Icy Blue Lines

We had our annual Stained Glass Cruise 2 weeks ago (which explains the lapse in between posts here) and I'll post a picture of the event shortly.  After classes ended when we returned we had our first Weekend Workshop of the year with four new students.  We'll show you what happened there in our next post.

Right now we're going to kick things off with Susan's cross window which she knocked out in no time at all.  It's an easy looking pattern but the trick is in keeping all of those lines straight which Susan did without any problem at all.  As I always say, flowers and birds are easy because if you're cutting or grinding is off no one will notice.  But when you make a window consisting of nothing but straight lines, well, there's absolutely no margin for error at all.

 

Ann's latest Fleur De Lis Window is finished and she timed it just right for Mardi Gras.  The purple, green and gold colored design works great and the matching border gives it that perfect "Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!" mood.

 

Bonnie's Owl is finished and it's a hoot.  (You know I had to say that, however corny it was.)  She has an idea for her next project and I told her to leave it in my hands to come up with a pattern because I used to know of one that I think she's really going to like.  You'll see that next week though.

  

Shelley's Cat Window is officially complete and everything about it is purr-fect.  (I'm on a roll here.)  Faces, like straight lines,  are hard to do because if you are off just the tiniest amount you could have a cross eyed subject, but Shelley got it all together with nary a problem. 

 

Here's the second clear Beveled Window in a set of four that Brenda is making.  Her soldering is amazing and I didn't have to touch up anything on this project at all (I just added the channel around the edges for her).  I hope she's proud of the work she's doing because she should be.

Carol's Round Magnolia has really taken shape.  Everything has been cut and she even knocked out and replaced the flower center because it was mislabeled on that pattern and Carol ended up cutting it out of the wrong color.  But it was an easy fix and Carol got to see first hand how you get a piece of glass out of a window once it's been soldered in place.  We have the zinc channel for this already curved so we'll be attaching that and hopefully hanging this when Carol returns.

 

Our newest student, Gale, made excellent headway this week and has all of her glass cut out for her first full sized project with us.  Her Heron Window looks great and you should be thoroughly impressed when I tell you that this window hasn't even been ground yet! It looks like it fits together already, doesn't it?  I think Gale really paid attention when I told her to cut on the inside of those blue lines when she's cutting her glass.

  

Here's a look at the first of two Octagon Windows that we have under construction this week.  Martha's Dragonfly and Irises Window is sized out perfectly and Martha has begun the soldering process.  I think there's a chance we'll see this completed when she comes back in and that will REALLY make Paula D. happy.  

 

Jane came in with the center piece of her large Rose Window all cut, ground and tacked together.  The window itself is larger than the sheet of glass she picked for her background so we had to 'splice' together three pieces of glass to get it to size.  Luckily the pattern design made piecing together the background glass easy.  She traced her centerpiece onto the glass and then add the straight lines that form the 'checkerboard' pattern and began cutting.  By the time she left everything was cut and ground save for the border. 

 

Jeannette has all of her Geometric Window cut and ground.  I was thoroughly impressed with the speed and accuracy of her grinding this week because she cut out in a number of missing pieces in her background and then got everything ground before she left as well.  That's impressive.

 

Linda L's Yellow Rose in a Vase Window surprised a number of students when they saw it under the table because no one expected it to be nearly as large as it is!  What surprised me is how quickly Linda is moving on this project.  Everything is cut out now, including her white border which she ground and took home with her to wrap.  She'll be soldering this when she returns for her next class.

 

Paula has all three sections of her Mirror Window all cut out and ground.  With only about ten pieces left to wrap I suspect that she'll be cutting the mirror center section of this project when she returns.  She wanted a nice mirror for her bathroom and I know that when this is completed it will be nothing short of beautiful. Next week we should see each section in their proper placement and orientation.

 

Terry's latest window, a Geometric Octagon design, is all cut out and ready for soldering.  This week she got to see just how much 'fun' it is to get an octagon window to fit a template.  Sadly, octagons are never perfect and the window must be made to fit these imperfect openings.  They're never off enough to see with your eye but the discrepancies are enough to make you want to pull out your hair when you try to make the window to the (in)correct measurements. But Terry has it all ironed out now and her window looks great.

  

Rowena has all of her glass cut (save for the border) on her Grapes and Butterfly Window.  The butterfly looks a bit off only because it has no antennas (antlers?) on it--yet.  We're going to add those as a wire overlay when the window is finished being soldered. Next up comes the border and that's always easy.

 

Sue has the front side of her Autumn Window soldered and is now working on the back side (as you can tell from the backwards lettering).  I must say that her soldering is wonderful and I know without a doubt that she'll complete this when she returns.  I can't wait to see what she starts after this is completed. 

 

Wow.  That's all I can say about Mary Grace's work this week.  She impressed me so much with her attention to detail and her glass cutting and grinding.  I haven't touched this window at all and it's fitting together like a dream.  I guess I must be doing something right when it comes to teaching because this work is perfection!

 

Myrt was as busy as a beaver while we were away on our cruise last week.  Her Outhouse and her Louisiana Sheriff Badge window are tacked together and ready for more glass to be added.  I think she'll easily get the border on her  LA Sheriff window when she returns.

 

 

Betty's Trio of Angles is all cut and ready for solder.  In the end she went with a clear glass for a border and although I'm never a fan of uncolored borders, this was the correct choice for this window.  She has her brass channel on so this is ready for soldering.  And since we all know how much Betty loves to solder while she's at home this may be completed when we see it again.

 

And Cindy's Circular Fleur De Lis Suncatcher is only 14 easy pieces away from the finish line.  With all of her black and gold glass cut she'll begin cutting out her background next.  She's eying up another Fleur De Lis design and a geometric design about the same size as this piece so we may see her start one of those soon enough.

 

And that wraps things up for this post.  Expect two more updates during or around the weekend before our next regular post is made next Tuesday.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks