Before you get excited and think that this is a definitive tutorial on how to monoprint - it isn't!  More of a peek into my tentative journey in the technique.  

We've acquired* several large thick Perspex sheets and think that they'd be great for Monoprinting, but the only way to be sure would be to actually have a go.  We've dabbled with Monoprinting on and off over the years, mainly using old laminated sheets or small pieces of thin Perspex, and used a safe wash block printing ink form Seawhite,  this is a  great product and is easy to use - but isn't fast once dry, so you can't add further wet processes.

When we moved studio earlier this year one of the (many...) things we found were several tubes of  Caligo safe wash inks from Cranfield. Bought and forgotten (and how many of you have done this too?) However, having recently read an article on the Caligo inks it appears that these inks will become permanent on fabric and paper after a curing process; it was high time I tried them out.

How much ink to put onto the plate is difficult to gauge and only by actually having a go can you really get the feel.  Inking up is also really tricky on such huge plates, it needs to be spread much thinner than you'd imagine, as I found out with my first (paper) tries.  In fact I actually only inked the plate once the whole day (yes - that's how much ink I'd put on!)  and between prints just rerolled with the brayer to smooth the surface again.

My first attempts were very disappointing (but at least they didn't stick to the plate). To begin with I was using a very light pure greaseproof paper ('deli' paper) and it was only once I was happy that the plate was behaving did I moved on to fabric.

I used a cotton sateen fabric, which I 'floated' over the surface, letting it drop very gently onto the inked plate.  I nearly stopped breathing at this point, but as the fabric settled I could see that I had finally achieved the correct level of ink on the plate - the fabric settled but did not absorb ink.   As you can see,  this meant I achieved really clear marks and lines: I'm very pleased, and relieved!

In today's world instant gratification seems to be taken for granted - from ready made and fast food, the pinging of texts or emails on your phone to the  ever increasing ways to access online data.  We don't even need to stand in line anymore because more and more we buy on-line. 

But in the creative world it's good to travel a slower road, taking the time to play and experiment, to explore the 'what if's', celebrate our successes - and mistakes, because after all a mistake is just a creative opportunity! Often students roll their eyes at us when we say ' I don't know, have you tried making a sample?'  Terry and I are both firm believers in 'doing', having a go, trying things out.  It's only through the act of doing  will you ever find out what will work, and what won't, which techniques are suitable and which aren't.  Time spend in practical exploration is never time wasted - besides which, look at all the fun and joy you will have on the way.   

Meanwhile I have to wait patiently for the fabric pieces to cure and then I can start to add colour before layering up and stitching.  I'm so excited, and not a little impatient, to get started....

Hazel & Terry

P.S. You didn't think I'd be throwing away the over inked first attempts did you??  They've been put to one side to dry with the rest of my trials and will be added to the stash of creative papers ready for including into sketchbooks some day!

* as with many things we have in the InStitches Studio these had had a previous life and were heading off to the scrap yard!

This quilt was made by one of our students, who first started quilting with us and then put in many hours of practice! Free motion quilting is a skill, it can be taught and therefore learned: no one is born a free motion quilter!  ​

Our free motion quilting (FMQ) course is one of our most popular and this week we started off not one, but two classes.  Whilst we're having a welcome coffee we introduce the course structure and give lots of information about needles, threads and various ways on how to deal with T-issues*

To begin with we always first draw out the pattern in a book, on the white board or even on the iPad  because it gives a chance to see where you're going, improves hand-eye coordination and promotes muscle memory, as well as giving you problem solving thinking time - how are/ where are you going to start and stop the pattern etc 

Then it's time to start stitching.  A simple 'head & shoulders' pattern is a great pattern to start with as you have to move up and  down as well as left to right and then as you move down to the row below, right to left.  Start stitching at your default size to begin with and then try going larger and smaller in scale.

Even after all the years we've been stitching, if we haven't free motion quilted for a while we still do this as our warm-up exercise.  It also is a great way to check that your machine is running smoothly and that there are no tension issues.

Wear quilting gloves also helpful when you FMQ as they'll give you extra grip when manoeuvring the quilt sandwich under the needle.  

You may be puzzled by the blog title, but throughout the first day we find students have a tendency to hold their breath as they sew, so we like to remind them: pop your tongue in and....breathe!

If you would like to learn how to  free motion quilt or to improve your technique why not subscribe to our newsletter as we'll shortly be releasing the dates of our next courses?
​
Hazel & Terry

* tension!

This week was the second session of our ever popular Introduction to free motion quilting course.  As well as teaching many different patterns we also share lots of tips and advice  and one of the ones this week was how to finish the thread ends.  ​

One of the easiest way to do this is the lasso method using a large eyed embroidery needle  and a double length of thread.

Push the threaded lasso needle into the work, at the end of the line of stitching.  Go through the top layer, into the wadding but not through to the back.  Travel the needle about an inch and pop it out: do not pull through!  

We made a little video to show you here:

Click on the image below to see the video Subhashini made when I taught it in class! 

Until next week,
Hazel & Terry