Brad, I think we are hitting the limits of 2.5 geometry in attempting to force it on 3d objects. May be doable with the rotary add-on but I don't have it and have no plans for it.
Different topic. I just had one of those dumb EUREKA moments (dumb on my part). I don't need to understand the mathematics or theories behind tessellation of shapes as long as I know the steps to create patterns that tessellate. So that was my eureka moment. Okay pretty small moment but it did feel like a light bulb came on. Surprisingly occurred as I was firing my 45 at the range. A little bizarre in my opinion since both events have absolutely nothing to do with each other. hmmmmm. subconsciously thinking about gun grips maybe.
Here's a quick pattern I did playing with the concept. Again surprisingly simple when not worrying about math or theories. I am calling this abstract piece "A school".
Process: create shape in CorelDraw and save as svg format graphic. Import into Blender3d and create the complex surface geometry. Import into Designer using stl importer. Start playing with the layout and design of the piece.
Basic pattern enclosed for your own masterpiece creation. Pattern built from scratch and took about 10 minutes to make.
-Oscar