Quill Work

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THE QUILL

Naturally, you'll first need the raw materials . . .namely, porcupine quills! But how do you get them? Well, if you happen to live in "porky country"-which covers most of the forested regions of Canada and the western United States, and includes parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin-you can obtain them right from the many-pointed source itself? It's not necessary to kill one of these slow waddling critters, either. Just take a wet gunnysack or blanket out into the woods . . .and when you come upon a porcupine (be careful to stay out of range of its fast moving tail) gently whop the animal with it. The quills will come off readily onto the damp material, and later-in the safety of your back yard-you can pluck them off your perforated "hide".

Of course, all this information is useful only for folks who have access to live or dead porcupines. If you don't (or would rather not fool with the real thing), then you can order quills from trading posts or online. They are sold by the ounce, in a natural or dyed state, and come in either assorted or graded sizes (the latter are more expensive).

QUILL PREPARATION

Once you've obtained your stickers, take a very close look at their structure. If you cut one open, you'll see-for instance-that quills aren't hollow (as they seem to the touch): They're more like a pithy plant stem (which accounts for some of their strength). You'll also notice that these prickles have two,very distinct ends: the follicle (which had been next to the animal) and the spear (the part that's wound up in many a poor puppy dog's nose!) Now, take a quill between your forefinger and your thumb and gently rub outward from the follicle end toward the black tip. You'll feel a roughness around the spear. That's because there are tiny barbs surrounding the tip that all point back toward the center of the sticker. It's these "hooks" that help give a quill binding power in a victim's flesh. So be very careful when you handle these potentially harmful needles. (Some folks snip the spear ends off quills before they start working with them, but if you're respectful of the tips, you don't need to do this.) you want of a certain color. (Dye them all at once because no two batches "color up" exactly the same.) Next, take out some ordinary Rit dye, a dye pot, and something to stir the quills with. After doubling the usual dosage of dye, add the water and coloring . . . pour in the quills . . . heat (but, again, try not to boil) the mixture . . . and stir the stickers around until they're about one shade darker than the tint you're after. Then carefully remove them from the coloring "broth" and set them someplace to cool for 15 to 20 minutes. When the quills are hard again, run cold water over them until they're colorfast . . . set them out to dry. . . and, finally, store the prickles in envelopes until you're ready to use them.

Do keep in mind while you work that there is no set way to do any part of quillwork, so don't be afraid to experiment with these steps to find the methods that work best for you. You might, for example, want to use natural colorants such as blackberry or blueberry.

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