Stained Glass Window Quilt

I made this quilt as a gift from our church (the Unitarian Church of Los Alamos) to our partner church in Fenyokut, Romania, on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of Unitarianism, and religious freedom, in Transylvania. I haven’t gotten a final picture of it as I finished the binding late at night in a hotel room in Denver, pre-flight, and presented the quilt to the congregation at an evening event where the light just wasn’t sufficient. Hopefully I’ll soon be able to update this post with a final picture of the quilt hanging in the Fenyokut church.

To begin, the quilt is based on the Robinson Memorial stained glass window in the Los Alamos Sanctuary. This is the photo I started with, of the 3rd and 4th of 5 “panels” of the window:

From there, I used a technique I learned from Katie Pasquini Masopust to make template pieces for a combination turned-edge applique/piecing technique. Here are a few photos of the process.

Surprise owl fabric had to be put to good use – I thought it was bark-textured when I bought it but instead the print included these darling owls. Two faces ended up in the tree.

Backing fabric, which I also used to bind the finished quilt. I used corner pockets on the back with a dowel rod for hanging.

Quilting detail – I ended up going beyond my usual straight lines and I’m pleased with how it came out.