Some Screenprinting

 I had a great printing session in the silkscreen studio the other night. I came in early before teaching my embroidery class to get my bridge repeat printed. Above you can see my 2 pieces of fabric pinned onto one of our big fabric printing boards. Usually the boards are stored away in a closet, and it's a bit of a thing to prep for printing on fabric, but I'm so glad we have them.

 I'm trying to figure out an easy registration system for fabric printing.Our boards don't have stops, so I tried marking out the measurements with masking tape to help me line up. My first repeat worked out pretty well mathematically, but I totally screwed up the 2nd repeat measurement.Luckily printing in navy blue made it easy to see the image through the screen, and I ended up lining up the image better the 2nd time than the 1st on my long border-style repeat.

 Here's the screen I prepped for it. I've got my mandala embroidery ready to go next week on the same screen to save time. When you have small enough images you can fit 2 or more on the same screen easily. i just have to keep one blocked with tape or paper while printing the other.

 I also tried repeating it vertically. This one was easier to do- I printed from bottom to top in alternating positions (1/3/5 then 2/4/6) I only goofed on the last registration- I registered vertically but not horizontally that last time!

The image started as a photo of the Ben Franklin Bridge which connects New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I've been thinking about how many times in my life I've probably crossed that bridge. I'm originally a Jersey girl, but feel more of a Philadelphian now. I'm hoping to add some embroidery to the horizontally repeated one by the end of this week. My solo show deadline looms!!!!