Ethnobotany is one of my favorite subjects to nerd out on. A simplified definition of ethnobotany is the study of how cultures use indigenous plants for food, medicine, fiber, dye, in ceremony, etc. I find all of it utterly fascinating and my bookshelves are full of plant identification books which I can easily lose myself in for hours. This armchair ethnobotany education is how I first became fascinated by natural dyes.
My interest in natural dyes piqued about five years ago after a presentation on commercial dyes (that make exquisite bright colors, but are harsh on people and the planet) left me wondering if I could create my own fabric colors in a more friendly way. Until that point, dyeing seemed like a daunting endeavor, something I read about but hadn’t thought I could do. (A household joke is that our favorite hobby is starting new hobbies.) The reality is that dyeing your own fabrics can be as simple — or as challenging — as you make it. I lean toward simplicity in my dyes and use materials that would otherwise wind up in the compost or trash. My favorite dye materials are: onion skins, avocado pits, pomegranate rinds, carrot tops and black bean juice. I do gather some plants like rabbitbrush blossoms for dyes, but ultimately love that the majority of the colors I create come from “waste”. It is a beautiful thing to watch the alchemy of humble kitchen scraps become these beautiful hues. And when you make a quilt out of these fabrics, it is by default vegan!
I made my first naturally dyed quilt in 2017, named Compost Composition #1 (at left), using a solar dye method. Essentially I took muslin (rookie mistake, now I use cotton or hemp), shoved some dye stuffs and the fabric in mason jars, and left them out in the sun for days to cook up. This method produced very faint colors because I did not mordant (use a substance to help the dye adhere) the fabric, nor did I apply a lick of science or chemistry. This first quilt was a straight up experiment. And it mostly worked! The colors in this quilt have faded over the years and I’m okay with that as I learned a lot from the process. It is almost like a mandala made for the purpose of creation. For my second quilt in 2018, Compost Composition #2 (at right), I followed the recipes in my dye books, mordanted a PFD (prepared for dye) cotton fabric and, no surprise here, achieved much better results. I love this quilt SO much and am still damn proud of how it turned out. C.C. #1 and C.C. #2 are the first quilts I ever displayed in public at the county fair, and what an honor, each won ribbons. (Details on the source of these colors is at the end of this post.)
Over the years I have expanded my dye techniques by trying things like adding a resist pattern (think tie-dye) or steaming the fabric with the dye stuff (as opposed to making a bath that the fabric soaks in) and it is always fun to see what happens. As I am still learning, I love the surprise I get from my dyes – it’s like opening a present. When I first steamed dried rose petals in fabric and created a marbled effect, I whooped it up! Although you can be very methodical with natural dyes and produce consistent results, I have a helluva lot of fun with experimentation. However, I do keep a reference binder with swatches of fabrics, the recipe and the result. When it is time to create a quilt with these fabrics, I carry the spirit of experimentation and fun over to the design.
Heart of Gold was made for a beloved friend and fellow quilter who not only makes the most incredible double-sided (!) quilts (one this spoiled author uses daily), but also loves vegetables and legumes, and makes kickass muffins. Fun fact: the gold fabric in this quilt is made from her kitchen’s pomegranate rinds. Here I let the fabric guide my design, as opposed to putting fabric into blocks, if this makes any sense. This is another “quilt from the gut design” where the fabric and my intuition carry me along without a plan. My absolute favorite way to create is to make wonky linear blocks out of scraps although there are a few pieces where the dyes created such striking effects, I could not cut them. This is the first quilt where I have mixed hemp fabric with cotton and I dig the variation in textures. I often finish my hand dyed quilts with hand quilting and Heart of Gold is done with simple straight stitches that echo the shape of the block. All of the hand quilting created beautiful ripples that really add texture. As mentioned, this is the first time I’ve used hemp and hand quilting on it so wonderfully smooth, like buttah.
Some quilts are named quickly and other names take awhile to marinate. Heart of Gold is named after a Neil Young cover on the J.S. Ondara Tales of America album. Because this quilt’s owner has a heart of gold AND her pomegranates created the gorgeous golden fabric, it is an appropriate moniker. J.S. Ondara is a fascinating young musician from Kenya who now a resides in Minnesota (um, brrrrr) because his musical hero is Bob Dylan. This idolization is very evident in Mr. Ondara’s style, both musically and fashionably. My introduction to J.S. Ondara came courtesy of Cousin Dmitri’s Sunday blues show on WWOZ. What a fascinating life story of a young Kenyan poet moving to Minnesota, teaching himself guitar and performing at open mic nights all because he loved Bob Dylan! His songwriting is excellent and his cover of Heart of Gold is beautiful. His albums remind me of coffee shop gigs, which I say as a huge compliment because that is a very intimate way to perform. Anyhow thanks to the google, I learned the following factoids about the song Heart of Gold: (1) it was written while Neil Young was recovering from a back injury and couldn’t rock out on his electric guitar, and (2) an interesting spin here considering which musical artist’s cover inspired this quilt’s name, allegedly Dylan does not like this song as he feels it sounds too much like his work.
What I love about Heart of Gold the quilt is that even if I intentionally tried to duplicate it (Heart of Platinum?) because it is made of natural dyed fabrics, cut without a pattern and hand stitched, there can never be an exact other. I will also conclude this post with the idea that when you make a dye bath with the throwaways, you are also making a statement. What do they say: one person’s trash is another person’s treasure? Totally.
Albums listened to: J.S. Ondara Tales of America Vol. 1, Folk ‘N Roll, Vol. 1 Tales of Isolation; Alabama Shakes Sound & Color; Dr. John Television, Creole Moon; Drive-By Truckers Ugly Buildings, Whores & Politicians; The Revivalists City of Sound, Take Good Care; Dumpstaphunk Where Do We Go From Here; Leo Nocentelli Another Side; Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Live From the Ryman; Leyla McCalla The Capitalist Blues; The Cajun Country Revival The Right Combination, Greetings from Louisiana; Neil Young Harvest Moon; Hurray for the Riff Raff Small Town Heroes; Lead Belly The Definitive Lead Belly; Jon Batiste We Are.
(1) Compost Composition #1: light blue = red cabbage, bright yellow = turmeric powder, rust orange = yellow onion skins, light pinks = avocado pits, light purple = black beans whole dried, various tans = used coffee grounds, black tea, nettles, red beets.
(2) Compost Composition #2: dark purple = berries, I think blueberries with the mold scoured off, olive green = red onion skins, rust orange = yellow onion skins, light blue = black bean juice (what is left over after cooking), slightly darker light blue = black bean juice with a rusty nail, bright yellow = turmeric powder, light yellows = carrot tops, citrus peels, gold = pomegranate rinds, pink = avocado skins and pits, light tan = black tea and rusty nail, beige = french press coffee grounds.
(3) Heart of Gold: marbled purple = steamed red rose petals (dried and fresh-ish), olive green = red onion skins, rust orange = yellow onion skins, pink = avocado pits, bright yellow = turmeric powder, light yellow = carrot tops, gold = pomegranate rinds, purple = dried huckleberries on hemp, light blue = black bean juice on hemp, tan = dried rose petal bath.
Excellent books on natural dyes*: Natural Color by Sasha Duerr, Wild Color by Jenny Dean, Navajo and Hopi Dyes published by Bill Rieske, Navajo Native Dyes – Their Preparation and Use originally published in 1940 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Natural Dyes and Home Dyeing by Rita J. Adrosko. *There are many amazing resources to learn about natural dyes and the above just happen to be the books I own — but a fraction of what I’ve read. There are many resources online as well as many natural dyers who openly share their wisdom on social media. As mentioned since natural dyeing has been around since the literal start of humanity, you can also find excellent tips in botany, history and anthropology books. My point is this is an ancient craft and the resources bountiful.
Quiltunes 