Multiple uses for unsuccessful fabrics

I couldn't pass up today's date - 1/4/14, so here's today's musing.
I rearranged some of my 'stuff' lately and came across a bag of silk scarves that I had dyed in the 1980s, if I remember correctly, maybe it was the 90s.  I had a vague memory of not having steamed them and having put them in a dark bag, in a dark corner, waiting till I got around to it. So I did a quick rinse and plenty of colour washed out.
I don't have the steaming equipment (bamboo steamer) I used to have then so I decided to improvise.
As the scarves are fairly long, I got out the unsuccessful screen printing fabric I had, and which I had used to protect some of the plants from the searing sun.

The difference in colour on this piece is from the sun having faded the parts that were on the outside of the plant. It is a marked difference - but it was out in the summer heat for a month or so, so not too surprising I suppose.

 I sprayed the scarves with water to dampen them, wrapped them in the calico, coiled them and sealed them in black plastic bags.
Then I put them in the sun to batch.  And forgot about them - again.

I did all this about a week and a half ago when we thought we were having our last little blast of summer weather. Then the cool autumn weather arrived and I forgot about them.
We are having another bout of hot weather - so late in the year! - and I remembered them today.  It was a good day to rinse them all (the dye stayed in the silk, hooray) and hang them out to dry.

A little bit of dye got onto the calico but that won't stop me from using it for the plants next summer - assuming that we have that horrible, searing heat again, which we keep being assured we will, due to climate change.