Stained glass

I don't think I ever heard a sermon when I went to the old family church.  I day-dreamed............shhhhhh, don't tell anyone.  The stained glass windows were and still are absolutely incredible.  I would sit and look at them for the entire church service.  I did sing the hymns, possible to the chagrin of the parishioners sitting around me, but for me the windows were the best part of the service.  Not a good church goer at all, but please remember I was only a youngster.

My first foray into stained glass work was an angel.  She really is quite pretty, but oh, she was fiddly.  I can't find her right now as she is packed away with the Christmas decorations.

My next attempt was so much easier.  I found this in a book I borrowed from the library.  I made it for my husband, the avid gardener.  This is called "The Potting Shed" and soon once again he will be down the backyard in his shed getting the seeds sown.  Our geraniums are in the basement window.  He has used cuttings for them since I was given one a few years ago.  The blue gloves are mine!  I don't garden, but I have a pair of gloves in case the once a summer mood strikes.  Yes, that is a little ladybug button on the leaf.  I know they are really good for gardens and I rather like the little critters.

The fabric I chose for the pots was absolutely perfect in colour, however as it had been pre-washed it tended to feather.  I have trimmed on a few occasions with my fine tipped snips, but it just continues.  Now, I only use fabric that hasn't seen the washer and dryer AND fabric with a high thread count.

I was shopping one day up at The Hobby Horse and saw this stained glass pattern.  I really liked the idea of it, but not necessarily the fabrics it was done in.  I bought the pattern and brought it home.  I bought batiks this time as they don't tend to "feather".  Same fabric as the "Potting Shed" for the old cracked pot.  This hangs above our bed on my side.  I love tulips..............the harbenger of spring, after the snowdrops, after the crocuses.  They are such a good hardy flower, especially in my neck of the woods.  They are also a reminder of our many trips to Ottawa for the "Tulip Festival."  Have you ever been?  It really is worth the trip. First week in May, once again we are off to the nation's capital. 

After this pattern I was hooked.  I went back to the Hobby Horse and bought another one.  Pansies, another favourite flower.  This is on the wall in our bedroom and I get to see it every morning when I wake up.  The bouquet of flowes are in an old "Brown Betty" teapot, sitting on a doily that my girlfriend crocheted for me.  You will notice that pinks are used in these flowers..............I love pink flowers!  Any shade of pink.

This one hangs at the back door.  I ran out of wall space.  It is a favourite of mine.  I love rural mailboxes.  I remember walking down the laneway at my aunt and uncle's farm to collect the mail when I would stay with them.  You will see that in this mailbox you only get letters, no bills!  Those are stamps on the envelopes.  One stamp is from Denmark and the others are Canadian. 

I went to the postal websites,

downloaded the pictures of the stamps and printed them on fabric.  The I used fusible web to adhere them to the envelopes.  The little bird is yellow cause my Granny always had a canaries and their names were always Timothy.  (As soon as one passed away, she purchased another one.  Lucky little things -- they had a wonderful home.)

                                                 When I traced the flowers onto fusible web, I traced the whole flower at once without moving the paper around.  I cut around the traced flower leaving a bit of room and then fused the whole thing to the fabric.  This way, if the fabric had a visible pattern to it, it flowed around the flower.

The patterns for these were from Details by Diane.  I sort of checked through the site and did see that the pansy one is still available.  I didn't go into it too far as she certainly has a lot of patterns on there now.

This is the last one.......it is a favourite. 

Dragonfly Garden by Three Swans Studio.  I love this piece.  It hangs in our living-room most of the year.  I made this in three days.  I bought the gossamer looking fabric for the wings and then built on it from there.  I did the tracing one day, and then fused and cut out.  I put it on my flannel wall and took pictures as I went.  If it didn't look good on camera, it got changed.  It was a great project to do right after Christmas.  It got me back into quilting after a little reprieve.

I "quilted" all of these pieces......all I did was stitch in the "black leading".  That was all.  I didn't sew any pieces down as I didn't think I needed to.  If they need to be spruced up, I cover them with screening and then vacuum.  Its that easy.