Fused Glass?

My husband knows I like shiny things....So, for Christmas last year he bought me a beautiful pair of earrings that were made of fused glass. The second part of the gift was a Groupon for learning to make your own fused glass. How cool is that?

 

The pic above shows my Poinsettia pattern that I have used in a couple of different quilt patterns.

Here it is in glass. This really solidified my love of fabric.  In fabric I can layer bits upon bits but in glass it is more puzzle like.  It is taking my brain a bit to follow which I am sure is good for the neurons but can be a bit frustrating.  I had all my pieces cut out before the class helper told me that wouldn't work because of the melting process-duh!  

 

So I recut pieces until they fit together better leaving me with all these leftover bits.  I don't know that using quilt designs in fused glass is the way to go-would have been better with stained glass.

The leftover bits are useful though because they get crushed into finer grades called Frit (don't know how they came up with that word).  These can be sprinkled around in your background to add color or texture.

Here is the final piece ready for the kiln.  I tried using frit to fill in underneath pieces I didn't want to bend downward in the firing process...Now I see the mistake in that!

It is hard to tell by the pictures but I had chosen a clear piece that had a great texture in it not realizing that if I wanted a full fuse the texture would melt away.  Therefore I had to choose a medium fuse to keep some of that texture and in doing so, the flower didn't quite melt the way I wanted.  Plus, using some of the frit to fill in made the petals look a bit globby.  Note to self-next time use clear bits OR just let the petals melt down.  This was class #2.

For class #3, I chose to try my hand at earrings with a full fuse.  We shall see!  Here they are ready to go to the kiln.  Hope they are done next week:)  I only have 3 more classes and need to focus on what I want to accomplish.

I don't think glass work is for me.  My fabric work is just so soft and fun and easy and, did I say soft.  My hands are starting to look all chopped up but I do like working with power tools again!!  :))  I am glad I tried it-it was a great gift!  I can appreciate the jewelry more now when I see the pieces at shows but I will keep my fabric obsession!

Today is Off the Wall Friday so don't forget to peek in there to see what others are working on!