Maybe You Need Aloette

Here's a quick tip that some people just don't think about and therefore needs to put in print.   Most glass has a flaw or two (or even seven of eight) throughout the sheet so be careful that when you trace around your paper pattern that you don't run over any of these flaws.   In Spectrum Glass (now known as Oceanside) the flaws are small and hard to see (I've outlined them in black in the photo below because they are EXTREMELY difficult to photograph and even when traced in black they are still hard to see, hence the red arrows pointing to them).   Try to avoid cutting through these, especially if your cutter will be traveling the length of the flaw.   Glass is more likely to break there especially when hot solder is applied on top of these flaws.  So, long story short, if you feel your marker traveling through one of these flaws,  shift your pattern piece to avoid it.

Well, look at what we have here-- Becky S's 5 foot tall Egret Window!   I change the description from 'Egret' to 'Heron' each week because I just can't remember what's what.   Nonetheless, this is a spectacular piece of work whose structural stability has been enforced through the use of re-stripping and soldered zinc channel (which will be a tip for a later blog post).  Becky's work is absolutely flawless and the colors are breathtaking.  Just look at that water! I can't wait to see her start the companion piece to this when she returns next week.

 

Up next is another project that proves that sometimes colors do make the window.   Lara's Modernistic Deer embraces a multitude of colors yet still maintains it's essential constituency from within the mix (I'm channeling my inner art critic here!)  Seriously though, I love this.   It's different and it's bold which is probably why everyone who has seen it has commented positively about it. 

 

So this HUGE window came out of nowhere!   At three foot long I have no clue how Angie kept this such a secret!   Then again, the only thing she did while in class was to solder the back side of it and then finish it off by coloring it.  If you want someone to keep a secret Angie is your woman!  Red, white and blue will be a reoccurring color scheme this week but when it comes to this window you can color me VERY impressed!

 

Jeannette completed her Easter Window in record time and only had to do a little wire work on it this week before washing and coloring it.  The wire work involved making whiskers for the bunny and stamen for the lily.  It's little extra's like that which make a window really stand out when you look at it, and this window stands out.

 

Kerry's Ukulele Window was completed just in the nick of time so he could present it to his son on Friday.   I've already seen numerous posts on Facebook showing Liam with his window and the look on his face says that he certainly appreciates it!  And what's not to like on this?  Kerry made great strides with his soldering on this as his talents grow stronger and stronger with each passing week.

 

Shelley's Dragonfly and Water Lily got to see some sunlight behind it now that Shelley has finished it.   Although it was a spur of the moment pattern decision the completed window looks lovely indeed.   Shelley always does great work and this window certainly proves it.

  

Patrice put the finishing touches on her latest Texas Longhorns Window and this time she went with a fancy border that carries the read, white and blue color motif into the outside edges.   It's looking good indeed and Patrice's skills are expanding each and every week.

 

Yep, we had a new student start this week and Belinda  started off like a pro.  I love her choice of colors and her work is already top notch.   I know we'll be seeing big things from her in the weeks to come.

  

Rowena had finished everything on this window save for the hooks while she was at home so it only took a few minutes to bend some wire and get this panel ready to hang.   I knew this would be popular as soon as I saw the pattern and that's why I just finished two of these for myself just an hour ago.

 

Tracey says she's getting close to finishing the lot of Crosses that she has to make.  She's currently looking for another Cardinal pattern so although that's in her future, expect to see at least one more of these Crosses soon.

Cindy's Faux Mosaic Birds are just about ready to get a background cut around them.  I love how Cindy has run with this pattern as I only provided the outline of the birds and their placement in the window that they will reside in.   Cindy came up with the mosaic pattern all on her own and managed to created three distinct birds out of nothing but quarter inch squares!

 

After finishing her Easter Window Jeannette went to work grinding this Bunny Suncatcher that she cut out while she was at home.  She's got it all ground now and ready to wrap.   If you look closely you can see that this is the same rabbit that appears in her Easter Window just a few pictures up.  Larger windows are generally comprised of numerous smaller subjects collaged together and that's how her Easter Window was created.

Becky B is all set to tack her Magnolia Window together and then add some borders to it.  She wants to go fancy on this and I think I heard her say that three borders would be ideal.   We'll easily gussy this up when she comes back in for sure!

Shawn managed to cut all of the glass for her colorful Flower Window and then even moved on to the grinding process.   Every now and then I'd hear her say, "I like grinding!" and I have to say that she's good at it because things are fitting together wonderfully!  This is going to be a beautiful, vibrant window for sure.

Next up we have another vibrant window that Lara began work on.   She was able to cut out all of her pieces in just one class which isn't surprising at all if you've been following Lara's work here.   I suspect that this will be ground before you know it!

 

Martha ended up walking away from the grinder this week as she now has her Magnolia Window fitted together.  I have to say that her fitting is so perfect on that I honestly thought that she still had to cut out her clear background-- I couldn't see any seams and thought that there was glass missing where the background should be!  That's great work.

 

This little Leprechaun is almost complete as Susan got him tacked together and then cut out the background pieces of glass.   I have no clue what she plans to use for a border on this but I have no doubt that we'll find out when Susan returns next week and this little guy is framed.

  

With most of the right side of Mother Mary fitting together like a glove, Jeanne M will resume grinding upon her return.  This is a complex design and the fact that Jeanne is already this far along shows just how good a student she is.  We're considering a fancy border for this window that will make it look like something that came out of a church so expect a border reveal shortly.

 

Annette has picked out a pattern for her first window and I think it's going to look wonderful.   She's gone with a Tiffany inspired design featuring two cardinals that she's making out of solid colors rather than clear glass to help block the light that streams in through one of the windows in her house.  With her paper pattern all cut out and some of her background glass already cut, she's off to a great start.

 

Besides finishing her Rose/Cross/Heart Panel Rowena also worked on this Cross/Lily/Dove Window this week. By the time she left class she had the center section all wrapped and ready to be tacked together.   Since the central design cuts into the border  (on all four sides no less!) she will tack this together and then add the thin border followed by the final thicker border.   This ensures a perfect straight line for all of her border pieces.

 

Tasha has all of her glass cutting behind her now on her Buxom Wine Ladies Window and she'll be moving along to the fitting/grinding process upon her return.  For someone who hasn't cut glass in about 9 months she's certainly forgotten nothing because she's flying through this window!

 

Linda L's three Baby Girl Suncatchers have each been ground this week and two of them are already foiled as well.   That means that with just 5 pieces left to wrap we'll surely see two or even all three of these finished when Linda comes back in next week.

 

Susan R's Shamrock Window is ready for its back side to be soldered and that will then make it a completed project.   I have NO doubt that this will be featured at the top of the blog next week among the other completed projects.  Had I realized sooner that she needed channel on this she might have even finished it this week.  My bad for sure.  :-(

 

Jeff's making great headway on his assorted window panels and he's already figuring out (on his own) the best way to assure precision while making a geometric pattern.   We cut everything out before we grind in most windows, but geometric designs are different in that respect.  Sometimes it's best to tack as you create each section and that is exactly what Jeff is doing with these pieces.

 

 

With the background cut out for her Flower Window, Mary Grace has begun grinding all of her pieces.   We're going to be making some major changes to this design by adding to the length and width of the window so this is going to take a completely new look once we have it fitting together.   Fact is that what you see below will essentially be a window within a window.

 

Melissa's Le Pieta Window now features Mary with lips!   In the end we went with a very light pink and although it's hard to see while it's lying down on the table, the lips are perfectly visible, yet subdued, when the window has some light behind it .   If you look to the left of Mary you'll see that Melissa has got her columns all in line-- something she was worried about but worrying about no longer.  She's getting close now!

 

Now that most of Oakley has been wrapped you can really see what MiMi's window will look like once it's soldered and then the solder is patinaed.  MiMi plans on getting this tacked together when we see her again and I have no doubt that she'll achieve that accomplishment.

 

Patrice not only finished her Texas Longhorns Window--  she also cut out this Fleur De Lis Suncatcher in a very fashionable Red, White and Blue.   If you're paying attention you've already realized that she's utilizing the same colors that she used in the Longhorns window.  There's a term for that and it goes like this: Waste not, want not!

 

With everything ground in his Sugar Cane Window, Roy is now beginning to foil all of those pieces.  Since he's used plenty of pins I have no doubt that everything will fit together even as the foil expands things because he's used pin in between his pieces to allow room for foil.  Expansion can be a problem while wrapping but Roy has ensured he has plenty of room for any growth.

 

Barbara has decided that she wants to make a few Lawn Ornaments and she's starting with the ever popular 3D Butterfly design.   She came into class, traced out her pattern pieces, cut them all out and has already begun to grind.   That's a productive day!

 

Carol is also making butterflies as well and she's already begun soldering hers.   Once she has the edges soldered she'll attach the two wings, add the body and the antennae, and this will be ready to be staked!

I believe I got a picture of everything that was worked on this week which lately has been a problem for me. The ten completed windows we saw in this post means that we had an extremely productive set of classes.   And there will surely be more finished next week, so come back again!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

He's just 110, Not 220

Let's get right into things here since I'm late once again!

Sheri's Traditional Window got a slight update when she added a beveled inner border which led to an end result that is breath taking!  I have to say that I really love how she handled those two borders because by using only clear glass she allowed the focus to fall solely on those magnificent bright colors in the center of her piece.

 

Next we take a look at two Peacocks that were each completed by different students this week.   This is Betty's rendition of the standard peacock that I've made time and time again.  She used multiple colors in and throughout the birds feathers and then added a wide inner border of bevels, followed by a  final border of the same glass that she used for the peacock's body.   Stunning!

Our second Peacock was made by Martha and she took the same pattern but ran in a different direction with it.   She kept a blue and green color scheme throughout the window, trimmed it with a thin inner border of bevels, and then used the same blue/green glass that she used in the wing for her final border.   There's no right or wrong here, only what Martha and Betty liked best!

 

Linda L completed her American Flag inspired Mickey Mouse Lawn Ornament and it's ready to be staked in her yard!   I don't think you'll find another one of these any time soon unless Linda makes it for you!

 

Barbara H put the finishing touches on her Santa Claus Window this week, and when I say finishing touches I mean the eyes!   Now that Santa can see and has been cleaned up he's ready for hanging in just 9 more months (Christmas is getting here quicker than ever).  Slow and steady wins the race because this Santa looks GREAT!

 

Next up we have another Butterfly which can only mean one thing-- we have another new student!  Annette is actually the mother of Shawn, who started last week, but unlike Shawn, Annette has done some stained glass work before.  Her cutting was spot on the line and her Butterfly came out wonderfully so I can't wait to see what she does with us in the weeks to come.

Speaking of Shawn, let's see what she's up to this week.   As you can see she's picked a flowery window design that she's filling with nice bright colors to make this really cheery looking.  With this being her first real window I have to say that she's doing great already!   I think we got all those doubts about her abilities out of the way when she saw her butterfly get completed last week.

 

Now here's a blast from the past, Tasha is back in action and cutting glass as though she never took a few months off.   She started making the Buxom Women with Wine Window and with just three hours into this project she's already got the women taking shape.   I guess stained glass is just like riding a bike-- once you've done it you never forget how it's done.

 

Mary is also moving along at an astounding rate on her Cross Window.   Here it is already cut out just two weeks after Mary started it!  She made excellent use of the pistol grip cutter which helped make all of those radiating lines perfectly straight.  She's already moved along to the grinder and even has numerous pieces of this ground. 

  

 

After wrapping up the washing and coloring of her Traditional Window, Sheri moved along to a pattern that's an old friend of hers-- the Circular Butterfly.   I believe she said that was going to be making three of these and as you can see she already has the first butterfly cut out already.  Experience certainly pays off.

  

Linda L is working on a set of three Baby Girl Suncatchers and they're all cut out and ready to be ground.  In fact, she's got one bonnet already ground so I think we'll see these done VERY quickly.

Betty finished all of the cutting on her two Easter Bonnet Windows and then got them tacked together and borderized to boot!  She'll most likely be soldering these at home, but if not then we know what she'll be doing when she comes back into the shop next week.  Much like the Peacocks earlier on in this post, this is another example of how a color scheme can completely change a window.

  

Susan R surely made the most of her class this week as she got her Owl all wrapped and a Shamrock Window all cut out and ground as well!  Your guess is as good as mine as to which of these will be finished first because they are both so close to completion already.

 

With two birds done and just one more to go I have to say that Cindy is a glutton for punishment.  Look at all of those tiny pieces that she's been cutting and wrapping!  Once that last bird is tacked together the rest of this is going to be a piece of cake.  And I've officially named this window the Faux Mosaic Bird Window.

  

Jeannette's Easter window is all cut out and she's made a HUGE change in it since last week.   When she had left us she had traced out all of the pieces for her sky onto a light blue and white glass.   She took the glass along home with her to cut out during the week but when she put them into place she didn't like the blue at all and then re-cut all of the sky/background using the clear glue chip glass you see below.  That's a huge undertaking but she'll be far happier changing it than she would be trying to convince herself that she liked it done in blue glass (which she didn't).

  

Meanwhile Rowena was busy working on a Cross/Heart/Rose Panel and it looks like she's got this well under way.   To be honest I never really made it over to her work spot during classes and I'm assuming that this window was what she was working on.  Sometimes it gets hectic in our classes and I lose track of things.  This is one of those times!!

Jeanne M's Virgin Mary Window is taking shape now from the upper right on downward.  She's mastering the art of using the next adjoining piece to make the previous piece fit and I think she's got it now.   Grinding this way allows you to get a perfect fit with each trip to the grinder.  I highly recommend it but you can't do that if you grind as you cut (which is a bad habit to get into).

 

Next we have another Mary to look at, but this one is patterned from Michelangelo's La Pieta.   What Melissa doesn't know yet is that the third time was indeed the charm because Russ fired new lips on a third piece of glass and we both like the way they came out of the kiln.  I still haven't see the glass in its proper position in the window because I'm waiting for Melissa to see it first.

 

Becky B's Magnolia Window is everything she was looking for, it just took a little time to get there.  With all of her glass now cut Becky is ready to begin grinding her background glass and then add a double border to finish it off.  She's a woman with a mission.

 

MiMi's Okley the Dog In A Life Preserver Near A Pool With Trees In The Background While Sitting On A Deck And Wearing A Snorkel And Mask is undergoing the wrapping stage of its development.  This week MiMi added a little depth to the dog's nostrils but cutting two pieces of a different textured black for the left and right sides of the nose.   The end result looks great, wouldn't you say?   I may be going out on a limb but I do believe that Okley the Dog In A Life Preserver Near A Pool With Trees In The Background While Sitting On A Deck And Wearing A Snorkel And Mask is a one of a kind window.

 

Patrice got this Texas NFL Logo Window all cut out and tacked together (save for the border) while she was at home last week.   When she came into class she designed the fancy border, got it all cut out and then took it home to solder together.  This is the second one of these she's done and this one almost literally flew together for her!

 

Then we have Carol who worked on two more Butterfly Lawn Ornaments and they are nearly complete.   All she needs to do is tack them together at an angle (for the 3D effect), add a body, antennas, and a stake, and then these will be ready to decorate a yard!

With all of her background glass cut out Mary Grace has move along to the grinding process of her stained glass Flowing Flowers Window.   Her cutting is better than it's ever been and that means that her grinding should go a lot easier for her.   

 

This week Kerry got to see the glass ring saw in action as we cut out the rectangular section near the bottom of the Ukulele for the bridge.   He also cut out the frets along the neck of the instrument and when he returns he'll work on his border(s).

 

Martha is making a Magnolia Window of her own and as you might be able to see from the picture, it's already fitting together nicely.  She's made short work of this project and I'm thinking that Crosses will be next in her immediate future.

 

Tragedy struck Becky S during the week as her soldering iron stopped working just as she was planning to finish off the second side of this window!   She got a new iron as soon as she came into class and got a good two thirds of the back side soldered as well.  I think we can plan on seeing this completed upon her return because even if it isn't all soldered she'll still be able to get this done before the night is over with.

  

Roxane is back to work on her Penguin Window and it's shape is really taking form now.  She's taken this home with her where she hopes to get even more work done on it for next week.

 

  

With just one piece of green glass to replace, Shelley's Dragonfly and Water Lily Window is as close to being completed as can possibly be.   We'll be featuring this window when we return, and you can bank on that!

 

Lara's Contemporary Deer Window is all soldered and ready to be colored.   We've replaced the broken piece and no one would ever suspect that we replaced anything (unless they read this blog!)  This is another window that will surely be completed in our next post.

 

Lastly, Jeff ran out the door before I was able to snap any pictures, but he's making great progress on his series of panels.  I promise to get a picture when we return next week.  Until then, may all your score lines break perfectly!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks