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Piecing in a different Light

Quilts! Beautiful & Breakable?

It’s the latest from Harvest House Quilting ~ breathtaking quilts made of fabulous fabrics and gorgeous glass!

The creators are husband and wife team John and Colleen Plucinski of Plainfield, IL. Colleen designs quilts and John duplicates her designs in fused stained glass quilt inspired items such as miniature panels, plates, bowls, tiles and coasters.

“I’ve always loved stained glass,” said John, “and after receiving some old stained glass windows from Colleen’s grandmother, I began dabbling with repairing old windows. When Colleen saw how much I enjoyed working with the glass pieces, she enrolled me in a stained glass class….that was about 17 years ago. I have been hooked ever since.”

John started by making stained glass panels for family and friends, and that grew into doing commission pieces such as windows and doors in geometric designs for a local glass store.

“I’ve always admired and appreciated quilting’s geometric possibilities,” said John. “So the glass is just my extension of Colleen’s fabric uses for the endless available quilt designs.”

John said he’s worked with quilt block panels in stained glass for several years, and more recently has become interested in fused (hot) glass possibilities.

Explaining the process, John said, “I take compatible glass (clears, opals, colors, Dichroic, etc), layer them, place them into a kiln suitable for glass fusing, and fire them at high temperatures (up to 1500 degrees) to form/fuse them into a solid piece of glass.”

Compatible glass (COE – Coefficient of Expansion) is glass that has been laboratory tested to expand with heat and contract when cooled at the same rate and density. What this means is not all glass is compatible and able to fuse with each other. Unlike fabric -- not all glass plays well together. Glass that is not compatible will crack and break.

Talking through the process of creating a fused glass piece, John said, “As in quilting, first the design must be determined, sized and drafted on paper for use with glass (no seam allowances necessary). Then, as with fabric, color selection is done and the glass is cut according to design and sizes needed. Cut glass pieces are then carefully laid out in the desired design and additional cutting or grinding of glass is done to properly fit the pieces into the design -- much like squaring blocks of a quilt top.”

When fitting of the glass is completed, John carefully places the pieces on top of a second layer of glass, generally a clear or solid colored glass sheet cut to the finished size. He then uses light glue to tack the individual cut pieces so they stay in place while the project is placed into the kiln for firing.

“After all the preparations, there is no guarantee that all the pieces will remain in proper placement during the kiln firing,” John noted. “Glass during firing stages can slip out of place; that’s unlike fabric. Once it’s stitched, fabric remains in place.”

Thinking back, John said his very first fused stained glass piece was a four-inch square tile/coaster quilt block design. After several glass cutting and kiln firing adjustments, the tile/coasters were coming out great. The significance of that first tile was that it was a great small piece that was appealing and it gave John inspiration for more possibilities such as magnets, plates, bowls, etc.

“Knowing how much Colleen and I liked what we were seeing being done with the glass fusing process and the many quilt related possibilities, it just fueled our ‘fire’ even more -- more block designs had to be created in multiple color combinations,” said John. “I had to design plates and bowls with quilt block designs incorporated in them.”

A close look at John’s masterpieces reveals that his plates and bowls coordinate with specific quilt blocks that appear in Colleen’s quilts. His miniature quilt panels are actual replicas of her original quilt designs.

John said he draws inspiration for his work when he looks at what Colleen creates. He’s often fascinated by his wife’s imagination for designs and her color sense.

“She assembles the blocks as accurately as she can and the finished quilt is always very appealing,” he added.

Speaking of her husband’s talents, Colleen shared, “I have always admired the passion and quality of John’s work. It truly shines through the beauty of the glass he creates. We have a shared love of quilting.”

The Plucinskis both do all their creating in the 1,700-square-foot walkout basement of their ranch style home. John’s studio is approximately 12’ x 18’ with a work table in the center of the room, a counter area on one side for all his grinders and glass saws, and a glass and pattern storage area underneath.

“I have a three-foot square light table for drafting patterns with more under table storage, and there is other shelving and storage on the opposite side of the room in addition to one floor kiln and a smaller counter top kiln,” said John. “I also have great overhead lighting and two wonderful windows for natural light.”

John said the good lighting makes for ideal working conditions and added that it also helps to have a clean worktable, some music playing, or the television on, showing a good, old John Wayne movie.

Considering the time John spends in his studio, the movies do indeed keep him company. He said a flat miniature quilt panel requires one 8-12 hour kiln firing, in addition to all the design and glass cutting process time which can be as few as four to six hours for small projects to as many as 16-36 hours for intricate projects. A plate or bowl requires a second 8-12 hour kiln firing process to take the flat fused items to a molded shaped plate or bowl.

“Some of my fused glass miniature quilts have over 250 separately cut pieces of glass,” John said. He added, smiling, “That’s just a ‘small’ undertaking to further preserve quilting.”

John’s beautiful fused stained glass quilt inspired items are one section of product offered through Harvest House Quilting which is found online at www.harvesthousequilting.com. Colleen also markets her patterns and kits, notions and tools on the site.

She added, “Harvest House Quilting’s mission is to produce original designs with easily understandable instructions -- simple instructions for simply great quilt projects. Top quality fabrics and select notions are important in any quilting project and those are also available through Harvest House Quilting. Many of my new pattern designs and more of John’s fused stained glass items are in the works, with many more waiting in the wings … so keep a watch on the site for new offerings.”

Reprinted from Quilting Now magazine, August 2007