With all the talk about black walnuts on the Quiltart list I decided that since I live where they are plentiful that I would dye some cotton. Thanks to my DH who picked all these up on our last camping trip.
The first photo is the start of the pot. I decided to do the direct mordant method since I’m not a dyer. I have soft water so all I did was add Alum and Cream of Tartar to the pot.
Of course the fabric was scoured first. Also, the cotton I use is a pima cotton with a slight gray cast to it. Hey, it was a monster roll at a yard sale for $5 so I always use what I have.
The bottom photos are the results of this dye pot. I tried different rinses according to my book “Colors From Nature” but there was no noticeable difference in the pieces when they dried.
I also wasn’t concerned with even color since I really like the little oddities that come about from not stirring the pot. Now I have added some previously dyed fabrics to the pot along with cotton batting and some cheese cloth. They will come out tomorrow and I will post the results.
Janice Paine Dawes, Artist 
What fun! I have only used wood for dyeing. A friend in Florida gave me all different types of wood he used for dyeing he and his wife's yarns with. So much fun and not toxic to the environment! Good for you!
Thanks for sharing your experiment with black walnuts. I too had a bumper crop of them and had great fun experimenting with both cotton and silk. I dyed with and without an additional mordant and got different result. very intriguing.Barbara Douglas