Sunday, September 9, 2012

The Proof is in the Poppy

There were a few strung together moments this afternoon which allowed time for some cleaning up on the blocks and pulling a few proofs.  Cleaning up the blocks was quick and easy, and creating an acrylic mask for use when printing the poppy itself was a no brainer, but oh! the registration nightmare. I will certainly do things differently on the next flower.  And I see that I still don't have the text perfectly level, so still adjustment is needed there, but that won't take long. (She says with the utmost confidence, knowing full well that it will probably take hours.)  The next decision is whether to do color blocks for leaves and flower or stick with the black ink.  These will be printed on the traditional Prayer Flag colors of red, yellow, blue, white and green.  I think to stick with the black is the answer!  I may want to print these on paper, too, and maybe for that I will make color blocks and maybe even do moku hanga - who knows?



The first image is the California Poppy.  It was chosen for its traditional meaning.  Particularly in Victorian times, and probably before that, too, meanings were given to flowers and you better be careful what you sent, or delivered, because you could really create a societal faux pas.  Most of the sites agreed that one of the poppy's meanings was "imagination".  When these flags are out in the garden fluttering in the breeze I want as much imagination flying around in the air as possible.

The next problem is how to get this transferred to the fabric.  The first thought is to spray a re-positionable adhesive onto paper to act as a support, or carrier, through the printing process.  After printing the paper would be removed, of course.  So, tomorrow I will be heading out purchase spray adhesive of the sort I will need.  Unless someone has experience with this and can offer an easier solution??

2 comments:

Terry Sargent Peart said...

You know what works really well to stabilize fabric is 'freezer paper'. You can get it at a quilt shop or in the grocery store, sometimes hardware stores, near where you'd find alum foil, saran wrap. It's original intent was for wrapping stuff for the freezer. But it's been co-opted by the quilting community because one side has a film of 'plastic' which you can iron onto fabric to stabilize it, then when done it just pulls off, leaving no residue. Very neat stuff!

Terry Sargent Peart said...

I find what works really well to stabilize fabric is 'freezer paper'. You can get it at a quilt shop or in the grocery store, sometimes hardware stores, near where you'd find alum foil, saran wrap. It's original intent was for wrapping stuff for the freezer. But it's been co-opted by the quilting community because one side has a film of 'plastic' which you can iron onto fabric to stabilize it, then when done it just pulls off, leaving no residue. Very neat stuff!