Threads 1: Collecting Rushes/Cattails

This is the first of our bi-weekly ‘basketry threads’. 

Every second week one will be posted on the museum website and, for those who would like to receive it to your email inbox, sign up here.

I got this idea when I joined The Cloud Appreciation Society, and they mail me a daily Cloud.

It is my hope that some of you will share your ideas with Threads’.

Rushes spread out on my driveway

COLLECTING RUSHES/CATTAILS

Now is the time to collect rushes, or cattails before they start to deteriorate.

Cut them at the base, and take them home wrapped in a tarp or old sheet. Try not to let them bend and crack. Spread then out in the sun on a driveway or on a tarpaulin. This way you can pull them over and cover them at night to protect them from dew or rain.

They can also be dried indoors on the floor in an attic or under your bed!

Kept dry and bundled, they will last for years. 

Next week how to make a rush/cattail mat.