Cooking on a few burners

      Lots going on in the making department. One of the many quilt tops QuiltDiva Julie has sent me went out the door this week to a family member dealing with breast cancer. I was able to quilt the plaid HST quilt, put the quilt package together (tote bag, quilt, card, music CD, pocket quilts and book- 50 days of Hope), and deliver it out of town.

All fluffed and washed

Quilted

Bag

     I was also able to complete 2 more Stained Glass mosaic butterflies and grout them. They went out yesterday to 2 recipients.

Ungrouted

Grouted

     In a bag, I had a number of nicely pressed HSTs that I thought just needed laying out. When I started to put them in a pattern on the wall, I realized they were leftovers from another quilt (forgot to label it on bag) and there were not enough to pull the pattern off. I did not want to just put white along the sides to fill it out. So, back into the bag it went.

Packing it all up

      So far, five stained glass mosaics made it out of the post office. I heard from two recipients so I know they did not break, whew.  I had a hard time finding boxes- either the right size or in a quantity that was reasonable as I am not manufacturing these. I finally found boxes on Amazon and only had to buy 25.

     Inside went the mosaic, a letter, lyrics to Stained Glass, a pocket quilt, a window hook, and lots of bubblewrap taped down around the mosaic in the center of the box.

     I was surprised the cost to ship in these in the US was just under $6.00. Let's not talk about international shipping.
     I have two new ones started, the blue is ready to be grouted but I want to finish another yellow and orange one before I make more grout mess. I find that when the longarm is warming up, I can get some pieces cut and placed.

Continuing on towards finish line

     So far, these products are taking the place of my usual thread that hold fabric together:

     Silicone to hold the sheet of glass in the frame (wow, what a messy job!), E6000 to hold glass shards on the glass sheet, Krazy glue to hold the hooks on the frame. If anyone knows better products than what I used, feel free to let me know. I prefer thread and fabric.

Cleaning up my messy silicone application by razor blade.

     I was able to buy some more frames and glass from the stained glass store (Gleam and Glimmer, https://gleamandglimmer.com/index.php)

More frames, carboard backs removed, all silicone sealed and cleaned

     Tried these hooks, bent the prongs flat, glued with Krazy Glue
and clamped to dry.
     Also, bought more shards, by the pound, to make more. I put them in plastic boxes to keep the colors sorted. You can see my butterfly sketch under the orange glass box. How about those crazy nippers? Learned to use them and bought a pair.
     Hope you are not bored with this project.

Shards, scraps and sourcing

     Part 2 of the creative shard idea birthing. The stained glass mosaics need grouting. Never did that. I read that sanded grout was the way to go. Trips to Home Depot and then Lowe's where I found a 25 lb bag of sanded black grout. Pretty heavy and it was on a high shelf.
     I read directions in a tutorial on stained glass mosaics that said to use a small cup and add the grout and spray water from a spray bottle at the same time until it was mixed but like peanut butter with a spoon. Right. Mess but mixed. Using gloves, the grout was applied to the glass in a clockwise and counterclockwise motion, sat for 10 minutes, then wiped clean with dry paper towels. Right. More mess. I think everything I do, I make messes. You should see my thread and fabric shrapnel.
     These are the first 3 butterflies before and after grouting.

Glued on shards before Grout

After Grout

     Ok, the big idea will work, however, I need to find out how to hang these (what hook on frame and for window, what glue), where to get more framed glass, how to seal the glass in the frame, how to mail- box sizes-, print out Stained Glass lyrics, write a letter to enclose, etc. So now, I have a bigger list to source and solve than just making the mosaic. The rabbit hole grows deeper. To be continued.

The twisting, bumpy road of creative thought

     One of things people say to me that drives me crazy is "oh, you are just creative". It sort of assumes you wave a magic wand and rabbits appear out of hats. Creativity, for me, is all about hard work. Sometimes I go kicking and screaming when I get an idea because I know it will be a long, bumpy road with no map.  You don't know whether you can get something out of your head into reality or will it be a dead end. But you have to do it or your head will explode.
    This latest light bulb came after becoming aware of so many quilters that I follow on blogs going through shattering times. I feel helpless to encourage them and share compassion. I had a visual idea jell in my brain with no discernible way to bring it to reality. I thought maybe if I traced its development, it would encourage someone else to keep the fires going.
    Stella Niagara, where we have our guild quilt retreat, has a teeny chapel on the Niagara River. If we get the keys, we can go inside. It has these gorgeous windows that are made from chunks of rich color transparent glass set in black grout. When viewing from inside, the light coming through is magical and glowing. I photographed this during 2021 pandemic time.

     So that was in my head. One of my favorite musicians, Chris Wilson, lost all of his bookings and income during the pandemic and was able to broadcast on Youtube live concerts twice a week, which became a lifeline. One of the songs Chris will sing is called, "Stained Glass" by Jim Shirey. It talks about dashed dreams and shards of glass. If "you take one step back, and let the sun shine past, you won't see shards, you'll see stained glass." You can hear and see Chris sing this if you go to 34 minutes in the video. So that was also in my head.
     As I read of deaths, surgeries, illness, and more in blogs, besides praying, I wanted to do something tangible. I make and send comfort quilts, but these people could make themselves a better quilt than I. 
     One morning I woke up and in my mind was a stained glass butterfly in a window with the sunlight streaming through. Butterflies are profoundly meaningful to me after surviving a heart attack 4 years ago. However, I have never cut a piece of glass nor wanted to. I looked through etsy and Pinterest and found that stained glass mosaics might be an answer. It had to be small as I have to mail these. It had to be held together by a frame of sort and have a hanger attached to hang on a window. I could find nothing like that.
     I wrote my idea to Vicki, who is a quilter, dyer, makes glass items and has done mosaics, asking for some help. Vicki directed me to some tutorials/videos that I viewed. She also sent me a box of glass scraps!
     I went to a local stained glass shop and brought my sketches, pictures and idea to the owner who gives workshops. I took an open studio workshop with her and she showed me how to nip shards of glass, gave me a 5 x 5 frame with clear glass, and how to glue the shards down. She recommended shards of clear iridescent glass for the background. She could not give me any help with grouting as she uses resin over the glass. I left with a butterfly glued on the glass and a new tool to nip the glass. More to continue.