We made a smooth mess. Always do. Six women, a mountain of yarn, dyes to die for, and a rainy Saturday. We have enough now to knit a sweater for Saturn and mittens for all its moons. The only thing missing now is winter.

For anyone interested, the secret is simple. Add yellow.

Before the dyeing and the Pinterest brunch, we made an offhand discovery. Our hostess had a pile of ancient quilt squares stacked up like an undiscovered treasure. Each hand-sewn block was tacked to old newspapers and ironed into submission. The woman who worked the needle on these pieces meant business and I’m sorry I never met her.

I suspect that soon we will spread out these jewels and try to reconstruct this sweet woman’s creative intent.

The quilts pieces are one story. The other is on the newspaper backing dated between August and November 1928 from a New Orleans newspaper. We now know how much to pay for a fresh Sunday dress, the cost of a reasonable boy’s overcoat, and where to go for perfect ringlets and waves.

We also know about Madam Priscilla, but not nearly enough.

The important thing is this:  When you gather half a dozen women on a rainy afternoon and feed inspiration with cinnamon, we can conjure up more than gossip.

We can spin straw into gold.