Sunday, August 11, 2024

You Know My Swag, Not My Story

Annette's New Orleans Scene may have taken some time to complete but look at the end result!  It was truly a labor of love but Annette says that she loves having it finished.  This is a tedious window to make but it always looks great and really gives you a sense of accomplishment when it's completed.  Can you spot the wire work that Has added to this scene?   It's hard to spot but it adds so much to the overall design.  I'll give you a hint: It's a railing.

 

 

Zoe's Bee Panel is stunning.   Everyone who looked at it said the same thing:  "I wouldn't have picked red for the border but after seeing it completed I have to say that it is absolutely perfect."  And they're correct!  Zoe's work is amazing and her attention to detail is what really makes this window look so great.

  

 
Betty finished her Nautical Themed Teardrop Suncatcher and her work on this is some of the best work she's ever done.   Everything fit together with incredible precision and let me state for the record that her soldering on this has hit new highs.   It may not be a New Orleans Window but this large suncatcher sure packs a punch, especially when you look at the level of craftsmanship in it.
 
 
 
Last week Let had forgotten to bring the background glass that she had planned to use for her Pink Christmas Ornament Panel.  This week she brought it in and it had already been cut and ground.   She attached a beautiful pink/green border and soldered it all to completion before calling it a day.   She's also decided that she may make just the ornament itself as a suncatcher.
 
 
 
Angie is back and on her first day back she's managed to finished a Heart/Rose Panel!   Apparently the time away from glass work hasn't hampered her in any way because this is beautiful. Once again we have a red border that lights the entire window up.
 
 
 
Annette also  cut out this beautiful Flower Suncatcher and then finished it up before calling it a night.   She's also working on a Sacred Heart Window at home and we may see that next week.  Meanwhile, enjoy her colorful Flower the she's decided not to patina.  The silver lead looks absolutely fine if you ask me-- besides it's only just a matter of preference. 
 
 
 
Mary Grace completed her 3D Sunflower but it's so very hard to take a picture of it that shows the 3D nature of this piece.   I've included a side view also so you can see that this sunflower has a bowl shape to it rather than being flat. 

 
 Her's the Sunflower laying 'flat' on the table, You can easily see here how it curves.

 
Barbara's come up with a unique idea that she did six times over!  She wanted to make small rectangular shapes that she could attach to a small rod to that she could place in flower pots to identify what was in each pot.   After much deliberation we both decided that the best thing to do was to cut the rectangle and the stake as one piece of glass.   She didn't even have to foil or solder these and still they're as precious as can be!  She made 6 of these for her daughter and will be making more in the weeks to come.
 
 
 
Ann put the finishing touches on her second large Geometric Torus Suncatcher and even had a HMS pendant to hang from this one.  She actually wrapped all of these pieces and then soldered this project in less than 2 hours which proves that Ann is a seasoned pro at stained glass.


Roxane is also back with us and she says that she stopped coming way back in October of last year.   But she's back now and already well under way on a stained glass Address Window.  She's currently using iridised black glass for the numbers and I think that they are going to look great but Roxane is unsure.  If she doesn't like it after it's been ground we will replace them with flat black.

  

Let has everything cut for her Christmas Bells Window and got the pieces that will be completely leaded covered in foil as well (I've pointed them out with arrows in the picture).  She was shocked to discover that you can purchase foil as 12 x 12 sheets which makes covering entire pieces of glass MUCH easier.  She's still a little anxious about how those pieces of glass will be covered in lead but next week she'll see just how easy that step is.

  

Sadly, the lead came that Melissa needed to finish off her curved Tulip Window didn't arrive in time so she couldn't complete that project this week and has moved on over to this red and green Geometric Cross.  After she cut out all of the glass she began grinding everything and the more she looked at the cross the more she thought that the center radiating pieces should be a different color.  Look for that change to happen next week (as well as seeing her Tulip Window completed as well).

 
  
 
 
Cindy has more suncatchers in the making and they both involve Birds.   They're all cut and ground so foiling will be next on her list of things to do.  After that I believe it's even more suncatchers for Cindy.
 
  
 
 
Betty's Teardrops feature all kinds of goodies and this week she's working on a Daisy inspired design.   She's already wrapping these piece in foil so I think there's a good chance that this will be completed when she returns in two weeks. 
 
  

 
Bee is hard at work on her Cantina Window and spend the night grinding out the checker board table top upon which everything sits.   Check out that avocado- the pit placement is astounding because there are NO lines cutting into the avocado to the pit.  She actually ground a hole in the center of a piece of glass to make the pit look as realistic as possible.

  
 
 
Susan R got a good majority of her Peacock cut out and has moved on to grinding the pieces that she's cut.  She's decided that she wants more detail in the tail feathers so she's left them filled in and after everything has been ground she will cut two other pieces of glass to go in the centers of her blue/green feathers.
 
 
 
Susan D's pair of swirling Geometric designs have been completely ground and she's even begun to foil one of them already.  The soldering will go quickly on these but the foiling could still take a bit of time considering the minuscule size of some of the pieces of glass.  
 
  
 
 
Judy resumed cutting her Deer Window and then selected a nice woodsy green for the background.   
We usually run background grain from left to right but in the case we're trying to mimic a forest so Russ suggested that the grain run up and down the way that trees would.   We also learned the importance of putting grain lines on our pattern pieces.   It really does save time (and glass).
 
  
 
 
Martha replaced two of the white pieces of glass that she had cut for her sunset window and is much more happy with the dark amber glass that she's replaced it with.  She's even got all but one piece foiled and since she doesn't plan on adding a border to this she could very possibly finish it upon her return. 

 
Lastly, Lorrie  has started a Wedding Box and to make that she has to make the top lid so we know the exact size that the bottom box sides must be.   She's gone with a double heart design and is ready to begin grinding but I didn't get a picture of it!   You'll see that NEXT week.
 
And there is that!
 
Paul

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