Don't Wrap Your Scraps!

Separating your scrap from your finished pieces while you cut is something that can help keep your table from becoming too cluttered. I personally like to drop all of my waste directly into the trash rather than onto my work surface and I also like to place my cut pieces directly onto my pattern.  Doing this not only shows the progress that you're making but also prevents you from mixing scrap pieces in with your good pieces and, even worse, throwing any of your good pieces away!

So first off on our completed projects this week is Terry's Flower Bouquet Window.  It's a fairly large window at almost 2 feet by 2 feet and it's a perfect design to go wild with color.  Terry drew up the pattern herself and when she asked me to touch up the back side because she 'messed it up' I was expecting some major work ahead for me but Terry was making mountains out of mole hills because there was hardly any touching up to do.  And you can see that the front side is soldered perfectly as well!

Next we take a look at Ann's Geometric Window.  This will be the last time we're going to see this project because as you can see, it's now completed!  I was going to give Ann the Gold Star of The Week for soldering because her work on the second side just went above and beyond, but there was another student that did just as wonderfully as Ann and I can't possibly pick between the two of them since both did exceptional jobs.  But I will say again that Ann's soldering was something to behold on this window which places Ann in a tie for first place for soldering this week!

 

Betty completed this Modern Art Window and finished it off with a thicker Zinc Channel to give it some extra stability.  Whenever you have a window with straight lines running the complete length or width of the window you know you need some extra bracing to prevent it from 'folding'.  Another way to help stabilize the window would be to add a border but this window doesn't really lend itself to a border.  Luckily, it does work exceptionally well with the thicker zinc channel.  Betty's cut lines are all perfectly straight which really makes or breaks this design so this is another project that she can certainly be proud of.

Donna has been working far too hard at her new job but she was back in class this week and made another of the 3D Stars that seem to be so popular again.  I must confess that I usually make one or two of  these in December and watch as most of the students make 2 or 3 of them themselves for gifts.  Donna appears to be very well be ahead of the game in this respect and her work on this is stunning.

Jane started this panel at home and came in with the amber Fleur De Lis cut out, ground, wrapped and tacked together.  While she was in class she cut out the background, fit the borders to the 4 square bevels in her corners and then soldered it as I watched.  And I have got to say that Jane is the second person to get our Soldering Award this week.  Watching her solder this window was amazing to me because I saw so many of my techniques come into play as she flowed the 50/50 lead onto all of the foil.  I didn't have to touch up a single line or joint  and I'm thrilled with both Jane (and Ann's) soldering this week.

 

You know when you see our standard Stained Glass Butterfly that we have a new student in class.  This pastel violet butterfly was Helen's first project with us and judging from her work on it I'm going to say that it will be the first of many great projects.   Helen had no problems at all so I can't wait to see her move along to a full fledged window (the pattern of which will remain a surprise until next week).

 

Betty started cutting out this advanced Fleur De Lis window while she was in class and I'm impressed with the progress that she made in just one class.  When you get right down to it all of her cutting is completed (save for the border) so that means that she's free to begin grinding it.  Her background is a very heavily textured amber and the actual FDL is solid black.  It looks great already!

Brenda's Cross Window is all cut and ready for the border to be attached.  There's something very elegant about this window and I'm not saying that just because I drew it up--  I think it's the use of the five Star Bevels throughout the cross.  And the idea of matching the border to the cross glass allows the viewer appreciate the design rather than the distracting them with extra color.  Brenda will most likely have this very classy window completed next week.

Cindy started working on her version of Terry and Brenda's Red Fish Window.  She's changed the background completely to make this her own and is doing a great job.  Cindy is grinding everything as she goes along which is something that I generally frown upon, but she's been making stained glass for so long now that I know her cutting will be spot on without any need for adjustments later on.

Wow, just look at the progress that Linda has made on the Vegetable Window for her kitchen.  The pattern comes from a faux stained glass window that she's had for years and now that she's making real stained glass she's decided to replace the fake one with this.  We've readjusted a line or two so that the cuts will all be possible but by and large this pattern is almost identical to the original window.  And just look at all the glass that Linda cut this week!  It's really taking shape quickly.

And speaking of vegetables, Bonnie is about as happy as a rabbit in a carrot patch now that she has all of the pieces for her lamp cut AND ground!   As our regular readers know she's already begun wrapping her pieces at home and this week she took the remaining pieces.  That means that we'll start seeing progress real soon rather than looking at her mold each week.  That's not to say that she's been doing nothing-- far from it.  With a lamp you don't see all the work that's been done until it starts going onto the mold.  And Bonnie will be doing that shortly now.

 Here's another Fleur De Lis and this one is being made by Martha.  With her double border all tacked in place and the brass channel attached I'll say that she certainly sees the light at the end of the tunnel now!  Honestly though, Martha made this window look easy.  It's perfectly symmetrical and perfectly square and all the curved lines even line up as well.  If all goes well she'll have the front soldered when she comes in but that's going to depend on her schedule at home-- she's a busy one!  Nonetheless, this is very near completion now with just the soldering left to be done.

What a difference a little grinding makes!  Last week it was hard to see just what Shelley's window was going to look like and now that she's got one class of grinding under her belt it's all coming together.  And, as she even pointed out herself, she got this far pretty much on her own with no hand holding.  And that means that Shelley is officially past the beginner student stage.  :-)

Mary finished her Iris Window last week and began making this large free standing Angel this week out of a light, pastel blue glass.  She already has the gown and wings cut out leaving only ten pieces to go before she moves onto the grinding stage of this project.  Her cutting is proving to be her strong point and I have no doubt that we'll see this completed very quickly.

Mary Grace had the front of her Humming Bird Window soldered and then moved onto the back side.  By the time she left  class she was more than three quarters of the way through it.  Her soldering has improved dramatically and this window will certainly be completed when she comes back in on Wednesday. 

Meanwhile, Susan is doing something completely different for her latest project.  She's decided to make a four sided panel lamp based on a classic geometric stained glass window design which I think translated to a lamp perfectly.  there's no doubt that this is going to be stunning.  You can already tell just by looking at the pattern.  Susan has traced out a lot of pieces onto her background glass and is now ready to begin cutting.

Terry not only finished a window this week but she also started working on a small Beveled Cross as well as a classic Fleur De Lis window in amber tones (which also seems to be a trend now).  I love how when Terry hits a lull in a project she'll begin another project that she can continue working on rather than sitting by idly!  That's why Terry always has two or three windows in the works.

And Tim has decided to do a 5 inch Christmas Ornament based on the classic Nativity scene.  Here we have the star, Mary, Joseph, and a swaddling baby Jesus.  Tim took it somewhat easy this week (which is understandable considering just what he's been accomplishing lately) but he's got everything picked out for this and is ready to go.

And that about does it for our weekly update.  There's rarely a week that goes by without at least one completed project and next week looks like it won't be an exception to that rule.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks