jemez Mtns, deep purplel, blue gray skies and electrick lighting jagged designs in the distance accompanied by thunder. Within five minutes, the wind picked up, the clouds seem to be racing towards us (winds were said to be 50mph when I checked) and the sky exploded with heard rain and pea sized hail. I had placed some of my dye jars on my little outdoor table and managed to move them toward the back against the wall before going inside the house. Sure enough, I had jsut closed the sliding glass kitchen door when we hear a shattering sound and the jar holding my rusty juniper and Spanish broom flew off the table and broke into a gazillion glass pieces…it was raining and hailing so hard that I couldn’t go out and the bundle lay in puddles of rainwater and rain continued to beat down on it for a good 20 min. Finally it let up enough so I could rescue it and put it into another jar and I swept up the glass…this will probably turn out to be a spectacular cloth!

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  2. Michelle in NYC Avatar
    Michelle in NYC

    Hey ho Grace–I’m back and loving the Russian sage! Had a lot of it in the church garden…the aroma and those flowers in every bracket! What a plant! Meanwhile … Have no idea how or when I will catch up on all my favorite people but … being back in the ‘now’ of your little corner sure makes me happy. Here’s all I can manage for a post with more to come: http://mscomfortzone.blogspot.com/2016/06/returned-but.html

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  3. Michelle in NYC Avatar
    Michelle in NYC

    This is a serious “WOW” moment Marti.

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  4. Liz A Avatar
    Liz A

    We have mealy blue sage, which looks very much like your Russian sage. The flower heads always look so promising, but unfortunately the little bit of color that I have coaxed from them has been fugitive (love that dyeing term). The only sage that I have had any luck with is the very dark purple Salvia amistad, which is a cultivar, not a native.

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  5. Mo Crow Avatar
    Mo Crow

    ah just googled Russian Sage as it didn’t look quite like a Salvia, it’s Perovskia atriplicifolia
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perovskia_atriplicifolia
    I do love how Latin names save confusion

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  6. Martine Bos Avatar
    Martine Bos

    Oh Grace…………….you’r sad.
    Your colour was fugitive you said, as is life. It doesnt matter, we cannot change it…..

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  7. sue Avatar
    sue

    beautiful piece of cloth. i’ve never seen russian sage before.. it’s a very pretty plant.

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  8. Liz A Avatar
    Liz A

    And the wiki article says this is a dye plant … great stuff!!!

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  9. grace Avatar
    grace

    it’s beauty FULL how this making is just an integral
    part of the day, all of it…

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  10. grace Avatar
    grace

    yes. you are back now. i like that, when you are back home.

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  11. grace Avatar
    grace

    it’s a wonder Full word, isn’t it. I am very caught up
    in it right now

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  12. grace Avatar
    grace

    to Liz and Mo, together,
    funny…i didn’t read the wiki info about being a dye…..
    so thanks Mo for linking and thanks Liz for Reading and
    mentioning it….!!!!

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  13. grace Avatar
    grace

    by now you have seen how much i love your words here

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  14. grace Avatar
    grace

    it is and really, it asks for almost nothing at all. It’s
    on the end of one of the raised beds and gets a little
    water from when i water the food plants but not much because
    i water each of them individually. It’s always just taken
    care of itself. I’ve noticed it most because of the Bees.
    Do know it spreads by root runner. I will encourage this now.

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