Folgate Challenge Roses and steaming fabric with leaves

Well what a lovely weekend weather wise.
I gathered in some Sloe berries to see if they'll dye, to try and determine if they are what some of you refer to as Chokeberries.

But I also wrapped some fabric round red onions slices and outer leaves, along with some shards of, well wood!

I'd had a large old leatherette trunk in the garden the last few summers or so with plants in it, but this year the bottom had well and truly fallen through.
So I took it apart and redistributed the earth and plants.
The swathes of it's lid and sides I laid at the farthest edges of the garden, tucked behind plants, mainly because they struck me as interesting, having rusting locks and corners showing.
As the lid and sides have seperated, so a thin layer of wood emerged, hardboard maybe?
Well its been rain sodden, snow logged and traversed by snails with areas of lichen on it too.........so I pulled some of it out, broke it into pieces and laid that amongst the onion pot pouri.
I wrapped this all up with salt water wet, pieces of an old bolster pillow cover and an old tablecloth.

Like so! I laid the second piece of fabric on top of this, then folded and wrapped it all togther and laid it in the (dye only)steamer top, which sat above the sloes simmering away for about an hour.
Then I transferred this steamer onto another pan that had some (ragwort, my pal Jean thinks) so it could steam away for another hour.
I have left it to settle, still wrapped up in the steamer, but it looks - cos of course I had to take a peep! -     
                                                                    much marked!
But Im going to let it rest, so will wash n dry it and take a piccy tomorrow. Now it was all laid on a bed of already simmered through eucalyptus leaves in the steamer, so it will be interesting to see whats occured in there!
I also made a similar bundle, with iris and eucalyptus leaves as well and sprinkled coffe granules amongst it...no idea why .....

Oh and a used teabag, ended up is in there too, but no, no Bovril! What I did, was lay a second piece of fabric over this, to the left here,
then laid the iris leaves on top of that second piece, below.

You can just make out where the coffee has begun to spread on the wet fabric at the top right there.
I rolled this up in a bamboo place mat, and its now hung outside amongst the ivy that festoons one of the back gartdens walls.



This is my first 'Windfall' bundle (ala India Flint - see her blog for more about this and join in!)


http://found-stitched%20dyed.blogspot.com/2010/10/wandering-threads.html)

So it is going to weather the weather and see what transpires in the winter months.
Pop back in january 2011, I may open it then!

And these are my roses made for a Shelagh Folgate Challenge with a hand made stencil leaf shape - difficult to see it though, since Ive used a black foam ( neoprene) that I got from our local scrapstore.

But heres a green version of it using sharpie pens...