Experiments in SolarFast printing - part 2

 I was working in the garden, weeding and spreading mulch, when I spotted an interloper in the arborvitae hedge. A white mulberry tree sapling had grown surreptitiously in the midst of it for some time before making a break for better sunlight at the top. I have a fondness for these non-native trees; they are connected to the colonial silk trade efforts here, they are colonizers of disturbed ground, and the berries are delicious. However, this one fit the definition of a weed as a plant out of place, so I got the lopers and brought it down.

 Another thing I enjoy about white mulberries is that the leaves come in three shapes, all mixed on the same branches. There's a plain oval, a mitten, and a double mitten shape, all with lightly serrated edges. I am so delighted by this arrangement I made a White Mulberry quilt years ago that I am still quite proud of. So I seized this opportunity to make some more SolarFast prints. (See previous post here.)

 These are all on cotton sateen, which I knew would give sharper definition than the silk noil. For this batch I mixed the colors I had on hand in a improvisational fashion, or you could call it willy-nilly.

 I covered them with glass and put them out in the bright June sunshine. I meant to leave them just a bit longer than the recommended 10-20 minute exposure. But then there was a lot of drama with two cats and an vole, and I took some time to watch a catbird picking and eating my golden raspberries, and then I found a gorgeous garter snake in the vegetable garden, and then there was a little black spider clutching her egg case who had to be relocated. So, with all of that and other various small joys, it was more like 3 hours until I got back to them. With the leaves removed they looked like this:

 This one made my heart go pitter-patter.

 And here they are after the wash-out, dried and ironed. I think they are just gorgeous.

 I am really looking forward to stitching on these.

 I am calling this experiment a success.

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