If I Had a Gun I'd Have Had A Pig In My Car

Betty's Abstract Free Form Window looks amazing and the black accent pieces fit in perfectly with the black patina that she used for all of her lead lines.   Of course, she formulated the look of her completed window in her head thus knowing that she would turn all of her lead black.  Because of this she made sure to foil all of her clear pieces with black backed foil so that no copper coloring would shine through the glass.   When you make a window you MUST plan ahead! 

 

 

 

Susan R's Yorkie Dog Suncatcher is going to make someone VERY happy since it was drawn to match a friend's actual dog.  The fact that Susan went to such lengths to match the colors to the photo that she had proved to me that she had a good time making this.  As I always say, it's one thing to make stained glass and it's a completely different thing when you are excited about making it.   A great job indeed!

 

 

 

Is this Lorrie's 3rd or is it her 4th Macaw in a Hoop? Well, either way this is the first time that she's made one this small. At only 20 inches tall this is 2/3rds the size of the medium Macaw Pattern! It's still a perfect project that hangs beautifully and shows off Lorrie's stained glass abilities.

And this is Nettie's second Macaw in a Hoop but I'm not longer sure of which size this was.   I'm going to have to sort through patterns to figure out the sizes because when you only have a picture to go by it's hard to figure out what size you are dealing with.  Nonetheless, it's another beautiful Bird.  Nettie has really been on a roll here!

Nettie also soldered and completed her newest Triple Cross Design. She considered turning it into a window but since it turned out to be such a study piece of glass she decided to leave it as is. Interestingly enough she made this because she wasn't happy with how her first version turned out. I'd say that all's well here though!

Well it's official-- MiMi got the third section of her lamp tacked into place which joins in between sections 2 and 1 thus giving her a complete lamp!  Once it was all assembled she flipped it upside down and added a thin wire to follow the bottom irregular edge which helps add strength and protect the edge pieces.  She did that so quickly and efficiently that she was then able to use key points on the top of the lamp to then center the brass cap.  We tacked it in only three places and then did a lift from the center of the cap and found MiMi had it perfectly balanced on the first try.   After anchoring the cap securely MiMi was then able to begin the actual soldering process.   She'll be continuing that final step for the next few weeks until her lamp is completed in entirety.

  

 

Look at Jan go!   She is doing marvelously with her new Virgin Mary Pattern even getting those thin cuts near the neck in one shot.  I believe that she said she'd like to put this in a window and that will be easy enough but first well have her tack all of this together so we can trace it atop whatever background glass she chooses.

  

Let has decided to substitute small star bevels for the the round nuggets/globs that run throughout the center tan background section.  They look more elegant and they work beautifully with all of the lines that break the background up.  I have a sneaking suspicion that this will gain a channel and some hooks upon her return.

Lorrie's hard at work on her nearly three 3 foot tall Hummingbird Window. She came in eager to begin and traced out the pattern onto some poster board and then picked out a flower, cut it out of the poster board pattern and then traced it onto some glass.   She then cut that glass into its 12 respective pieces. It's small and it's pink and if you look closely you can see that it's not only cut but ground as well! When dealing with large patterns with many pieces it's best to cut the pattern up in small sections leaving the rest all attached.

  

With her Spider Plant all foiled Susan has now moved on over to foiling her Woodpecker. She's currently in the zone when it comes to foiling  and as I always say, 'why stop and drop the ball'? When you're on a roll and things are going great you shouldn't shift gears and move onto something else where you can then easily lose your groove. So foiling her Woodpecker was the best decision in terms of keeping production flowing at a nice steady pace.

  

Tracey has begun a 3D Butterfly Lawn Ornament and spent the night tracing out pattern pieces onto glass and then cutting them into individual pieces. These Butterflies don't take long to make so I'm thinking that she'll have this under her belt and in her garden before you know it.

Kandise is another fast worker. Her Sunset Scene Window was ground in essentially one single night! She was worried about the amount of space that she had between each of her pieces so I slid everything upward to reduce the spacing but then had to re-grind a few pieces. Sadly, one of the pieces on the right was then too short so she's going to re-cut that after this is tacked together since the pattern piece no longer matches the opening left for it. Changes or not, this looks perfect to me!

  

Cindy got her four curved corners cut and fitting into position for her Wolf Window and she didn't take the easy way out to cut those four pieces. Instead of making each corner two separate pieces Cindy cut the deep curves into each piece keeping the four corners whole. After that she even had enough time to completely solder the first side proving that Cindy can knock out a window as quick as quick can be.   

 

 

 

Bee, like Cindy, got the front side of her Window soldered which means that next Tuesday is going to be a busy night when it comes to finished projects. Bee soldered the front side with ease and even has a nice head start done on the back side as well. We'll add some channel to this and hopefully it will be completed in her next class.

  

 

Keri has her last two Pink Princess Philodendron leaves soldered with one of them being finished save for having its 'stem' attached with the second one only needing to be touched up. 3D is never easy to solder and maneuvering these leaves back and forth to keep things level so that the solder doesn't just roll off the lines can take more time than a person might think. That said, these will be completed within the first half hour of Keri's next class.

 

 

 

 

Sheri got to work on cutting out all of the background glass for her Scissor Tailed Flycatcher Window and ended up finishing that part of the job along with having enough time to begin grinding it as well!   With all of the cutting behind her she'll be having a much easier time with this window from here on out.

  

 

Paula's 3D Cactus is getting some decorative lead dots places on the edges of the green cactus pieces. It's a tricky process but I can guarantee that by the time she finishes this she'll have it down pat. It looks to me like she's already there!

 

  

 

 

Just sit back for a minute and admire all of those impressive overlapping hearts that Linda L has precisely ground for her Mickey and Minnie Mouse background. If you want to talk about pieces lining up perfectly than look no further than this window. 

 

 

 

I know I said that I thought this would take Mary months to make, and I know that I said that she was advancing thru this Sunflower Window much quicker than I expected her to but I still never expected her to be flying through this at the speed of light! Mary is wasting no time at all on this window and has really impressed me with just how quickly she's progressing.

 

 

 

 

Next we see that June has the first side of her Multi-colored Cat soldered and that she has even flipped it over and begun soldering the second side.  With that already started I'm sure that this will be another window that we'll see completed next week.

  

  

 

 

Lastly, Judy's Dog Window (He Who Can't Be Posted) has all of its face cut out which means that when she comes back in she'll begin cutting out the intricate collar that features the always fun to make letters 'L', ' S' and 'U'. 

And there ya have it,

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

You Should Send Someone Candy in That

Lorrie's Circular Peacock has been completed and it really is spectacular.  It features an opened circular area in the background which prevented the need for a lead line coming from the beak.   A simple solution to a definite problem.  I just wish I could have gotten a better picture of this because what you see here does it no justice at all.  

  

 

Tracey's Virgin Mary Window was completed this week and what sets hers apart from others is the rounded top. Although it measures a demure 12 inches tall this really looks as though it belongs in a church!

 

 

 

 

Linda F finished off her mid-sized Butterfly Flower Pot Ornament and this is the first one that she's done that had a body added to it. In the past we just left the seam along the center but when I saw someone online cover their seem with a piece of glass to form a body well I knew we'd never go body-less again!  I only wish I'd thought of it myself because it adds so much to the finished butterfly.

 

Paula finished two Crosses that may look familiar but hide a small difference from what we're accustomed to. These are almost half the size of the normal. I always say that size matters when it comes to the look and feel of stained glass. You can enlarge something beautiful and have it look awkward within its new dimensions but shrinking things down ALWAYS works for the best. These crosses are delicate, beautiful and only about as tall as a dollar bill. 

 

 

  

 

Lara wasted no time soldering almost half of her assorted Honeycomb designs this past week. At this rate she'll have all of these completed in the blink of an eye.  Here's a look at just two of the six that she polished off while in class. 

 

 

 

Nettie finished her large Macaw Hoop project and I just can't stress enough how large this actually is. The fact that it's rock stable is something else to be amazed about as well. There's not a single weak spot in this entire 3 foot tall project.

 

Linda has begun cutting the glass for her Flowered Transom Window and she's moving along at a nice rate of speed while maintaining the perfection that she insists on delivering in her stained glass . She's waiting for her background glass to arrive but will be able to continue by cutting out the green for her leaves and her vines.

 

  

  

Betty is officially ready to begin soldering her Swirling Abstract Window which looks mighty impressive to me. You can now see the sections that she's covered with sheet foil.  These are the accent pieces that are few enough not to draw attention but enough to make a casual viewer wonder what was done to achieve such a unique effect.

  

Cindy has all of her Wolf Window tacked together and even added the straight sections of her border. That leaves only four curved border pieces left to go and then she'll begin soldering this beast.

 

 

 

MiMi has the third and final section of her lamp tacked together! After transferring the pieces from the pattern to the actual mold she then set upon adding a thin layer of solder to hold it all together. By the time that was done MiMi called it a night. Next we will see all three sections come together after which MiMi will add a 4" wire ring on the inside top of the lamp near the cap for added support. After that a thin nearly invisible wire will be soldered along the bottom edge for the same reason.

  

 

Susan R's Woodpecker Plaque and her Spider Plant Suncatcher were both on the grinder this week and she'll correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that she has them both completely ground. I do believe that I'm seeing some foiling being done in Susan's immediate future.

 

 

Bee inserted the center Dragonfly oval into the background pieces that she had previously cut and then added more radial cuts for effect and (mostly) added stability.   She's going to be soldering this when she comes back in and then we'll get the zinc channel added to it since this won't be getting a border. 

  

 

 

June's border for her Multi-colored Cat Window is now foiled and tacked into place. She's begun soldering but due to the numerous health issues that kept June out of class and the fact that she hasn't soldered anything for a few months were going to have a quick soldering refresher lesson when she comes back in. Luckily soldering is just like riding a bike-- Once you have it you have it (but it may take a reminder). :-)

 

Susan R is nearing the finish line with her adorable Yorkie Suncatcher. There's little bit of foiling left to go on this and then she'll be soldering. This will be hanging up before you know it!

 

 

 

 

It's easy to see that Linda L is going to have perfect hearts making up the background of her Mickey and Minnie Window. With the top row completed Linda foiled the pieces and then tacked them into position. This ensures that these pieces will not be twisted out of position while she works on the next row. Lot's of pins do the trick as well but they tend to get in the way so this is a perfect alternative. She's also filled in the section between their noses to help keep the window nice and square.

 

 

 

 

Barbara has all of her Fleur De Lis Window tacked together after working on her border pieces this week. In fact, she has almost all of the front side of this soldered already! That means that she'll be soldering the back side when she comes back in which also means that we may very well see this completed in our next post.

 

  

 

 

Nettie has her new Tri-Cross Design ready to be soldered but she still isn't sure if she wants to turn this into a window or just make it as a large Suncatcher. I guess we'll see how she works that out next week.

 

  

 

 

Lorrie also worked on a new Macaw and it looks like this will be fully assembled when we see it again next week.  Oh and yes, this will indeed be mounted in a hoop.

  

Mary's a cutting fool and she's working through her Sunflower window with determination that you don't want to get in the way of! She's not only cutting but grinding as she goes as well. This is proof that when you are really excited about a project you can practically get almost over-involved in it! 

 

 

  

Keri is all set now that she has the last two of her Pink Princess Philodendron leaves cut and ground.  One has been foiled and she's taken the other along home with her to foil there.  She'll surely finish these up next week and then move on to a new project that won't include 3D leaves.

 

 

  

 

Jan has picked out a new pattern to begin and as you can see she's going to make Virgin Mary Window. I believe that she said that she wanted to square this off so that it's a window rather than a suncatcher and that's easy enough to do but first we're going to finish Mary and then decide on the window dimensions.

 

  

Sheri was in but I didn't get a picture of her window.  It's pretty much the same as it was last week save for the fact that she has numerous pieces ground now.   Next week she'll be cutting out her background pieces so we'll see a big difference in what it looks like from the time we last saw it.

Also, Judy's working on tracing out the pattern for a Dog window but since it's a surprise I can't post it here!   

And that as they say is that!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

I Didn't Even Answer

Let's Circular Flower Window is stunning and I love the two strips of borders on each side of the window.  They're not only accent pieces because they are functional as well.   Do you see the lines that radiate out of the points of the flower petals and leaves?  Those beautiful beveled columns stop those lead lines from having to reach all the way to the edge of the circle where they would be very distracting.   Instead, they now direct your eyes to a stunning use of bevels!

 

Martha finished up the work on her Oval Hummingbird and Iris Window  and now that it is off the table you can clearly see that the border is definitely NOT too dark at all.   It's vibrant and it perfectly frames out the rest of the colors that she's used.  I know Martha was a bit 'over it' towards the end of this piece but the end result put a deserved smile on her face.

 

Paula's Sleeping Cat Suncatcher looks like he's dreaming of mice and fish!  The mouth was made with two pieces of wires that were shaped and tacked together by a dot of solder in the center of the mouth.   After that was done we attached it to the nose and there you have it.   He's cute as can be and is going to make a wonderful gift! 

 

 

 

This is the first pair of many Honeycomb Suncatchers that Lara is now assembling.  The nice part of these is that although there is a lot of 'tap-tapping' to do on them it's all on flat surfaces which makes the process much easier.

Keri needs to get three more of her signature Pink Princess Philodendron's completed and this is the first of this new set.  She's averaging one leaf per night and I have no doubt that next week we'll see her second leaf completed.

 

 

 

I may not be getting something done each week but I did manage to make this Bevel Ornament Inside a Bevel Ornament this week.   I made one of these before and sold it at a show before we had even officially opened our booth up to the public.  When I found a box of glue chip 3 x3 bevels that we've had sitting around for a good ten years I knew just what to do with some of them.  The trickiest part of making this is getting the hook on straight!  But it's worth it when you see it in person especially if it's in some sunlight. 

 

  

Bee is nearing the end with her Dragonfly window. Her background glass has now been ground to the perfect size and when she comes back she'll position the oval dragonfly section onto the glass, trace around it, make her final cuts then BOOM! Everything will fit together quickly and perfectly. 

 

 

 

Now that all of her glass has been cut and ground Cindy is foiling each of her pieces. She only has a few pieces of the hind section of the wolf to go and then she'll tack this together and work on her border pieces. Exactness is so important here since she's making this to place into a preexisting opening in a house.

 

 

 

Julie wasn't sure of exactly what she wanted to make when she walked in the door but she did know that it would involve a Heron. After sorting through the patterns that we had in our pattern drawers she found one that immediately caught her eye. It will involve a bit of work but I know that it will look spectacular when it's completed and that Julie is up to the task at hand.

 

 

 

Tracy has her Virgin Mary Panel all cut out, ground, foiled and tacked together! She's decided to put a border around this and the color she has chosen is absolutely perfect. We aren't going to cut out the top three curved sections of this border until the straight pieces are tacked onto the window so we can be sure that the curves line up perfectly with the edges since we can't hide any irregularities with channel.  

 

 

 

Kandise finished cutting out all of her Mountain Scene Window and as you can see her colors are deep, rich and vibrant. She's already begun grinding away at this because Kandise doesn't waste any time when it comes to getting things done.

 

 

 

Susan R has all of her Yorkie Dog Suncatcher cut out and is now foiling her pieces. It's a little tough to see here on the table since we have white pieces of glass laying on top of white paper but when this is up in the air and hanging in a window the design will shine through as plain as day.

 

  

 

 

Lara's work table looks like a full scale sweat shop with her being the only worker!   She's assembling all of the assorted sized Hexagons that she cut a few weeks back for a friend who has positioned the hexagons into roughly fifteen  different Honeycomb designs.  Lara has them all taped together so they won't shift and has averaged two on each tray.   As you've already seen she's got two  down which leaves her with six trays left to go.

 

 

 

Susan D has not one but two projects under way this week. With all of the glass now cut out for her Woodpecker Panel she then began cutting the leaves for her next project: a Large Spider Plant Suncatcher. I haven't seen one of these made in a long time and they always look great so who knows, we may see more of these in the future.

 

  

 

Linda L has Mickey and Minnie's faces tacked together and is not hard at work on grinding all of the hearts that will form the background of this delightful window.  This is really going to look spectacular when it's completed but then again--it ALREADY looks spectacular!

 

 

 

Nettie has her first Macaw all soldered and ready to be 'hooped' when she comes back in. It's a simple process and one that will happen within 5 minutes BUT the bird itself must be colored and waxed before the hoop is attached to it.

  

 

Lorrie has finished cutting, grinding and foiling all of the pieces for her Circular Peacock Window.  After tacking it together she decided to add a border to it even though she really didn't have to.   She ended up picking out a perfect color for the border and then getting the border cut as well as ground and I have to say that it was definitely the best thing to do for this.  The entire piece just came alive once the border was added.  I highly suspect that this will be completed upon her return.

 

 

 

Paula is also working on upping her stained glass talents by learning about decorative soldering.   She's in the process of making a 3D Succulent and learned how to apply little solder dots along the outside edge of the glass.  She's got two down leaving her with just two more to go before she can tack the four pieces together.  After that there's a small flower that goes on top. 

 

  

 

When Mary showed me the Sunflower pattern that she would be working on next I immediately thought that she would be working on it for months.  Not just a few months but lots of months.  I have to say that I was wrong because she is plowing through this at an impressive rate of speed.   It's something that she really wants to do though which makes all the difference in the world. With the top flower tacked together she's now begun cutting out glass for two of the smaller flowers.

 

  

 

It's official! MiMi has foiled the last of the 1059 TINY pieces in her Louis XV Lamp! When she walks back in the door she'll be ready to begin placing these last three hundred and fifty-three pieces onto the mold and and then permanently tack them together. After that it's Solderin' Time!    

 

 

See you in the funny pages!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks