The FI Option

This week we've got quite a few finished projects. We'll start off looking at Fran's latest Duck Window. The change we made from last week involved the lines in the sky running from left to right. The original pattern had a heavily slanted cut on the right side that looked like the glass had been cracked and repaired. Now that we've removed the slant everything flows more smoothly. The reason for the top piece having angular cuts is simple: the window was wider than the sheet of glass so we had to piece it together. We thought about adding a cloud or two but Fran was afraid it would take away from the ducks.

Cindy completed her 'At Home' project this week. Her Humming Birds and Flowers Window was done almost exclusively outside of the classroom. About the only thing that she did in class was to cut the background out one night. Another job well done.

Anita said she wanted to do something quickly one night while she was at home so she cut this Cross Suncatcher out of scrap glass that she had lying around. You can't lose when you made projects out of scraps!

And Cindy also came in with these two suncatchers just about completed. The first is this round Bird in Flight that she wasn't sure how to put an eye on. We used an old trick of mine and cut a glass head pin down to about 1/4 inch in length with some wire cutters and then soldered the pin section into the lead line nearest the eye. The we repeated the process on the second side.

Cindy's second suncatcher of the week is her Pelican. I have to say that I like this one a lot. It's simple but very charming. And it went together perfectly for her. All we had to do was show her how to add a hook to hang this and it was ready to go.

I have to confess and admit that I don't recall who worked on this Mallard Window first this week. I'm pretty sure that Anita started grinding the window and then Myrt continued on it the next night. Or it could be the other way around. Nonetheless, the Mallard Window is being ground and this is what it looked like after the first night.

Meanwhile Terry soldered the font side of her Fish Window after her border was cut she'll be finishing this one up at home so I expect we'll see this one completed any day now. She'll just walk in the door with it ready to be colored so I can take a picture of it. Terry's soldering is nothing short of superb and touching up her windows is no work at all.

And that wasn't all that Terry accomplished. She also worked on this last section of her newest set of 3 windows. With the background and the borders all cut she's well on her way to finishing this as well as her Fish Window.

Ann is another student who's moving along quickly on her window. I was amazed when she had it all cut out before class ended. And not only did she cut quickly but she cut precisely which means that she won't be spending more than a class an the grinder getting this to fit together.

She's close now! There are only five shrimp on the far right of Patty's Seafood Window left to cut. Her Crawfishin' days are over on this window! Once she starts cutting the background she'll be rounding 3rd base and headed for home plate. Hmmm, have you noticed there aren't any potatoes in this window?

Cindy not only completed her Humming Bird window this week-- she also made some serious progress on her front door panels. These are the last 2 sections and she's got them all cut out now. She'll be at the grinder during her next class getting these to fit together.

This is the back side of Janice's 3rd window. It's just about finished now save for the brass channel that will go around the outside edges. There's still a smaller section that will sit above this window and the vines and flowers will all line up perfectly . We'll post them all so you can see how the borders line up when the last 3 windows are complete.

And here is our second look at the Anita/Myrt Duck Window. I think Myrt took over the grinding duties from Anita the next night and she got a lot of the feathers completed. She's thinking about re-cutting one or two of them due to the color variations in the glass but we'll make a final decision on that when we have everything fitting together better so we can see the big picture.

Roxie has the window that changes names every time we see it! I have to confess I've been messing with her a bit and that this is her real window. It says Yellow Camp and that's where it's going to reside when she finished it. With the border all cut there will only be some soldering left to go before she packs this away in a sleeve and takes it home.

Next we see that Susan has all of her pieces lined up perfectly. She spent her class grinding every piece and making sure that her lines weren't cock-eyed and that everything flowed together just right. She's bringing it home with her to wrap which means that next week she'll have this box top soldered and will possibly begin working on the sides.

Sonia has her background cut. After she cut it she ground it. After she ground it she foiled it. After she foiled it she tacked it. After she tacked it she went home and called it a job well done. :-) Next week she'll start on her fancy 3 layer border that will really set this window off nicely.

And lastly we have a look at PeeWee's latest project. He's making 2 more Fleur De Lis Windows so rather than cutting them out one at a time he's cutting everything out in sets of 2. That explains why you're seeing double when you look at the FDL's he worked on this week. He got them both cut, ground, wrapped and tacked together before the class was over. He'll be cutting some background glass to set these in next week!

And this brings us yet another week closer to getting caught up here. I was amazed at how many projects we have started here. It's no wonder I have no room in the shop! Have a great weekend, expect another post before it's over.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Why Are My Pieces In The Garbage?

We are officially 6 weeks behind and this post will drop the umber by one.  Of course, classes for this week are starting tonight so that will sort of negate this posting.  Still, this is my second post in as many days so I guess it's safe to say that we're on a roll here.

First off we have to look at a project that got skipped in the last update. Somehow (it couldn't have been my fault, could it?)  the picture got thrown into the wrong folder and I just realized that I have 2 projects this week for Susan.  This is her first box and it came out looking beautiful.  How could anyone complain about receiving this as a gift?

 This week Susan has begun working on her second box.  This one is a geometric design and it's a little hard to see here since it's un-ground but this is a brown on brown box top made up of 35 pieces. there's a lot of work in this one and making sure it all lines up is essential to making the design work.  I have no doubt that Susan will be able to pull this one off.

We're going to start things off by looking at Anita's latest project.  She's jumping around a bit but that's the way it goes when you have many irons in the fire.  This is her Mallard Window and it's going to be made by both Anita and Myrt.  Both of them had a hand in getting it this far because some of the glass was cut by Anita and some by Myrt.

Meanwhile, Myrt was also working on her Stylized FDL window.  She had everything ground last week and while she was working on cutting duck feathers she was also wrapping and tacking this together.  You can see the glass she's chosen for her border on the bottom of the window.  That will be cut next week.

Bonnie's Window is just about ready to crow. The clear krinkle border is all cut and ground and the bottom row is even wrapped already.  The rest of the pieces have gone home with Bonnie so she can come in next class and get to work on soldering this window.  It looks great!

Patty has added some crawfish to her Seafood Medley Window.  I'm telling you-- this is going to be something else when it's completed.  I think that this window and Grace's New Orleans scene are the two most complex windows ever done in here.  All the tiny pieces can really get to you but Patty isn't letting that happen and is working at a steady pace on this.

Sonia's Peacock Window has found it's groove!  Now that it's all wrapped and tacked together she'll be cutting her background glass.  She picked a really nice sheet of textured clear that will make this bird SNAP! (as if the feathers already don't!)  Her colors are flawless and her work is precise to the point of her re-cutting a piece when the foil around all the glass shifted things a bit.  She could have left it go but she went for perfection instead.

 

And now we look at the second Rooster of the Blog.  Dianne's Rooster and Sun window is a more lighthearted scene than Bonnie's but it is not any less charming.  Dianne has come a long way already while making this first window and her soldering on this first side is really nice.  She'll flip it over next class and finish this window then.

Fran's Ducks are so close to being completed that it's not even funny.  After adding her border we knocked out 3 pieces of the sky so we could redo the lead lines.  I'll post a picture of both of them side by side so you can see how a simple line can change the entire flow of a window.  We would have replaced the glass in class but Fran left her sky glass at home where she'll fill in these 2 pieces during the week.

Wow, Terry came in with this Fish Window all cut and ground and managed to knock my socks off.  She's really been burning the midnight oil at home to get all of this work done-- I didn't even realize that she had started this!  And it fits together perfectly.  There's a little wiggle room between the pieces which means that when she foils her glass the window won't grow or possibly twist out of shape due to thickness of all the foil.  Great job Terry!

And that brings us to the end of this post.  I won't mention any names to help protect the guilty, but one BIG tip I can give anyone is that you should place your cut pieces on your pattern as you cut them.  This will help stop them from being swept into the trash with the scrap glass that accumulates along side your good pieces!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Back Again With a Vengence

Well, we're finally back in action here. With all the rush in getting our latest batch of windows for St. Jules completed we've sorely neglected these Blog postings. Now that we're in between Church windows we'll catch back up here again. It seems to be a never ending theme and I do apologize.

So let's travel back in time to the first week of September when Ann completed this small yet elegant windows that will match the larger one she'll begin next week. This is her first project upon returning to stained glass classes and I have to say that she didn't miss a beat at all. IN fact, it's almost like she never took any time off between projects.


Roxie has the two words in her "Mellow Camp" window completed and when she returns for her next class she's going to put a piece of the white background glass in between the 2 words so it becomes one long window. Then she'll add a border, solder it and call this a completed project!

Myrt worked on her stylized Fleur De Lis window by cutting out the gray background glass and grinding it to fit. The missing forth quarter exists but when I took this picture Myrt was at the grinder making sure it fit perfectly. She traced her FDL on top of one sheet of gray glass so that grain matches perfectly through out the window. It's hard work but it always pays off in the end.

Janice got the border attached to her window and then she finished it off with some brass channel around the edges. All that this window needed was a bath and some patina to color the solder but I talked her into letting me do that outside with the hose the next day-- it wasn't hard to convince her that it would be the easiest way to handle the job. :-)


So rather than wash and color her window Janice began working on her second Rose Window by wrapping and tacking her background glass together. All this needs is a border.

Sonia has all of her peacock ground and it's ready to be wrapped. I really like her choice of colors and think this will be every bit as nice as Anita's peacock was. (Not that this is a competition) Sonia will pick a background glass and work from there when we see her next. She's already sold on the fancy border-- she wants this to be a standout piece and it looks like she has one already.

Cindy has the largest window for her door almost completed now. The front is soldered and the back will be handled next. She only has the two thinner side panels left to go and this project will be completed. Everyone in the classes has been following this project and I can't wait to post the picture of these windows installed in the door.

Since Cindy can't work on her door windows at home (they're too large for easy transportation) she's been working on this Humming Bird window while she isn't in class. And this home project is just about completed!

Bonnie has her Rooster window all ground and fitting together perfectly. Once this is wrapped she'll tack this together and pick out a glass for her border. Wait until you see this one with light behind it.
Anita began grinding her Purple Callalilie window. She's not one to sit still for very long so she has a number of patterns at home all traced out and ready to go. It's always interesting to see what she'll bring in to class with her and how far along she is on it. All of the cutting for this window happened at her house during the week. :-)

Fran's duck window just needs a border now. I have to say that when I looked at this picture I saw something that didn't look very pleasing to me so expect a minor but important change to occur next week when we make a change to the background glass. The lines just don't flow as smoothly as they could and it will be simple to correct it. But other than that slight design flaw I'd say this is really shaping up.

So that wraps up this edition of the Blog. I'll be doing 3 a week until we're caught up again. And I'll also post pictures of the windows that we installed at St. Jules that made us fall so far behind here.

See you soon!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

It's The Eye Of the Tiger, It's The Cream Of The Fight

Anita has completed her Louisiana Eye Of the Tiger window and she's got other people thinking about similar projects. There's a lot of pride down South here and aside from the letters L, S and U the only thing that spells it out just as well is a tiger eye or two. And when you combine them you get this:

And since we're looking at the completed center piece for Terry's 3 windows it's a safe to assume that she's started another project this week. (Check that one out further below.) As for this window I have to say that the outer tan border surrounding the ovalish center really made a difference in the overall design. I've photoshopped the tan out of the second picture so you can see just how much flair 12 little pieces of glass can add to a window. Good call, Terry.


Here's Terry's window as she had original drawn it. We both agreed something was missing.


I'd have to say that Susan's daisy box is moving right along since the top is 100% completed. With only 5 pieces left to go I'll bet she takes this home next week. And since I'm more than a week late in posting this you really shouldn't be making bets against me since I can see the future on this. :-) Susan was originally going to use the same glass that she used in her background for her border but we found a piece in the rack that was just a tad bit darker and it was PERFECT for this box since she didn't want to bring another color into play.

Sonia's Peacock window is really taking shape now. Not only does she have it completely cut but she has the body section ground already. She's going to surround this with the fancy 3 section border so you just know this is going to be a show stopper when it's completed.

Roxie's Yellow Camp window is looking good too. She came in with her letters all foiled and then set upon tacking them together. Once that was done she cut the white background glass behind the word YELLOW and ground it all to fit. Then before she left she got it foiled! Next week she'll be working on her Camp section.

There are so many pieces to Patty's window that she feels like it will never be completed but look at how it's filling up now! And you have to remember that it isn't just cut-- it's cut, ground, foiled and tacked together. When you take all of that into consideration you have to admit that Patty is doing wonderfully on this. Next to Grace's New Orleans window I'd have to say that this is one of the most ambitious projects that a student has made yet. :-)

I promised that we'd take a look at Terry's newest window before this update was over with so here it is. She's working on a Bass Window and it has always been one of my favorite designs. Wait until you see this with some light behind it. The glass has a texture that really lends itself to this fish pattern.
Frans Ducks are not only in flight but they're now over water as well. With nothing left but a border to go I'd say that Fran has set a new speed record for making these Ducks in Flight. Some solder and a black border will round this out and then she'll be making a first in class: A Donkey Window.

Cindy's front door is almost complete now. She only has 2 long thin panels to go before she can install these and call it a finished set. It's been hard to get a good picture of this window since it's so long but here it is all in one shot so you can get the full effect. Next week she'll be soldering this one.

Bonnie P's Rooster window is also shaping up now that it's all cut out and mostly ground. The only thing left to grind is the section to the left of the Rooster and then she'll be foiling this one. I'm impressed with Bonnie's cutting (and grinding). She hasn't been in class all that long and she's really moving quickly and efficiently.

Ann is back and ready for some stained glass action. She picked out a pattern last week and we 'kneaded' it to fit the window she'll be installing this in. When she begins her second window (which will be real soon) you'll easily see how these two windows tie together. With her center piece completely cut and half of it ground I'd say she'll be cutting the background glass during her next class.

Borders. You don't think much about them but they honestly are a very important part of a window. A simple window with a fancy border can sometimes outshine a fancy window with a plain border. Myrt saw this border style on another window and decided that it was what she wanted surrounding her Fleur De Lis. It took a complete class to get it cut and ground but it's almost completely wrapped as well. So next week she'll begin cutting the background glass for this and we'll really see her window take shape.

There has been a lot going on here which has made this update get posted later than it should have been. We're still behind one week but that will be fixed shortly before classes end this week. Come back soon to see Susan's Daisy Box and Ann's Accent Window completed.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks