I was inspired by the geometric patterns of African mud cloth in this pillow project.

I made a few small 2″ x 4″ soft foam plates and played with creating pleasing patterns. I printed on linens and napkins from the thrift store.

I found that I liked the simple designs best and to leave a little space between impression gave the eye a place to rest. These foam printing plates are made from recycled styrofoam produce trays.

I heat set the printed fabric with an iron. I use the hottest possible temperature and use a thin cloth in between the iron and printed fabric. The longer you can wait to wash the more permanent it becomes as well.

If you would like to make a bunch of foam plates and play with printing on paper or fabric, then join us in Soft Plate Relief Printing, the online class starting soon. Get all the details on the printmaking workshop page.

I was ambitious and made this ocean inspired quilt from a stack of relief printed swatches. FUN!

The soft plate relief printing class available now. This low tech method is an easy way to make printing plate from bold line drawing.

The idea is to make recessed lines in the plates. Ink sits on the high spots of the surface and the lines print in white.

You can use a variety of tools to make the lines in the soft foam plate:

• pens and pencils
• nails
• embossing tools and
• sturdy found objects like twigs

Different tools will create marks with different characteristic. Finding new mark making tools is part of the fun of this method of printmaking without a press.

You can combine these small plate into prints of varying sizes. I like to make plates that can fit together like a puzzle.

If you are interested in learning to make and print with these foam plates, then join us in the online class, Soft Plate Relief Printing.