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How do I take care of Porcupine quills

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Pat B:
As you can imagine, Ed I'm interested in this too. Rebecca Parker, James' wife, would clip off the point end and the butt end and soak the quills in water to soften them enough to flatten them to do her quill work. I think the quill is made from keratin like fingernails. I had a chance to watch Becca doing her quill work and ask her questions about quill work at the Classic. 

Hawkdancer:
Pat,
Saw this thread, and said "Opps!  Brain fart!  I didn't send out the quills!"  That will be rectified tomorrow!  Also, found a brief set of instructions from the American Indian Room, will try to get a copy made for you, and "A Beginner's Handbook of Porcupine Qullwork" by Barbara Meuller, I think it was self published.  I got it from her at a rendezvous in the late '80's or early 90's.  There are probably several newer books available.
Hawkdancer

YosemiteBen:
pull em out n wash em in dawn dish soap as they are really dirty! they accept dyes pretty well if you want different colors. definitely tradeable. my coworker uses them a fair bit in beadwork appliques.

Ed Brooks:
Thank you Ben. I’ll start washing these off from now on. Do you need to cut the ends off to dye them?  Ed

YosemiteBen:
once they are clean you can dye them. you shouldn't need to cut them for that.
A long beading needle will push trough the "pith" if you want to use them like beads in earrings. Eastern tribes used the needles to applique birch bark too. Google porcupine quill crafts n see what pops up for ideas.
The styrofoam like center to the quills is what helps them swim.

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