Quill Sizes

Here's a close up with a ruler for a better evaluation of the quill sizes. The bulk of the quills are 1.5 to 2.0 inches in length, with a good chunk of longer fatter quills thrown into the mix, it's going to be a LOT of fun seperating these - NOT. I actually like the long thin ones that are more hair like, they are fun to play with.

What I notice about the quill color, and I'm getting much better at dyeing them, is many of them look blotchy, but when you put them together as a group they blend in and the blotchiness disappears altogether. Very interesting to say the least.

I'm using an alum premordant, I clean them with hot water and soap, lemon joy. I may need to use Dawn instead, the blotchiness may because I'm not getting enough dirt off of teh quill surface. I'm starting to think it's a lot like dyeing wool, the quills can handle more than you think, but there's a magical threshold between beauty and mush in a pot. I haven't been willing to push it too far to see what that threshold is, I've heard stories though, as the quills were expensive and the place I was getting them from went out of business.