It's A Freakin' Violet!

Ok, so our tip this week is a VERY important one that occurs when something cuts in front of another object.   This happens most often in flower windows when leaves are intersected by flower petals and vice versa.   Don't get me wrong though-- it happens in plenty of other windows as well, but I see the problem rear its head in flower windows the most.  

Just be sure that the subject that is being cut in half lines up with properly with its other sections.   In the image below pay attention to the green leaves.   Everything lines up nicely and even though the iris petals cut through the leaves, the flow of the leaves is preserved.

Here you can see that the leaves don't line up.  The red arrows show a blatant disregard for flow while the blue arrow shows a misaligned leaf that could possibly go unnoticed until the window is looked at thoroughly.  Always pay attention to pieces that are cut into sections because although you may think it's unnoticeable, it really IS noticeable.

With that out of the way let's look at Jeannette's second Compass Rose window which went together much quicker than her first one did, yet the work is just as wonderful on it (if not better!)  When Jeannette wants a window done, Jeannette gets a window done!  Anchors aweigh!

  

Lara is just two weeks into her Bird Of Paradise Window and by the time class was finished her window was finished as well. The bright, colorful glass that she used in this lights up magnificently with just a florescent light behind it so I can't even imagine how brilliant this will look in actual sunlight.

  

Betty tied up the loose ends on her two Easter Bonnet Windows and they take me back to the day when everyone would go to church on Easter Sunday to more or less show off their Easter clothing!   Next up for Betty will be two cabinet door inserts (because Betty likes to work in pairs!)

 

Linda L got her three Baby Suncatchers finished this week and they are so perfectly made that I couldn't tell two of them apart in the pictures I took until I found a spot in the glass and couldn't find it in the other one.  The third Baby was easy to discern between because she is facing the other direction.

 

 

Cindy completed this variation of the standard Flower Hand Mirror and wants to do one with a peacock motif next.   The good news is that I think I know just how to do it.

 

 
Rowena's made a beautiful Easter Themed Window of her own this week.   The original pattern didn't have the dove in it abut as you can see, it's a fitting addition to this beautiful window.   This window is all about having things line up as we talked about in the tip above, and Rowena get's top honors for making sure that everything is perfect on this window.

 

 

This week we also got to see Susan R put the finishing touches on her Shamrock.  The iridescent glass that she used for the background was a great choice because it really makes this window sparkle.  Susan completed it in record tie and even went to work on something else before class was finished with (which we'll see a little further on down in this post).

 

Angie made this Beveled Panel in record time as we never saw any hint of its existence last week.  With quick turn arounds like this, Angie will be finished with her Christmas to-do list early this year!

 

 

Carol can make these Butterfly Lawn Ornaments with her eyes closed now.   This pair is what I like to call a 'mismatched shoe pair' and I made a mismatched sock pair of Cross Panels the other day.  I'm sure the phrase is my own but I've use the technique a lot and I think it should become a standard phrase in the stained glass industry.  It's when you cut a stained glass pattern twice but out of two different pieces of glass.  Then you swap pieces back and forth so you have items made up with two different colors.   If you take the yellow pieces out of the top butterfly and  and swap them with the blue pieces in the bottom butterfly you'll find that you have two butterflies, one all blue and the second all yellow.  I call that a 'mismatched shoe pair'.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARY!!!!  And even better yet, HAPPY RETIREMENT!  Yep, our Mary is no longer a working woman and all we can say is CONGRATULATIONS!  Melissa brought in some flowers for Mary but alas, Mary's last week was a busy one so she wasn't able to make it into class.   Still, here are the flowers for everyone's enjoyment.

 

Belinda has started her first window with us and it's a variation of a painted window that she had made years ago.   She's always liked the design and now within just a few weeks it will actually be done in stained glass rather than paint.   As you can see she's moving along quickly.

  

Kerry  worked at an astounding rate of speed during class as he got all of his new window cut out in just one class.  His cutting  is getting better and better and next week he will be spending his night  working on the grinder yet again.

  

  

Sheri's first of three Butterfly circles is very near completion.   Not only has her background been cut ground and attached, her border is cut out as well.  (I had a picture of it with the border but it didn't look nearly as good as this picture.)   Look to see this among our completed windows when we return next week.

 

Rowena also worked on a very stylized Peacock which she finished cutting out, grinding, and got about half way foiled.   She's moving quickly on this but when doesn't she move quickly??

 

Angie got the background cut out for an Address Window that she's started this week.   With all of the background cut in random directions all that's left is to cut out the eleven pieces that will make up her numbers and then she'll be able to start grinding.

  

Shawn really does love to grind because she flew through the grinding process of her colorful Flower Window!   Before she called it a night she had a quick re-fresher course on wrapping glass and she's taken it along home with her to work on throughout the week.  Or at least that was the plan.  Then, just one day later, she texted me a picture of this window all foiled and ready to be tacked!   You can see the glass that she's picked out for her border sitting to the left of the window and next week you'll get to see it attached. 

  

Now that her Four Leafed Clover has been completed Susan R went back to work on her Owl Suncatcher.  After finishing the wrapping Susan tacked the owl together and is now soldering it.  There's no doubt in my mind that she'll be finishing this when she returns. 

  

Shelley, like Susan R, resumed work on a window that she had started a few weeks ago. You can see the stars outlined on the pattern through the blue glass that she's using on her Peace Sign/American Flag Window. She's still not sure whether she'll cut the stars or paint them on but she's getting close to having to decide now that she's begun grinding.

  

Carol has begun working on her Trio of Owls suncatcher which is bigger than you might think-- I'll have an actual measurement when we see it again next week..   She's breaking it down into three sections and working one at a time of them as you can see in the picture below.

  

Becky B tacked together her African Violet Window (which I've been calling a Magnolia!) and then began working on the triple border that will surround it.   We work one border at a time so she got the first thin border cut, ground, and attached before she cut the second clear middle border which needs to be wrapped and tacked.   Once that's done another thin border that matches the first one will get cut and this window will be ready for solder..

Jan has been wrapping her Jessie Tree at home so this week she decided to start working on a circular  Dove Suncatcher.   With everything cut and ground in just one class she's another person who will finish her project next week.

 

  

Jeff has been as busy as can be as you can clearly see.  He's got three panels in the works here with one of them only needing to be washed and colored.   I think it's safe to say that he's got the hang of this now.

 

 

Linda F is back!   I was shocked to see her walk in the door so quickly after her operation and if you didn't know she went under the knife you'd never suspect it.  This week she started grinding her Miscellaneous Rectangles Window and it's already looking great.  Straight lines are tougher than anyone thinks so let's give Linda a big hand to go along with that new knee!

  

Susan D has her Leprechaun Window all ground as of this week and she even has the border cut out.   It won't be long before this window is under her belt and in it's in a stand stand decorating a yard.  All he needs is a pot of gold near him!

 

Roy's Cane Field Scene is all ground and he's now wrapping all of his pieces.   He's removing pins as he wraps because the pins are there to allow room for the foil.  A (small) problem that we see fairly often involves students leaving all of the pins in place as they are foiling and that just doesn't work and causes the window to shift all out of place.   That won't be a problem here. 

Mary Grace is making excellant time on her Flower Window.   She's un-decided on what to do with this-- add more glass to make it truly fit the window that she wants it to fit in, or just finish it as is and make another window drawn to the correct size.   If you think life is full of decisions, then you haven't made stained glass!

 

MiMi's Dog is moving along swimmingly as she only needs to solder it and add some channel to finish it all off.  I saw her post a picture on Facebook this morning and it looks to me as though channel is all that's needed now.    I'm already considering this window to be a done deal.  Give this dog a towel!

 

Jeanne's Hummingbird Panel is all tacked together and awaiting it's final solder.  She's taken it home with the intent of soldering it there if she can find the time.  I know she's anxious to get this finished, not because she wants to move on to another project, but because she can't wait to see this hanging up with some light behind it.  And I can't blame her!

Cindy's Faux Mosaic Birds Window is all cut out now.   The background glass is an off white color and practically invisible in the picture but that just shows how perfectly it all fits together!  Cindy is hoping to add actual wire to this window and we'll show you how that is achieved when we get to it.

 

Martha's Magnolia has it's borders cut and that means that Martha will be soldering this upon her return.    This is wonderful work here.

 

Melissa is grinding her way through the complex background of her Le Pieta Window and when we see this again next week, Mary will finally have her face in place.  The fired glass has become somewhat brittle and we're going to use a saw to cut out the deep scoop where the nose goes.   

 

Barbara H got both of the wings to her Butterfly Lawn Ornament ground and wrapped which means that there's a good chance she'll finish this upon her return in two weeks.   Even if she doesn't get this tacked together before she comes in there's only little left to go on this and I'm sure she'll be able to finish it.

And before I wrap thing up here I'll tell you that Becky S has begun her next Egret Window by tracing out the pattern and adding grain and color lines to it.  There isn't anything to see at this point but next week she'll begin cutting glass and we'll surely have a picture.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

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