Wonderful Window

I've finally had my two stained glass panels fitted into my lounge window. It is so nice to finally see them with the light shining through after they've been laying flat for so long. My friend Nigel fitted them for me whilst I was at work so it was a lovely surprise to come home to.

Doesn't the glass just shine?

I did the larger window first and was inspired by a quilting design I saw online - I dance in circles by Traceyjay Quilts. It consists of very regularly spaced squares, with irregular spaced circles, easily achievable in glass. I measured up the space for the window and drew the outline of the window and all the regularly spaced squares in Adobe Illustrator. That way I could be sure the window would fit. After I'd printed the window I drew the circles freehand to get that irregular look, which I'd struggle to achieve on a computer.

The second panel was a bit of an afterthought and I basically just made it up as I went along! As I knew it was sitting beneath the first panel I kept the square motif running through, but then just adjusted the design until I was happy with it. I added in a few additional glass colours too, which in hindsight might have been an error as the two panels don't quite match. Oops.

I really prefer my first window but the lovely Tim prefers the second. What do you think?

Love that glass - so pretty.

Wonderful Window

I have finally finished leading up me second stained glass window. It has taken me an age because I kept missing my Wednesday evening lesson because of work - boo. It has been worth the wait though as the colours in the finished window really pop. Can we all just ignore the bit of matchstick that I failed to notice when taking this next photo? Oh, and it's upside down, hmm.


I've actually already soldered the joints on one side. If I get the remaining side soldered by next Wednesday I'll be onto the cementing. I just can't wait to have my two windows installed now.

Decision Made

With the help of my favourite blog followers, I have finalised my design for my new stained glass project. Can you guess which design? Ta Dah!!

Playing with Rectangles

I need your help! I spent all day yesterday cutting out sweet little rectangles of coloured glass. I then had a play around with the layout and colours and came up with something I thought I was happy with. This is the layout, you'll have to imagine it with the lead between each of the pieces.

 

Anyway, I went to bed last night and couldn't stop thinking about my design (the things we lose sleep over!). Was my design really what I wanted? I then started to wonder whether I should change it up a little bit, maybe by subdividing some of the rectangles. I've had a little play with the photo above and added a few additional divisions to the horizontal rectangles (a little roughly!). Below is the new (improved?) design, what do you think? Sorry, I should have added the black lines to the first image too, to make it easier to compare.

 

 

So thats the quandry. Should I leave it well alone or get cutting? I'd love to hear from you, please add your comments below.

 

Coloured Glass

I have finally finished my first stained glass window, I think I'll leave the final reveal until after it has been fitted (sorry!). This has meant that my thoughts have turned to the next project and I really only have one option - the glass panel beneath the first project (which is still sporting hideous safety glass - see here). I'd really like to get the two panels fitted at the same time so I need to crack on.

I used lots of circles for the original panel, but don't think I want to do the same again as it might be a bit visually overwhelming. My thoughts at the moment are to go with squares and rectangles. We'll see. The lovely Tim was kind enough to drive me to Kansa Glass today. I have chosen five different pieces of glass. Although the colours tie in with my first panel, I have changed the palette to include purples and exclude greens. I'll also include the leftover glass from the original panel.

 

So pretty... but yes I did manage to break one piece on the way home!!

Soldering

I was lucky enough to get a soldering iron for Christmas. It's a Weller W101 Line Soldering Iron 230v if you're interested in that kind of thing. It's ideal for lead work as it has a thermostat that stops it from getting too hot and burning through the lead cames. Which would be a bummer!

I have been waiting for my stained glass class to restart as I was a little nervous to try soldering on my own. I needn't have worried, it's pretty straight forward. You just need to rub tallow onto any joins in the lead, which acts as a flux. Then its just a matter of putting the tip of the soldering iron on the end of the solder and melting it onto the joins. It took about 2 hours to solder both sides of my window, but there are lots of joins. It's best to rub the excess tallow off whilst its still warm with a natural fibre brush.

Next week - cementing!

Stained Glass Window Progress

I just got back from my stained glass class and am pleased to say the leading is nearly complete! I probably should wait to share this until its totally leaded but I'm too excited. I've been working on it at home like mad and could probably have finished it before tonight's class but I'd ran out of one width of lead. Typical.

 

Anyway, there's no particular rush now as I've signed up for a second term of classes. Yay!

 

No More Glass Please

I only have 3 more stained glass classes so I'm on a bit of a deadline to try and get moving with my stained glass window at home. Due to the bijoux nature of my house, this process has been taking place on my lounge floor. Not ideal. I've put loads of plastic down, but glass splinters still fly everywhere. The lovely Tim is thrilled I can tell you. I have been cutting out glass for hours, and hours and hours - actually probably forever now I think about it. If I've not been at work I've been cutting. My fingers are so sore, I have broken countless pieces of glass, but finally I have finished the 124 coloured pieced of glass required for my window. I cannot describe my happiness.

Anyway enough whinging, I think it's been worth the effort (almost). Ta Dah!

 

I have also just started the leading process. I have chosen to vary the size of the lead depending on its position in the window. The straight lines are the widest, the outer circles are medium sized lead and finally the smallest circles have he smallest width lead. I hope it will add a nice effect.

 

 

Ooh, it's getting far more exciting now!

 

 

Stained Glass Window Progress

After a weeks holiday due to the half-term last week, it was back to my stained glass course this evening. It was good to make some progress with the glass cutting. I hope that my cut running pliers will turn up this week as I really want to progress to the leading up stage. Here is my progress so far - still plenty to do.

The colours really are beautiful, here's a close-up.

 

Ooh I just cannot wait for it to be finished!

Stained Glass Sneak Peek

Here's a sneaky look at my stained glass window. Ooh!

 

Only a few hundred more pieces to cut. Wish me luck it's horribly nerve wracking!

Stained Glass Window

Well, I've already shown you the glass I'm using for my project in the stained glass evening class, but I haven't yet shared my design. I'm hoping to replace a glass panel in my lounge - it's basically a side panel to the door. Until last week we actually has a glass door too, but we've finally replaced it with a reclaimed oak panel door and it looks so much nicer. I can't wait to replace the side panel, the striped safety glass is awful. I'm focussing on just the top pane at the moment as it's quite large (110cm x 39cm). Maybe I'll attempt the bottom pane in the future if this one goes well.

My design is quite simple but hopefully will look good in glass. Circles and squares.

What do you think? I'll be tackling it this evening so wish me luck!

Stained Glass Star Finished!

I've just got back from my stained glass course and couldn't wait to share this with you. My finished stained glass star. Ta dah!

 

If I'm honest the soldering could have gone better so please don't look too closely. There is a hanging loop made from copper wire attached to the top point - I'll get a nice ribbon to loop through. You will notice I added beads to each point of the star. It's pretty nutty. Reflective of its maker perhaps?

 

Roll on Christmas, I can't wait to decorate my tree!

Stained Glass Star(t)

I'm very excited to have started an evening stained glass class. I've already had two lessons and I'm loving it. My first project is a small copperfoil star for my Christmas tree.

 

Cute!