Sue Reno's Printing Expertise

The first time I saw Sue Reno's work in person was in 2006 (see this blog post). I was struck by the graphic impact of her work, along with the skillful design of the piece. I was later lucky enough to meet Sue at the big quilt show in Houston (maybe in 2007?) and spend a little time with her, as well as at a show in Lancaster shortly after that.

"Fireball" copyright Sue Reno

You don't have to know Sue long to realize what an intelligent and thoughtful person she is, and these qualities are clearly reflected in her work. When I found out she was making an instructional DVD for Interweave I was very excited for her, and I couldn't wait to see it!

Well, the wait is over, and it's worth it. “Surface Design Essentials for the Printed Quilt”  is now available as both a DVD ($24.99) or a digital download ($19.99) from the Quilting Daily Shop. Sue covers four printing techniques as well as strategies for using the prints in compositions and quilting them to best advantage.

I love printing fabric using a variety of techniques, and have tried cyanotype, heliograph, collagraph and Thermofax printing with varying levels of success in the past. What I admire about Sue's presentation of these techniques is that she has perfected a process for each one that works for her. She demonstrates these four methods of printing in a straight forward, approachable, and yet very thorough manner. Following her instructions, I feel that most artists could create successful prints of their own in no time.

In addition to demonstrating these techniques, Sue discusses options for combining prints in a variety of different ways. I particularly appreciate the way she uses more than one variety of printing technique in a single art quilt and is able to create a cohesive composition.

Finally, Sue pulls her pieces together with well planned quilting. Her tips for ways to quilt the prints are great. In my experience I usually feel that my prints are "precious" and difficult to showcase, but Sue manages to do so with ease.

Bottom line, I love it! If you are ready to try your hand at printing I think this DVD would serve you well.

Several other friends of Sue's are also participating in this blog tour. Here's a schedule so you can stop by and see what they have to say:

11/5/14: Sue Reno http://suereno.blogspot.com/ 
11/6/14: Susan Brubaker Knapp http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/ 
11/7/14: Allie Aller http://alliesinstitches.blogspot.com/ 
11/8/14: Diane Doran http://www.oohprettycolors.blogspot.com/ 
11/9/14: Vivien Zepf http://sevenpinesdesigns.blogspot.com/ 
11/10/14: Virginia Spiegel http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/blog/ 
11/11/14: Cynthia St. Charles http://cynthia-stcharles.blogspot.com/ 
11/12/14: Natalya Aikens http://artbynatalya.blogspot.com/ 
11/13/14: Lyric Kinard http://lyrickinard.com/blog/

A Different Type of Printing

I've long been fascinated with all types of printing, on both paper and fabric. Even as a child I *loved* to closely examine the printing on things like wedding invitations and coasters. And though I don't often share my paper crafting projects here, trust me, they exist. So, when the opportunity arose to take a class on letterpress printing at Baltimore Print Studios, I seized it!

In reality, I had to wait a year to take this class. My husband gave me a gift certificate for the class for Christmas, 2012, but my schedule (read: my kids' schedules) was too full to make it happen. But, it was definitely worth the wait.

During the class we learned how the printing presses work, how to print, how to clean the presses, how to set type, some historical aspects of printing, and so much more. The print shop owners, Kyle and Kim, taught the class. They did a great job explaining everything!

We were divided up into groups, and each group selected a phrase, set the type (selecting from the large type collection at the shop), and then printed away. Here are some photos of my group's type on the press.

I could have printed all day.

Some of our prints drying on the (awesome) many layered drying rack.

And here's a print that another group made - by this point we were printing our designs in an ombre fashion - love it!

One of the aspects of letterpress printing that intrigues me is that you can print and emboss at the same time. I learned, though, that professional printers work hard to not emboss prints unless the design really calls for it. They carefully adjust the pressure applied during the printing process so that on something like a poster there is little to no embossing. This is, of course, particularly important for two sided projects.

Each student then type set a small phrase using metal type. We were randomly assigned partners and printed some coasters, which, being a thicker paper, are indeed embossed and printed simultaneously.

(For the record, though I have been known to enjoy a gin and tonic, the phrase I chose was "Yes Please!".)

It was a very interesting and fun way to spend the day - I highly recommend it. Check out the Baltimore Print Studios website if you're interested in trying it out yourself.