First, set the adjustment screw on you running pliers so that they completely close. Next wrap the rubber band around the end of the handle grips of the pliers so that it holds them closed (you may need to wind it around two or three times depending on the size of the rubber band.)
Now you can place a suncatcher or a piece of glass inside the pliers so that it holds the piece for you, thus freeing up your hand! I've even used two pairs of pliers (each at opposing ends) to hold larger pieces. This has helped me MANY times in the past and hopefully will help you as well.
Okay then! Jeannette completed her beveled window this week and what an incredible job she did from start to finish. You just can't lose with a beveled window and this certainly proves that point. When you make a window with a beveled border like this you should start by tacking the border together and then grinding the rest of the window to fit inside. It prevents any nasty surprises from happening later on in the window making process. As you can see, Jeannette got this to fit perfectly within its border.
Carol made a large Pumpkin Suncatcher this week and it's sure to be a popular item as October/November roll around.
Becky S finished her second Birds On A Wire Project this week and she did
another wonderful job putting these birds together. Although these are similar to the
first one that she made there are a few color differences throughout since she made these out of scrap glass. Nonetheless, you just can't lose with this pattern-- especially if you're Becky.
Susan R completed her 3D Hummingbird Suncatcher and discovered that working with tiny pieces can indeed be time consuming. The end result turned out wonderfully and it hangs nice and straight from a single hook between the wings. Another fine job by Susan!
Then we have Bonnie who finished her three Angel Suncatchers and topped each of them off with halos made of spun wire. Aren't they lovely?
Tracey continued grinding her Deer window and is getting closer and closer to the wrapping stage of this project. It already looks great but just wait until this is completely fitted together (which won't be long now).
It's official, Mary Grace is working on a Hibiscus Window! I can hold my own when it comes to making stained glass but I have no talent for identifying flowers (or birds!). Regardless, Mary Grace began grinding her window this week and what INCREDIBLE progress she made! I showed her how to grind one piece by using the next piece as a guideline and she just flew through the grinding. It's a beautiful window and Mary Grace is doing excellent work on it.
Melissa managed to complete all of the grinding on her large Birds With A Nest Window and has done a great job on getting everything to fit together. She's boxed up a lot of these pieces and taken them home with her so she can hopefully tack this together when she comes back in. Once it's all tacked solid Melissa will begin working on the border for this.
Speaking of borders, Mary got her borders attached onto her Birds Window and even began soldering it already. There are a lot of tiny pieces in this project but Mary didn't let them scare her away. She just set her mind on getting to the end and that's almost where she is with this now.
Janelle came in with the pieces to her Seagull Window all wrapped and ready to be tacked together. Once that was done she even managed to get her first border cut and ground. Now she's taken those border pieces home to wrap and will get the final border attached when she comes back into class. This window will get some soldering done next week and I have no doubt about that.
Terry's begun wrapping her Blue Flower Window and now that it's all fitted together you can see that this is going to be another spectacular window. I love the design and Terry's sparse use of color gives this a distinctive look indeed. In fact, it reminds me very much of Blue Ware plates and bowls.
Jan began cutting out her Sunburst Window and has done great work already. Once all of her cutting is completed she will assemble her beveled border and then grind all of this to fit within the border. there's nothing worse than attaching a beveled border and discovering it doesn't fit. Since the bevel;s can't change size you have to make adjustments on the center 'finished' section. That won't be the case here with Jan though.
Rowena is working on a Zebra Head Lawn Ornament and at only 8 inches
tall you can see that this is chock full of pieces! I had eliminated a
few when I drew it up and Rowena has managed to eliminate a few more but
this is still a very complex design. But that's how it goes when
you're working on a zebra. There aren't any short cuts...
Roxane has her Cross Window tacked together and her first border attached. She also cut and ground the final border which she's taken home to hopefully wrap sometime during the week. Since this window consists of mostly straight lines the soldering should go easily for Roxane (that's not to say that she can't handle any 'hard' soldering). With her next pattern all picked out Roxane has some extra incentive to get this window done quickly so she can move along!
Linda F has both of her borders cut for her Flowerpot Window and has even begun soldering it already. Since Linda can easily hold her own when it comes to soldering I have to say that this project is just about completed. I can't wait to see what's next for Linda.
Then we have Brenda who has decided to NOT go with a second border on her American Flag window. Since the border that we cut last week was cut thin she's re-cut the border using thicker pieces and spend the night getting ready to tack this new border into place. After that there's just some soldering to do before this window is completed.
Bonnie started this Pansy Suncatcher after her Angels were completed and she already has it ground and ready to be wrapped. She won't be adding the stem and leaf so all of the cutting is over with on this project.
Linda L was going to start a LOVE Window but needed to get something done quickly before she starts on that project. She decided to make a beveled Fleur De Lis as a gift and it's ready for its double border already. That's what I call making good time!
Martha has her Deer Window all tacked together and will be adding a border to this when she comes back in. She's done a great job on this needing no help whatsoever.
Shelley also got a lot done in class this week as she tore through the background and border pieces for her Humming Bird Window. The bright yellow border is halfway wrapped which means that this is just about ready to be soldered. I'm thinking that this will be completed when Shelley returns!
Sheri is all set to wrap her Heron Window. I've been calling it a Crane and as I stated earlier, I don't know my flowers or my birds! Sheri likes wrapping at home because of the light and the magnifying tool that she uses so she'll most likely come back in with a good portion of this foiled. There's a lot of window here so I'm thinking that it won't all be completed but Sheri has begun a Dragonfly Suncatcher that she can work on while in class if this Heron isn't ready to be tacked together. It's eye is bandaged in the picture because we painted a black dot for a pupil just before Sheri left and we wanted to make sure it wouldn't smudge before it dried during transportation.
Susan D is a Flower, Bug and Leaf machine! She's managed to knock out three more multi-petaled flowers and has them all soldered already. Amazing, and most certainly impressive, because she does it entirely on her own. I think she has this down!
And Cindy has another panel for her lamp all cut out and she's already started to grind it. I think that she's finding each successive panel to be a little easier to make than the one before so in two more weeks she'll be an expert for sure when it comes to making panel lamps. When all the sides are joined together there's still a small border that will hang straight down from the bottom edge.
Carol worked on a 3D Bumble Bee Lawn Ornament and got as far as assembling it and getting the front side soldered. These are always fun to make and they always turn out great. I love how Carol threw herself into the curving of the body and the wings. Carol ended up with some beautiful curves!
Susan R loved Linda L's Welcome signs so much that she's making one of her own with a twist--- she's turning the sun into an eclipse. How very 8-21-2017 of her!
Lastly we look at what Barbara is making. She spent her night tracing out, numbering, and cutting up the paper pattern pieces to a Tulip Window. There are a lot of pieces in this but I know it's going to be beautiful when it's completed. The key to making this window look great is to use only subtle color changes through out the glass that she picks. You'll see that unfold as this window develops.
And that's about it here. All our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Texas who is affected by Harvey. It's hard to watch this happen yet again.
Paul
No comments:
Post a Comment