Day 71: Connecting the pieces

it all adds up

May 03, 2026

Hello, friends—

Day 71! Is it just me or is this year flying by?

This is my 11th year doing the project, and every year continues to amaze and delight (and challenge!) me in different ways. I’m a lot nicer to myself than I was in Year 1, which is a relief.

Heather Champ, our interview guest today, is on her fourth project… she thinks. Another sign of doing this more than once: you stop keeping perfect track. It becomes less about being “on schedule” and more about finding a way in to your creative practice, again and again (and again!).

When I saw Heather’s project—a mobile made of stained glass pieces—it felt like such a perfect visual metaphor for this stage of the project. All those individual, daily efforts starting to connect and to become something larger.

She’s been building it piece by piece, figuring out the structure as she goes. And now, 70+ days in, you can start to see the whole taking shape.

What made you start this project, and why a mobile?

I’d been hemming and hawing about participating this year. A few of my favorite creators on Instagram were sharing their plans, and I felt a sense of FOMO. I was worried about committing to something that I wouldn’t be able to sustain across the 100 days. For the last couple of years, I’ve been trying to focus on no more than two crafts at a time. I’m easily distractible and a terrible collector of hobbies. You name it, I probably have all the tools needed to make it. When my mind wanders, I often think of the “stay on target” scene in Star Wars. Crochet and stained glass are my focus.

My initial thought was to crochet 100 telephone pole hearts, but I’ve been working through some repetitive stress pain in my arm with physical therapy. 100 filet crochet hearts would not be a kind gift to myself.

A friend and I took a stained Glass mobile class with Kristin Culotta at Wildcraft Studio School here in Portland a couple of months ago. Grinding sharp edges off and drilling a hole in the scrap stained glass I’ve been collecting seemed doable. I love color, and the idea of a hundred different danglers (I’m not sure what the actual name is for the dangly part of a mobile) would be a wonderful way to use the myriad leftover pieces. Hanging art glass in a sunny place is a great way to appreciate how beautiful it is.

You’ve said you didn’t really think it through—how are you making decisions as it grows?

It wasn’t until a few days in that I started to sketch out what the armature might look like. The complexity of what a full 100 days quickly became apparent. In my mind, the branches would all eventually connect to a single point. The initial sketch for the first 32 days looked unwieldy.

At what point did it start to feel bigger or different than you expected?

It was day 31 when it was time to connect two branches, days 1 - 15 and 16 - 31. The tinned copper wire that I’ve been using (16 and 14-gauge) wasn’t strong enough, and even 12-gauge tinned copper wire drooped. It was a very “sad trombone” moment.

I’ve since spent some time at a hardware store and garden center looking for wire elements that will have the strength to support the weight of smaller branches. My daily progress is hanging from part of a tomato cage and a plant hangar hook. It’s not the most elegant solution, but it’s working.

What are you noticing now, this far in—about the work or about how you’re working?

I look forward to sifting through my bins of scrap glass to find something that will complement the previous days. When working with wire to create the loops and arms, I still find myself having to rotate the bail pliers and flush-cutting shears to the correct orientation. Picking the glass is easy. Turning it into the dangly bit is a bit more complicated.
This is my first 100 Day Project, where the individual days are part of a greater whole. I don’t have a plan, and that’s not the way I usually work. Progress over perfection.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I really want to thank everyone who is sharing their daily progress. It’s so inspirational to see the breadth of what people are creating. It’s very hopeful.

Thank you for inviting me to write about my project.

Thank you, Heather, for sharing! You can follow Heather on Instagram @haitchchamp to see her mobile continue to grow.

FOR YOUR PROJECT TODAY

Think about how your work is holding together. Is there a structure emerging—visually, conceptually, or in how you’re working? Make something that supports or acknowledges that.