Glass Quilting, or Easy Stained Glass

We first saw this art/craft form at Sorticulture, a big garden art show. The artist called it Glass Quilting. It is glass embedded in epoxy resin on old windows. 

Notice that this example has flat candy dishes in it. 

Then we saw it again at more garden art shows. We loved it, but we didn't buy any because it was quite expensive.

When our garden club met in January for our yearly planning session, Tom and I brought it up as a project we might explore. We found a sample on line to explain what we meant, and everyone was excited.  That didn't look too hard.

Of course none of us knew anything about how to do it, but you can find everything on the Internet, if you know what to call it. Here it is called Easy Stained Glass, or Faux Stained Glass, or it helps to include the word "resin".  So Tom and I took on the task of gathering information. This blog post is what I will be sharing with our garden club members, along with links to tutorials we found on YouTube. 

We shopped for supplies at Home Depot and Michael's . We decided to try small samples, using picture frames. 

We removed the backing of the frames,

 locked the glass back in with the prongs, 

 and sealed the glass edges on the back side of the frame with sealant.

Then I had to figure out my design. Years ago Tom took some classes in making real stained glass and made several pieces. He had left over glass, mostly scraps. We also had some glass cabochons, and bought a few more. 

I began playing around with glass scraps, and with a two minute tutorial from Tom I attempted to cut other pieces. 

 I was not going for anything near perfection, so irregularities were fine.

 After I had my design figured out on paper, I traced around the main shapes and then put that paper under my frame and transferred the glass to the frame. 

When I had all of my glass in place, I used E-6000 glue to fix each piece to the frame glass. 

When all of the pieces were glued in place, I set that aside to dry for a day. 

Since Tom was busy working on bonsai, I began designing the second frame. I tried to use scraps as much as possible, and Tom helped cut some more pieces. My idea was a sunset over the ocean. Although it didn't turn out that well, it was a learning experience.

After all the pieces were glued and dried, it was time to mix and apply the resin.

 Follow the directions for mixing the epoxy resin carefully.

 After pouring on the resin, work it evenly over the pieces with a small brush, being sure to cover all sharp edges. 

 Blow gently to pop any bubbles.

Keep it dust free and let it dry overnight. We found that the resin was not odoriferous, so we brought them into the laundry room, where it was warmer, to dry. 

Here are the finished products.

The clear glass was frosted "glue chip" glass, but the glue on the back to tack it down erased the glue chip pattern, so instead of frothy surf, I have not much, and I needed brighter colors for the water, but it was a worthy experiment, working with what we had.

And there you have it, our samples of faux stained glass.