Millefiori Cats (b.1 November 2009)

Having spent quite a lot of time over the weekend working on commissions, and having been inspired by Blissknits' request for a Small Bobble Hat Millefiori Cat, on Sunday I decided to try out some new millefiori techniques.

I love the effect achieved the Skinner blend method, where two or more colours are blended together by repeated rolling through a pasta machine in one direction, creating an airbrushed blend of the colours. I wanted to incorporate this into a flower cane, and for the purple cats on the right, I started by making the petals from a Skinner cane made from white and fuschia clay. I made a 'plug' by rolling out the Skinner blend sheet into a very long, thin sheet, and then folding that using a concertina-type movement, ie folding the long sheet back on itself every 3cm or so. This created a stack of clay shading from white to fuschia. I formed this into petal shapes, with the white parts closest to the centre of the flower. A clay log core, along with deep purple segments between the petals, completed the cane.

This cane worked well with large flowers, but the detail was lost when I reduced the cane down to create the cat on the right. I didn't use a thin sheet of white clay to define each petal, and that's something I intend to experiment with soon.

Having tried a flower cane with a Skinner plug, I wanted to try more geometric shapes. For this pink cat, I made another Skinner plug using the concertina method, but instead of shaping the stack ito a petal, I cut it in half lengthwise, and placed the two halves together, white section to white section. I then cut this into four pieces, and placed them together into a parquet effect. I applied thin slices of this square cane to a core of scray clay, and then blended them on in the usual way. I love the three dimensional ribbon effect achieved by the gradated colours.

I tried this technique out with blue, and created a couple of different effects. The colours in the cane I used for the middle cat, for example, were not as well-defined as in the cat on the right, but it still works as a concept, just in a slightly different way.

For the blue cat on the left hand side, I created him by using the scrap clay from Skinner blocks, I mashed it about a bit, rolled it out into a large large, and then cut that log into four segments lengthwise. I reversed each segment and reassembled the log, which created a really abstract pattern, not at all like the ones created by twisting and rolling colours together. I think the three cats look rather fine together.

I went back to making a flower cane after this, with the aim of making up Blissknits' cat. I deliberately chose a very simple flower shape, and retained the petal definition with a thin sheet of white clay wrapped around each petal. Using a slice of a large cane, as in the left hand picture, is quite tricky when trying to make sure all the flowers are intact, and for this kitten (who is the big brother of Blissknits' Small Bobble Hat Scarf), I used slices from a smaller cane to 'fill in the blanks'.

Those sharp-sighted amongst you will notice that this cane is exactly the same as the same as the one used for Blissknits' commision. For this tall cat, I used a large cane, and for the small cat to the right, I applied random slices from a small cane.

Small Bobble Hat Millefiori Cat (b.31 October 2009)

Thanks so much to Sharon (aka Blissknits - creator of all gorgeous things knitted, crocheted and stitched - have a look at her blog for more info) for commissioning this Small Millefiori Cat complete with hat and scarf!

I spent a blissful day yesterday working with canes - I haven't returned to them for a while now, and I wanted to experiment with some different techniques - will post more about that later.

The cane for this wee cat is a basic flower shape, with a pink centre, fuschia pink petals, and a deep violet background. The petals and centre were formed with clay logs, and the petals were finished off with a white border to add definition. Small wedges of the violet clay between the petals makes sure they keep their shape, and the cane was finished off with a thin sheet of violet wrapped round the entire design.

Having made the basic cane (which measured about 3cm across), I then reduced this down by rolling it out and made a number of different sizes of cane. I cut one section of a long, thin cane into seven lengths and then arranged the flowers into another flower pattern (see photo). I then reduced this cane down further, so the resultant flowers measure on average 2-3mm.

Once happy with the size of cane, I then covered a clay core with thin slices from the cane, blending and smoothing the edges as I went. It is painstaking work, as it's important to make sure the pattern makes sense and the flowers remain intact. Once the body was complete, the cat chose a vibrant green hat and scarf combo, so he'll be nice and cozy for Christmas!

He stands 5cm tall to the top of his bobble, and 3cm wide.

Tall and Small Purple Millefiori Cats (b.31 August 2009)

I made a collection of six Millefiori Cats after wanting to experiment more with flower canes, having still had a hankering to create a flowery cat! For the cane, I used a pink log for the centre, then five petals of purple clay, each with an outer layer of white.

Then I used a pearl lilac clay to fill the space between the petals, and as an outer border. This made the flowers appear standalone. I then reduced the cane down to three different sizes.

For the first pair of cats (top right), I applied thin slices of the single flower cane to the clay core and then blended them in afterwards. This had the result of increasing the size of each flower to 7-8mm in diameter. The Short Cat as a bit of a floppy ear, which gives hima rather soulful look!

For the second cats (left), I used the pearl lilac clay for the core and inlaid single smaller flowers and blended them with the core. Having the core and the background to the flower cane the same colour allows the flowers to appear defined by their petals. The inlay method worked well as I was able to blend the background colour with the core clay, making the flowers almost seemless. The flowers have a diameter of 5-6mm.

For the third cats (bottom right), I had reduced the large flower cane and cut it into seven segments, and then put those segments together to create a new flower and reduced that cane down further. This resulted in each individual flower measuring about 2-3mm, and gives the more classical millefiori effect.

The Tall Cats stand about 5.5cm tall and 2.5cm wide, and the Short Cats are just under 4cm tall and 2.7cm wide. They are listed for sale my shops at Folksy.com and Etsy.com.