Monday, May 1, 2023

Have you Tried Squeezing It?

Annette's Winged Cross is a popular design but certainly NOT a beginner pattern.  There's a veritable slew of tiny pieces in this and if that weren't enough this is a mirrored image meaning that it's very easy to place and grind pieces backwards which mixes up the front and back of the glass.  Slow and steady wins the race though and Annette did WONDERFULLY with this.

  

 

Cindy completed not one but two Stethoscope Heart Hoops.   These are a perfect example when it comes to using a metal hoop with your project.  Without the hoop these stethoscopes would collapse due to the thin pieces of glass and the number of hinge points throughout those thin pieces.   Filling in the area inside the heart helped to strengthen the piece but the thin pieces that hang off the bottom would surely break off if it weren't for the hoop holding everything in place firmly.

 

 
 
Every time I saw a Hoop being used I thought that one of the best possible uses for one would be to make an acrobat inside it.  And you can hang her from many different places for different effects.
 
 
 
 
It's a Kitty on the Moon!  It only takes eight pieces of glass to make these with all but one of them being among some of the easiest cuts in the world.  That tail requires grinding with the small 1/4" grinding wheel but the rest of the cuts are a piece of cake.


Let is well underway on a pattern that we've never seen done before: a Flower in a Vase.  The thing is, she's worked on this exclusively at home so this is the first time that I've seen it, just the same as you.    And I must say that it's looking very good!

  
 
 
Barbara's Rooster Window has taken shape in a big way now that all of the glass that makes up the Rooster itself has been cut.   She's going to grind all of this and even tack it together before she cuts any of the glass that makes up the 'scenery' or the 'background' of this colorful window.

 
 
Shelley's got a new woman in the works this week.  Bree Van de Kamp was a force to be reckoned with on the TV show Desperate Housewives and Shelley's newest project puts her squarely in the spotlight.   She's going to paint her features onto the glass and then fire it in the kiln to really flesh Bree out, but that won't happen until she grinds, wraps and tacks the rest of this window together.
 
  
 
 
Judy's  started work on her Buc-ee's window and did she ever get far on it in just one night.  Sadly though, she would have gotten even further along but we didn't have the proper color glass for the few remaining pieces.   That just goes to show you that it doesn't matter how well you plan-- there's always something that will elude you.

 
Linda is experiencing color perplexion and is therefor taking some time off from her third Nativity Scene Window so that she can think through her color choices a little more thoroughly.  In the mean time she's begun working on two Sunflowers which she already got cut out this week.   Great job!
 
  
 

June has her Rooster all cut out now and has moved on over to the grinder so that she can get all of her pieces fitting together nicely.    Slow and steady may win the race but the early bird gets the grinder with the best grinding head!

 
 
Martha cut like a demon this week while she was in class.   First she had cut out all of the tiger section of her LSU window and then with just over fifteen minutes left to go she was able to trace out and cut the dark purple background glass that go behind the LSU letters as well.  Now that's impressive.
 
  
 
 
Jeannette's got her Dove and Cross well underway and I know it's safe to say that this will SURELY be finished when she comes back. She's been working on two projects so we'll be coming back late on to see what she's done with her sailboat window.
 
  
 
 
Susan D's murder of Crows are coming together  quickly now and the beauty of having them all on one board means that she can transport the lot of them very easily (they even fit nicely in her tote container).   There are a ton of little pieces throughout these but they've been ground to perfection which is something to be expected when we examine Susan's work.
 
  
 

Cheryl spent the night grinding her Angel Wing Cross and I have to say that she's done an excellent job on that!  There are only a few pieces left to go go on this and then she'll be able to begin wrapping.  It may be made of all clear glass but you can color me impressed that she got so much done so quickly and so accurately!
 
  
 
 
Susan R has the sled runners for her Christmas Sleigh all cut out and will end up covering them with lead for a nice silver blade effect.   Next week we will learn just how that is accomplished so be sure to come back to see just what 'leading your pieces' involves.
 
 
 
Jeannette's Sailboat is sort of an optical illusion which we see happen quite often in our Blog Posts.  At first glance this Sailboat looks as though it's a small suncatcher, alas it's anything but.  This is actually 14" in diameter but the camera lens somehow makes us assume it's much smaller than it really is.  Now that it's all ground Jeannette plans on wrapping this project while she's at home so she can solder it when she comes back in.
 
  
 
 
Although it isn't completed yet, Angie's Seashell Window has all been cut ground and wrapped.   She'll be tacking this together upon her return and then she'll get a border cut (or possibly two borders-- at this point it's unclear) so that she can finish this off.
 
  
 
 
MiMi's Traditional Window gained it's beveled border this week as she tacked it into place along with the small clear fill-in pieces that reside between the bevels and the pink and grey 'teardrops'.   Once that was completed MiMi got her final border both cut and ground.  That  leaves just four corner pieces to cut before she can tack this window and then go over it with a nice even bead of solder.

 
 
Sheri's Coffee Window is now clearly evident as she grinds her letters into shape which in turn  spell out exactly what this window is all about.    She's short a piece or two for the coffee cup but I'm sure that time will reward her with another broken piece of blue willow so she can complete her coffee cup.
 
  

 
Melissa now has the front side of her Address Window all soldered and I'm expecting the second side to go just as quickly which means that this should be completed when she comes back in.  And that's just a different way of saying that Melissa can solder both quickly and efficiently.

  
 

Lastly we see that Let also has an Eagle Window in the works and this week she managed to get all of the pattern traced and cut apart.   I'm quite sure that when we next see this a fair portion of the window will have been cut from glass.
 

 
And there you have it.  All the news that's fit to Blog!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

 

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