Wood block printing

I bought these lovely wood blocks while in London as they were so decorative and also because I wanted to try my hand at printing with them.

My first attempts at printing were not successful as I had not realised  it was necessary to remove the white paint first. Until the penny dropped,  I couldn't understand why there were flakes of paint in my prints.  Once I had washed it off, however, I was really pleased with the result.  Luckily I experimented on scrap fabric first.

The printing is  not perfect and here and there are little spots of  paint, but I really don't mind that as it gives the fabric a hand-made look rather than a mass-produced one.

I used a couple of cushion covers which I picked up in Spotlight for a very reasonable price (just in case I was unsuccessful).  Now that I know what I am doing, I would feel more confident using better quality fabric.

I haven't yet used the small paisley block, but have a few ideas in mind.