To start things off I'm going to go over the importance of 'foiling' or 'wrapping' correctly. Even though solder covers your foil it will never hide problems that lie within you foiling. Much like how taking your time while cutting your glass will result in less grinding, the neater you foil your pieces the easier your soldering will go.
In the photo below the piece of glass on the left is perfect while red arrows point out BIG problems with the foiling in the piece on the right. These flaws may seems minor but when you try to cover them with solder you'll find that your lead line won't turn out looking nice at all.
What are the problems? Well, the foil on two of the corners is either torn or ripped off the edge of the glass. Most times that problem can be fixed by simply pushing the foil back onto the glass with your fingernail.
The arrow on the left shows where the foil doesn't line up. This ABSOLUTELY needs to be trimmed even or the solder will form what's known as a 'stair step'. You can easily trim this with a razor blade or exacto knife by starting at the large end of the overlap and trimming it to merge evenly with the foil below it.
Also, the foil on the right piece isn't burnished or flattened down at all which results in sharp edges in your soldering which can easily cut someone.
Remember that none of these problems can be fixed once the bad foiling job has been covered with solder. Take your time while foiling your pieces and you'll find that your soldering experience will go much smoother --no pun intended!
Okay then, so Jeanne M's Patriotic Heart Panel may have taken a little time to make due to personal issues that kept her out of class a few weeks but the end result is perfection. Jeanne took the standard Ribbon Heart design and then put it into a window that will be a gift that's sure to be enjoyed.
Susan R's stunning Bass Suncatcher was completed this week and she even had enough time to get its eye dotted before it went home with her. Which reminds me of an old joke.
What do you call a fish without an eye?
A fsh.
These two Corner Decoration Spiderwebs are precious! Yes, one is large and the other is slightly smaller-- that's not a photo error. Susan D has another pair just like these in the works so expect to see 2 more of these a little later on in the month.
MiMi made her own version of the Ribbon Heart, this one signifying Cerebral Palsy. Unlike Jeanne, MiMi's made hers as a suncatcher hence the decorative wire work along the bottom right ribbon which helps keep things nice and sturdy.
Rowena liked her first Butterfly Window so much that she made a second one this week. Instead of all clear glass she made this one in Blue/Green glasses and again, the end result is wonderful.
Angie started this Bee Window last week and here it is completely tacked together with its front side soldered! That's pretty fast work and I know that we'll see this completed upon her return.
There are only a few pieces left to fill in to Belinda's Wine Cats Window. The mood is certainly there as the cats stare out over the water to a peaceful sky. You might think that the interesting thing is that this is a window within a window, but when you realize that the cat's bodies are wine bottles, well, blow my mind!
Martha has begun cutting out the side panel for her Wedding Box and she's doing really just fine. You can see that she has the petals for the lower red flower all traced out and ready to be cut.
Mary Grace worked on cutting out the gun and the arrow for her Marksman Window but had to leave class early. Nonetheless, she got quite a bit accomplished in the short time she was in class. I hope she's feeling better.
MiMi has the center of her Seafood Window all cut, ground and tacked together, including the eyes for each of these tasty creatures. That means that it will be border time when she returns.
Tracey's Grinch Window is ready for solder as she got all of her pieces tacked together and her multi colored background attached. This week you can really see the Grinch in all of his green glory!
Melissa's Birds On A Wire is just about coming up on its soldering phase as all of the birds have been reassemble and the eyes are all in place. I'm predicting that this will be completed in two weeks but I won't be surprised at all if this isn't finished next week.
Shawn really is impressing me with her grinding skills as she seems to have developed them overnight! It's hard to see all the clear background glass that has has fitted into place but things are fitting WONDERFULLY!
Jeannette's Humming Birds and Morning Glories Window may look dark here on the table but when we lifted it up so she could flip it over to solder the second side we got to see how spectacular the colors really are. With only minor touch ups left to go, this will surely be completed next week and then you'll be able to see just what all those dark colors truly look like.
This week we saw Barbara H wrap her background pieces and then cut, grind, wrap, and tack her border into place. She really picked the perfect border glass for this beautiful Wisteria Window.
Mary is really making great strides on her Heron Window and the amazing thing is that what you see here hasn't even been ground. That's how good her cutting has gotten!
And this week you can really see all of the process that Jeff is making on the middle section of his Flower Window. It looks as though he'll be working on his third section before you know it because this is just about ready for it's connecting pieces.
Fido The Poodle got tacked together and then her/his missing pieces were quickly filled in. After that the background glass was cut out and now only needs some quick grinding to get everything fitting together. there may very well be a border on this when we see it again.
All of the glass that Becky has cut for her Egret Window has been ground and a great deal of it has been wrapped as well. Becky has taken this home with her to hopefully get some of the bird feathers wrapped. Whether that happens or not she plans on cutting out flowers for the bottom of this window when she returns.
Rowena got two Dragonfly Flower Pot Decorations cut, ground and ready for assembly after she finished working on her Butterfly Window. That's a lot of progress for one class.
Lastly we have Kerry Tractor Window which is taking more and more shape with each passing week. Now you can really see what this will look like when it's finished.
Somehow I missed my chance to get a picture of Lara's Window. Her Peacock just needs solder on the second side and she's taken it home with her so she could do that. With a little luck she'll be able to wash and color it next week and then we'll get to see a completed picture of it.
And that about wraps things up for this week!
Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks
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