Putting All Your Eggs In One Basket
I was going to post a tip showing a wonderful way to store and dispense your copper foil but we had not one, not two but THREE(!) incidents this week of students not bringing items that they needed to class. When you're working on a window it's always smart to bring everything with you INCLUDING pattern pieces that you've already cut, glass that you've already used, and glass that you don't think you'll need during class this week. This is becoming an all too popular trend and it's not a good one. Bring everything. If you don't need it there's no harm and no foul. When you have to stop working on your project because you knowingly left something behind at home, well, it hurts.I guess we'll show you the Copper Foil tip next week.
Well now, if I do say so myself, Cindy's Candy Skull is exquisite! I really like this and think that it's just novel enough to turn a lot of heads. And although there's a bit of a scare factor involved it's more striking than spooky. This week you can see how its teeth turned out. Believe it or not, they are all one piece of glass covered in foil. Cindy then took an Exacto knife and removed the foil where the teeth go revealing the glass beneath. All of the black that you see around the teeth is solder covering the foil. I love it!
Becky S completed her Magnolia Window and like everything else she makes, it's flawless. Becky even attached the brass channel herself and learned that if you use your solder sparingly on the brass you end up with a smoother, more polished effect. She even altered her pattern as she ground this window and it still fit together perfectly. This shows what attention to detail gives back in the long run.
Betty had a project that needed to be made quickly during this class. She needed a pattern for the letter 'R' and she needed to complete it before leaving so it could be delivered later that day when the recipient would be moving out of state. The full story goes something like this: A little boy she knows was in her shop and liked a small sheet of glass. He asked if he could have it so he could give it to his grandfather (who he will be moving away from). Betty allowed him to take it but decided that she'd quickly make a window with his initial in it so he could give his grandfather something more meaningful than a piece of scrap glass. And now you know the rest of the story.
Barbara wanted to make a beveled box and this was what she ended up walking out the door with. Started and finished in just one night, this box is a perfect example of elegance and beauty. Barbara plans on making more...
As promised, here's the Boat Window that Chad drew up and then made with Shelley. He's done a wonderful job figuring out how to position the lead lines and the overall work is wonderful. I'm glad I got a good picture of this.
Jeannette made this Flower Hand Mirror while at home and wow, has her work become awesome or what? Look how beautifully her flower pieces fit together and how the flow of the piece is graceful throughout without any sharp points along the curves, or any flat sections. This is what you call quality work.
Terry has her Humming Bird Window not only all cut out but ground as well. She spent most of the night at the grinder and by cutting all of her pieces at once (including her background) she was able to make a window that fits together perfectly. She'll be wrapping and tacking this before you know it.
Roxane was back this week and wow did she get far along on her new Duck Window. This is a large one as compared to Brenda's Duck Window but you might have guessed that from the number of feathers in this. Roxane will start cutting all of those feathers when she comes back in.
Carol has made major progress on her latest Panel Lamp and will solder it all together when she comes back in. Since she can do a finishing solder bead on all eight sides before they're attached together there's even a good chance that this will be completed next week!
Meanwhile, Linda F has begun working on an LSU Window and with just one week into it she pretty much has it all put together. With everything cut and all but one piece ground I'd say that Linda has her act together!
Lynn M came in and finished wrapping the center tulip section of her window and then got it tacked together. She picked a border color that compliments the window perfectly and then got that cut out as well. She's taken the pieces home with her and will certainly get them attached when she comes back in whether she brings them back in skimmed and wrapped or not.
Jan came it, assembled the pieces that she had cut for her Cat In The Hat Bookcase Window and then cut out her various colored books. By the time
the night was over she was ready to grind. This is another window with almost all straight cuts so attention
to detail is VERY important. But I know Jan can handle it because her
first window was made entirely of straight cuts.
Brenda went back to working on her Duck Window because the background glass she had picked for her Beveled Transom hadn't been shipped yet. She got a lot completed on this one though and she's done beautifully with the small pieces. The good news is that her background glass has arrived so she's going to be working on her Transom when she returns to class.
Martha has her borders all cut for her Seafood Window and will start soldering this shortly. The lead lines are all fairly short so soldering this should go nice and easy. After weeks of sweating this window out it must be a relief to see it tacked together now and although I wasn't sure about the outer red border I must say that it was EXACTLY what this window needed.
Jeanne has been busy wrapping her solid lead pieces. Slowly but surely this is turning out to be a masterpiece. When this is completed it will certainly turn a lot of heads and with each week that passes more of the character of this window comes through.
Paula has decided to make all of her box tops before adding the bottoms to them. I like handling it this way because once she starts working on those box bottoms she'll get on a roll and be able to knock them out more efficiently. She's also got the patterns for her next two boxes so expect to see a Ballerina and a Sea Turtle soon.
Up next is Myrt who got all of her Mermaid Window ground and then began wrapping it. I'd like to say that she'll have it tacked together next week but she won't be in class because of 'other commitments'. Let's just leave it at that... (What? Me jealous?)
Rowena now has the top section of her Peacock all cut and ground! We're going to go against the grain and cut the background glass after this is all tacked together-- mostly because the window is so large I want to be sure that it ends up being square (as in having each corner being a perfect right angle). Once those background pieces are cut and attached it will be all about borders! Also not that the bottom feathers of the peacock have been removed to make working on this easier.
Lara now has all of her Mermaid window cut, ground and tacked together. A brass channel was attached and then Lara began soldering the front side. By the time class was over she had the front almost completed and she's taken this home with her to possible solder the back side during the week before her next class. This is just about finished and it looks GREAT!
Susan R resumed work on her stained glass box and learned the importance of starting and stopping your foil where another piece of glass will bump up against it. This is very important on 3D projects because the solder will cause the foil to separate from the glass leaving you with a mess. Don't worry though because Susan's box will be anything but a mess! This is looking great and she'll finish it next week with a bottom that has two separate compartments.
Linda L has most of her Fleur De Lis Window cut out as well as ground and wrapped. She's doing excellent work on it and next week she'll get into bevel cutting which sounds scary but actually isn't at all. It's just a case of coming close and then grinding to perfection. that said, it the wrapping of the cut bevels that is actually the hardest part and even that isn't bad once you know the secret. This window is easily going to look every bit as good as mine did. It's all about attention to detail and Linda has it.
Cindy may have finished her Candy Skull window this week but she also got a lot of work completed on this Fleur De Lis Football as well. She certainly wastes no time.
Then there's Mary Grace who decided to go with two borders on her Welcome Window. After much searching and agonizing she decided on an orange outer border with a thin inner yellow border. Mary Grace should be proud of her work because this window is about ready to be soldered!
And lastly, Sheri also got out of class before I could take a picture of her work but she's moving right along on her FDL and Flowers Window. There's really only the FDL left to cut and grind before she can start tacking it all together. It's moving along quickly and her work is top notch so expect to see what she decides to do to fill in the center diamond section next week
Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks
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