Last week, I was at a training where my mind wandered… a lot. Ever have that happen?

It's not that I wasn't interested in copper wire theft...

I came up with a few potentially good ideas for printing blocks, and actually managed to draw, cut and mount two of them. This may be a record for me! I didn’t get to test print all of the first design, but you can get the idea from this picture:

North Star

“Very Japanese”, said my husband. Next is one that reminds me of kitchen tile. I’m not sure about it yet. It seems like it has a lot of potential for larger scale projects, like curtains or a tablecloth. Right now, it just looks like it needs more… something. How would a designer put it? It has too much white space, I think.

Then again, maybe some designs just don’t work. We’ll see. There’s some more ideas from my little training session sketchbook that I need to flesh out. In the meantime, this is what I’ve been up to!

A new print for the New Year! I actually started working on this in August, when we took our family summer vacation. I drew the design, outlined the print on the printing foam, and even got as far as cutting out the pieces. Then, they sat for four months, adding to a vague to-do list in the back of my mind… “Mount new print.” joined the likes of  “Organize house.” and “Drink more water.”

Suddenly, I get an urge to be productive, and I unearth the pieces that I cut out this summer, along with an acrylic sheet to mount them on, a cutting mat and the tracing paper with the original drawing. As anxious as I am to see the print all of a sudden, this is the time to be meticulous and not rush the job. Otherwise, trying to print the block in repeat would be no fun later on. I carefully mount the pieces- checking the straightness of my rows, the evenness between the pieces- and draw the registration marks on the block.

Happy time! The block is ready! Time to try it out. I get out the tools, choose the plum ink for printing, and set to work. I make the first print, and it looks great! This is awesome! The first row is beautiful. I should have done this ages ago! I print the second row, and the third…

Bugger. Something isn’t lining up. See how the space between the pieces is uneven? It shouldn’t be.

Since I was sooo careful in mounting the print, I decide that it couldn’t be the printing block. I suspect that it’s the fabric grain that’s giving me trouble. Quilters and apparel sewers know all about fabric grain and why it’s so important, and block printers should know too.

The next day I give it another try. I use Robins Egg Blue, just to see what the print looks like in a lighter color. This time, I make sure the fabric is straight as an arrow.

Much better! I think it’s time to name the print! (I always struggle a bit with this part. Should I go with something literal? Or something more open to interpretation? Something simple? Or fancy?) In this case, I was inspired by scallop shells, so I look up “scallop” online, where there are lots of ideas. I could just name the print “Scallops”, but there’s also “Mollusk”, “Escalope” (Old French), “Pectinidae” (Scientific name, and no)… finally, I come across a Wikipedia article that describes how scallops may be known in Italian as “pettine di mare”, which translates literally as “Sea Combs”.

“Sea Comb”. I like it. It’s pretty, simple, and it fits the print. Sea Comb it is!

So. We have a new print, the baby slept through the night, and Dan made a delicious cup of coffee this morning. The New Year is officially off to a great start!