Porcy quillwork naturally dyed quills, home tanned brain tan

[walkswithnomoccasins]

One of my new techniques I have been learning is porcupine quillwork. although i started off using commercial Porcy quills i soon decided to start dying them myself but i didnt want to go down the RIT dye route.
So instead I started researching natural dyes that would have been used. Either native dye plants of imported dye stuff from Europe, India and South America. For this quillwork bag i have dyed the quills with cochineal and rhubarb root. It takes a lot of time (and sore fingers) to sort and wash the quills but i have found the extra time invested dying the quills myself leads to a much better material.

 

[John Fenna]

Very nice!
I have some South African quills ... I may try this!

 

[walkswithnomoccasins]

Thanks John. I use the american porcupine quills which are quite a bit smaller and thinner than the African Porcupine. The Quills I used for the zigzag work (yellow and red) were about the thickness of a cocktail stick. The thicker quills tend to be much harder to manipulate when you are working them.

 

[John Fenna]

Thanks John. I use the american porcupine quills which are quite a bit smaller and thinner than the African Porcupine. The Quills I used for the zigzag work (yellow and red) were about the thickness of a cocktail stick. The thicker quills tend to be much harder to manipulate when you are working them.

Ah - maybe a rethink then! - mine are almost pencil thick!