As hard as it is to motivate myself to fire up the kiln and add to the already excruciating heat, I was inspired by this gorgeous thing:
We have about a million Allium bulbs in the back yard, I’m not sure whether I like the flowers or the dried seed heads better. Anyway, I thought I would try a kiln carving pattern of an Allium.
Step 1:
Download the free pattern from the Shop. After you print it out, come back here. Go on, I’ll wait.
Step 2:
Pin the pattern and a piece of fiber paper large enough for your piece of glass onto a puncture proof surface. I use a sheet of cardboard. Not sure how big of a fiber paper piece to cut? If you’re using a bottle, remember, a 1.5L bottle flattens to about 6″ wide x however tall the bottle is (or the cut part). A 750 mL bottle flattens to about 4.5″ wide. Still confused? Here’s the tutorial that talks about estimating how much glass you have.
Step 3:
Carefully cut out the gray area and remove the paper and the fiber paper underneath. I like to cut the paper pattern off first, then the fiber paper. Try to keep the flower in one piece, we’ll use it for another project later in the week.
Step 4:
Stash the paper pattern somewhere safe, we’ll need it for our next project. Carefully set aside the fiber paper allium too.
Step 5:
Put the fiber paper pattern on a prepared kiln shelf and add an appropriate piece of glass. I’m using a cut yellow/green 1.5L bottle cylinder.
Step 6:
Fire to a full fuse. You can see my bottle shifted slightly on firing, either make sure your paper is large enough to accommodate any shifting, or prop the bottle in place with a tiny piece of fiber paper so it won’t roll.
Step 7:
Drill holes for hanging, or grind the edges and slump into a dish mold.
Ready to try it? Quick, go download the pattern!