I have done a couple of stained glass pieces. You are basically correct in the way you plan to do it. I would use a white background. I know you plan to make a quilt of some type; however I would like to share something that is cool with you.

Fifteen or so years ago when they opened Tammarak (sp), the West Virginia arts center I was traveling a lot from NC to Indiana. I awaited the opening with the greatest of anticipation. Finally, it opened. I stopped allowing myself lots of time to admire all. Well, when I walked in right in front of me was a beautiful stained glass window. I thought what a wonderful depiction of one of WV's real arts, glasswork. As I got closer to it to look, I realized it was not glass at all. It was fabric. They had done the fabric stained glass, backed it in white and hung it where the sun could shine through it. I have never forgotten that one stained glass. I did a small butterfly that way and I have it in my window to brighten my mornings.

I would suggest using a thinner muslin for your foundation fabric. It will keep the quilt top a little lighter and it is reasonably priced too.

You might consider not using a base fabric. There really isn't a need for it, if you are going to fuse down your leading pieces.
It would be cheaper to purchase a couple of applique sheets to work on, when fusing down the leading. These are reusable too :wink: :D:D:D

Another option is to draw the picture on fusible paper using a Sharpie to make fat lines between the colors and creating room between the colored pieces.

Cut out around the pieces, iron them onto the colors you want, and then reassemble them like puzzle pieces onto a black background. You can then applique them down or stitch near the edge or live with fused pieces (which might not work if you plan to wash it a lot but would be okay for an art quilt).

Hope that helps!

When I did my small stained glass wall hanging, I used blue fabric that looked like sky when looking out the window. So I would take a good look at what you are going to be sewing & really 'scope' it out. Now some stained glass quilts I have seen only have the black Kona cotton behind them. I have found that I can get Kona cotton at Hobby Lobby for a really good price but if you don't have a Hobby lobby close by I know you can order from Hancocks in Paducah KY

Depending on whether it's to be a quilt or a wall-hanging, you might use a light weight fusible to mount all the pieces on--lightly fusing them in place. You can buy or make your own "lead" bias. I bought black 1/4" from Quilt in a Day with fusible all ready applied. Tucking all the little ends under was the only hard part for me. I was only doing a single block, though so I was able to lay it on a padded board and stab it with pins to hold it down while I used my Clover mini-iron to fuse it. With it all fused, it was much easier to keep it together to machine applique all the bias strips down.

Another help is that Dritz has 1/4" fusible bias tape in different colors that helps when putting your stained glass project together. It comes in 11 yard rolls, in several colors.It can be expensive but use a Joann's coupon and it greatly reduces the cost. It helps simplify the process and saves a great deal of time.

An applique sheet is a plastic sheet you put under things you are fusing together. Your fusable won't stick to it.

A method I use on my applique stems might be useful to you. I put the unfolded bias strip in place and machine sew it. Then you place the second piece with the raw edge next to the first one and fold the bias down over the seam. Depending on what I am making, I then sew it with a narrow 5 stitch zag ----^----^ or hand applique the second side of the stem, or in this case, the lead. This method helps to get one piece under control at a time.

Remember, because of the seam allowances, the 'glass' pieces will butt against each other.

you need to bear in mind the order you place your pieces and the bias binding - I usually lay mine out and then number them especially if it is a busy design and I would have thought if the whole backing fabric is going to be covered then it wouldn't matter what you use but if you want a border round it then use backing fabric that would be suitable for that as you don't want to put on a separate border as this could cause problems with the final picture - I tend to use a lightweight fusible web for the picture pieces and then machine or hand stitch down the bias which will also catch the picture pieces in place

I have no idea how to make a stained glass quilt, but I would love to make one. Just wanted to comment to say I think what you're doing is AWESOME! DH is a hardcore gamer, so he would really get a kick out of this. I made him a Mario quilted wall hanging for Christmas and he was ecstatic. After a year and a half of being married, I find I am becoming a bit of a 'baby' gamer myself.

To put it succinctly - kudos on this idea!!

This past year we did 6 wall hangings for our church. They measure 28X60" and we totally covered. I purchased most of the self-adhesive bias tape on ebay at less than half of what I had to pay in other places. Was really fortunate because that included shipping. Good thing, we used 3-4 rolls on each hanging. Thought I would go broke buying those, would have been worse at $11.00+ a roll times 23 rolls. This is a wonderful project and really does not turn into anything pretty until the "leading" is added. It is amazing what that last touch does for the project! Good luck and do post your projects so we can all enjoy.

3 or 4 years ago my guild had a fake stained glass party. You begin with a stack of vibrantly colored fabrics. I think ours were 12". Many of us traded squares. We were given a piece of freezer paper with a scrappy-crazy pattern. Without a pattern, you could work from the outside in to make your own. Make an extra copy of the pattern, or you may never get it to look right. The pattern is ironed onto the top fabric. It is heavily pinned, then cut with a rotary cutter.

Working from about the center, sew the 3/4" 'lead' strip (not bias, as everything is straight lines) to the center. Press. Take the next pile of pieces. Remove the top piece of the pile. Put it on the bottom. Sew it to the lead. Press. Add a lead piece to another side. Move to the next pile, move the 2 top pieces to the bottom, take the new top piece and sew it to your lead. etc. what you get is a block which may take a bit of trimming, but does give a remarkable effect.

BTW, it occurs to me to add that in sewing, you will do the reverse of the order you used in making the pattern. The first piece you drew and cut will be the last to be sewn. I was smug and thought I didn't need the 2nd copy of the pattern. Boy was I wrong! Also, I dislike pressing, but this is a place where pressing at each step is important . I found that some of my pieces needed a bit of trimming to work.

This is not nearly as interesting as a true stained glass quilt, but it is much easier as a first step.

for my uses it does not matter. For yours it might make a big difference.

Wow, just checked out the video, those windows are awesome. I can see why you'd want to play with those designs!

I buy fabric online a lot, and I tend to buy more variety than I strictly need because IME, screen or paper representations just don't work accurately enough to get reliable matches. With buying a few extra fabrics, I've had some amazing serendipity though. I'd rather have an extra FQ or two than fabric swatches...

Oh and a lot of stores will help with color matching. One person from webfabrics.com worked me over the phone to put together some blues that had to be close to each other but work together. It worked out really well for me in that case. If you find the right person to match your creative vibe for the quilt you want to make, it could be superb.