Allie Aller's Stained Glass Quilts Reimagined: Fresh Techniques & Design

by Allie Aller

Overview

Quilt the look of stained glass! This rich resource of approachable techniques will let you jump right in with 6 stained glass style quilts, from dazzling wallhangings to throws and bedcovers. Outline pieced and appliquéd shapes 3 ways—using trims, couching, and bias fabric strips. Explore your own ideas for both simple and intricate stained glass designs, and set yourself up for success with tips on organizing your sewing space and using a design wall.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781617452864
Publisher:	C & T Publishing
Publication date:	04/04/2017
Pages:	100
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Allie Aller has been a fiber girl all her life. Ever since she was a design student in college, she has been exploring many genres in quilting. She lives in a lovely rural area of Washington.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter One: Design Sources and Strategies
How to find, enlarge, and transfer designs to suit your needs
A small stained glass project, from start to finish
Chapter Two: Glass and Leading: Supplies and Approaches
Fabrics, tools, and notions to use
Couching, appliquéd ribbon, and iron-on leading
Chapter Three: Glass and leading techniques, with practice exercises
Detailed explanations and practice sessions lead you through the three techniques
How to set up your workspace for best results
Gallery
Chapter Four: Workflow and Good Habits
Project One: Windy Sunshine; a summer throw
Project Two: Leaf Vine; a bed quilt
Project Three: Mondrian's Window; a couch quilt
Project Four: Window for Frank; an improvisational couch quilt
Project Five: Welcome Wreath; a wool and cotton wallhanging
Project Six: Tiffany's Peacock; a classic stained glass wallhanging
Conclusion
Resources
About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Master quilter Aller (Allie Aller's Crazy Quilting) returns to her first love—stained glass quilts—in this guide to designing and creating these bold, art-inspired pieces. The quilts have the look of appliqué, but rather than layering and stitching each piece, the fabrics are placed on a foundation (often muslin) and the seams or design lines are couched with a faux leading to mimic the look of stained glass. Instead of using bias tape for the leading, Aller prefers quilting cotton backed with fusible webbing and cut into bias strips of varying widths. That and other options for leading are discussed at length, with hints for how to apply them as well as practice blocks. Several projects are also included. VERDICT Quilters will be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to reproduce these lovely art quilts.

Library Journal

Stained-glass windows have timeless appeal. (Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Comfort Tiffany…swoon!). Stained-glass quilts have that same allure. It's just the doing where things get tricky. But no more! Allie Aller's fresh approach to creating this style will entice you to enlarge your style repertoire and eventually create your own stained-glass designs from needlework, downloadable images, coloring books or original drawings. Allie offers three ways to add “leading” to designs (hint: no bias tape!), so you can add that enduring stained-glass appeal to pieced or appliqued designs with less sew-stress.

generationqmagazine.com

A couple of months ago, I was on a visit to Chichester Cathedral and saw the stained glass window by Marc Chagall in all its glowing ruby-red splendour, backlit by the afternoon sun. I stood transfixed. Allie Aller draws inspiration for her stained glass quilts from many sources, but the landscape windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany are a particular favourite and inspired the Tiffany's Peacock quilt on the cover of her book. This is the most advanced project and comes with a full-sized pull out template to create a wall hanging. Whilst you could jump right in with this one, anyone new to stained glass quilting might want to work through the opening chapters, which outline the different leading techniques, fabric selection, and developing your own pattern. Allie describes in her introduction how she spent several years in the 1990s developing ideas for stained glass quilts and then moved into crazy quilting and hand stitching. Her recent return to the technique was inspired by the Modern Quilt movement and the graphic nature of stained glass quilting with its focus on composition, colour, line, shape, and fabric. This is evident in the Mondrian's Window couch quilt project using different thicknesses of leading to outline bold colour blocks. If I ever get around to making this, it'll go up on my wall!

Popular Patchwork

Allie Aller's new book is called Stained Glass Quilts Reimagined: Fresh Techniques & Design and she isn't kidding. If your memory of stained glass quilts, like mine, is off clunky chunks of fabric outlined with heavy black, you'll be astonished and inspired to see where she takes the genre. First of all, as you can see in the sample above, Allie doesn't even stick to black for the "leading" or outline fabric in her pieces. Secondly, she advocates using much thinner strips of leading, some even smaller than 1/8 of an inch. But she also provides tips on handling and securing these thin strips. This book is terrific on technique and includes a range of styles and sizes of projects —inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, Tiffany windows and the geometric paintings of Mondrian (below). She also shows you how to create your own pattern for stained glass quilts from photos, coloring books or clip art.

Quilt Journalist Tells All - Meg Cox

Stained glass quilts have been around for a long time, but here is a book that “reimagines” them by updating the whole idea and making it more versatile. Why only use traditional materials when there are so many other choices, and why only use traditional methods when there are all sorts of other options? One of the reasons why handcrafts are currently so popular is the way so many of them have been reinvented for modern people's time, tools and tastes. While traditional quilts are lovely mixing it up a bit and coming up with something fresh and new is the best way of keeping things up to date and this book manages all that well. The book begins by looking at patterns and ways of being inspired by them such as coloring books, old embroidery transfers and searching the Internet. The next chapter talks you through the process of making a typical stained glass pattern, from simplifying a drawing to resizing it, making into a set of templates and transferring the pattern to a background fabric. Then there is a look at “leading” options from basic iron-on to less conventional choices such as yarn and ribbons and how to use them complete with practice exercises. When you are ready there are six projects to make with patterns on a sheet at the back for a throw, bed and couch quilts and wallhangings. Everything you need is listed and most of the steps have a photograph so you can see what your work should look like. This is not a book on how to quilt for beginners; there are many of those around (check out the Search Press catalog) but a book that shows quilters how to do this particular style. Basic quilting knowledge is assumed but you don't have to be too advanced to be able to tackle these projects. Subjects for the projects include a Tiffany style peacock, floral welcome wreath, Frank Lloyd Wright and Mondrian windows, leafy vines and abstract shapes inspired by wind and sun. There is a list of suppliers at the back if you are in the US and even a helpful look at good work habits including organizing a work table and keeping things tidy. To sum up a lovely book that will have quilters itching to get started.

myshelf.com

A couple of months ago, I was on a visit to Chichester Cathedral and saw the stained glass window by Marc Chagall in all its glowing ruby-red splendour, backlit by the afternoon sun. I stood transfixed. Allie Aller draws inspiration for her stained glass quilts from many sources, but the landscape windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany are a particular favourite and inspired the Tiffany's Peacock quilt on the cover of her book. This is the most advanced project and comes with a full-sized pull out template to create a wall hanging. Whilst you could jump right in with this one, anyone new to stained glass quilting might want to work through the opening chapters, which outline the different leading techniques, fabric selection, and developing your own pattern. Allie describes in her introduction how she spent several years in the 1990s developing ideas for stained glass quilts and then moved into crazy quilting and hand stitching. Her recent return to the technique was inspired by the Modern Quilt movement and the graphic nature of stained glass quilting with its focus on composition, colour, line, shape, and fabric. This is evident in the Mondrian's Window couch quilt project using different thicknesses of leading to outline bold colour blocks. If I ever get around to making this, it'll go up on my wall!

May 2017 Popular Patchwork

Stained-glass windows have timeless appeal. (Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Comfort Tiffany…swoon!). Stained-glass quilts have that same allure. It’s just the doing where things get tricky. But no more! Allie Aller’s fresh approach to creating this style will entice you to enlarge your style repertoire and eventually create your own stained-glass designs from needlework, downloadable images, coloring books or original drawings. Allie offers three ways to add “leading” to designs (hint: no bias tape!), so you can add that enduring stained-glass appeal to pieced or appliqued designs with less sew-stress.

4/14/2017 generationqmagazine.com