Quilt Making Inspired Prints Term: 1 Year: 2006 I had seen a book on quilting and textile design at an inservice. There was some design work in this book that I found very appealing for students. The artist concerned often composed her work by placing an image in the center of her composition and then creating a border around it made up of a similar shape or theme. Because of the strong use of shape and design I got thinking that students could create a design for lino by using a similar structure. Students were shown the artists work (whose name I don’t have) which we discussed and they were encouraged to create their own individual theme, brainstorming a variety of subjects that would be appropriate for lino. They then researched their ideas on the internet and by using library resources as well as found objects. Ideas were gathered in their sketch books and compositions were trialled until their favourite could be selected. Students then had to produce a final drawing that was coloured in using 4 colours only plus the colour of the paper. Once this was checked, designs were transferred on to the lino plate I was very flexible about the composition and as you can see some work really deviates from the idea I originally presented! Reduction lino cut printmaking can be very confusing and time consuming and I don’t recommend you tackle it in class unless you have had a go at it yourself and feel really confident. Each step was demonstrated at the beginning of each class and homework was set every week. I needed the printing to be done at school and the cutting to be done at home, ready for the next lesson. Each student created their own registration sheet and despite starting with 5-6 copies, many only ended up with one successful copy due to poor registration. Materials Derivan block printing ink Lino and carving tools Cartridge paper Soft rubber lino rollers Silk cut lino squares Glass plates for printing Santa Maria College