How To Create Stained Glass Quilts

One of the joys of quilting is being able to spend your craft time doing various styles or types of quilts. You may have noticed that stained glass quilts are growing in popularity. These look complex to create but following some simple guidelines will have you mastering this part of quilting in no time! You will need to select your pattern for the project.

It is best to actually use a pattern that is specifically for stained glass quilts for beginners. There are many different types and colors of fabrics to select from when making stained glass quilts. It is best to use fabrics that do not have fine details and patterns within them since you want the finished product to look like a piece of stained glass.

Many people find that Muslin fabrics work well for the foundation fabric. Once you've selected the pattern, increase the design size by 150% on a copier. Position the stained glass pattern in the middle of a 10" x 8" piece of woven fusible interfacing.

It is best to avoid the fusible web because it can tend to make your project too stiff. Trace just the design without the numbers onto the fusible area of the interfacing. Get a large piece of wax or freezer paper that will fit the design. Trace the design onto the paper, again without numbers.

Using sharp scissors, you will need to cut the design out following the lines you just traced onto the paper. Place all the appropriate freezer paper pieces on the different color fabrics. Make sure to place with the shiny side of the paper down.

Iron the sections onto the fabric. Make sure your iron does not burn the fabrics. You will then need to cut the design pieces out leaving a 1/16" additional edge border around each piece. Don't cut the pieces flush or you will not have enough lead fabric and overlay fabric. Now that all your pieces are cut, you will need to remove the paper backing. Place the patches on the fusible area of the interfacing.

You will want to use the traced out lines for positioning. Partly overlie the appliqué sections a little. You do not want to leave any openings to have better looking stained glass quilts. Once this is complete, you will use a pressing sheet to iron the appliqué sections to the interfacing.

Make sure to check the manufacturer's instructions when doing this part of the process for this part of your stained glass quilts. Set the pieces out and pin them onto the foundation fabric. It is recommended to baste around these so that the pieces will not shift when you sew on the bias tape later. You will now to stitch down the edges with bias tape so that the edges of the bias tape are completely covered with the other sections that are laid down.

You will want to use thread that matches the bias tape. Use the backstitch to lock the starting and ending portions of the bias tape. Be certain to trim the thread ends close to the surface for a neater appearance on your stained glass quilts. You are almost completed with your project. Cut away the extra foundation fabric and continue to add the other pieces.

A nice addition is to add additional bias to the border pieces. With stained glass quilts, you will have leading at any area the glass is a different color or piece. It is important to quilt on both areas for the bias leading in order to make the leading extra noticeable. Following these general guidelines should have you creating beautiful stained glass quilts with confidence.

You might find the fabric calculator helpful for when you purchase your foundation fabric and stained glass fabrics for your stained glass quilts.

Jan Myers is the author of numerous articles and books on topics from organizational development and leadership to quilting. It was her avocation, the love of quilting, that inspired the popular online membership site for quilters known as the "world's largest quilting bee" at http://www.QuiltingResourceCenter.com ..