In the Studio

My larger practice stained glass piece is finished....and this one will be for sale. I took my time and tried to apply what I've learned.  There's still room for improvement....but each time I figure out something new that helps the process.

Here's what I've been up to in the studio over the last several days...and it's always good to share the process.

At this point all the side branches were lightly fused and I was looking for things I wanted to fix or change. Next time I'll make some of the longer side branches a little thicker so they stand out a little more but that was too much change on this one. I also kept assessing the landscape at the bottom, which at this point, I already changed that a couple times. 

I did decide to add an extra layer of striped fabric to the lower landscape making it more balanced and these curvy shapes are often used in actual stained glass.  I'm not really sure why I felt like I had to have my toes in these photos...but you can see that the weather shifted a few days ago because I have socks on. 

Once the tweaking was done it was time to give it a good hot pressing with the regular iron.  I always use a pressing cloth....usually a piece of the release paper I've pulled off from the fusible webbing.  I wanted to make sure all the pieces are fused securely so I settled in with the iron.

I cut my tree trunks different widths this time making them thinner as they went further into the distance. At this point I was auditioning the strips....and the second one from the right is supposed to be a little lower and closer....so I recut it a bit wider.  I also trimmed up some of the distracting bulges. All the black is hand dyed fabric from Colorways by Vicki Welsh which fuses beautifully.  I also incorporated some of her solid hand dyed in the top half to blend with the batiks.

I called this good enough.  Time to trim it up to 15 x 30 and bind it.

Choosing to add that straight horizon line meant I needed to make sure it was perfectly parallel when I cut it. I like a straight horizon line...but maybe it would be better curved.  Water horizons need to be straight....but land doesn't....and that may look better. hmmm

I used a fused binding again just pressing it to the back after I stitched it on.

All done! That's what I've been doing in my studio.