Recreating Klimt - My July 2013 NYC Metro Mod Bee Block

Time to sort out my July NYC Metro Mod Bee Block - Queen Bee Deidre did say there was no hurry but I figure now Joe and Katie are back in England and Flicky's off to Seville to visit Jack, it's time to clear the decks again - crikey that might mean getting up to date with my Skill Builder BOM by the end of the week and we all know how I love to fall a few months behind with that one so don't hold your breath!!!

Before we start - here's the finished block - I read somewhere that it's best to give people a glimpse of the end result at the start of a blog post - hooks them in, makes them read more of the post.  Well the real reason I'm doing this is because Bloglovin (and I guess most feed readers) uses the first image from a post and I don't want that image to be a sheet of paper with a piece of yellow fabric - don't know about you but when I'm skimming down my Bloglovin 'to read' list a picture like that's not going to get me doing the magic click through to the post itself!

Now on to the real post:

This is what Queen Bee Deidre sent me - a piece of yellow and metallic gold fabric and some instructions:

make a block inspired by a section of this painting (see below), any size, style or shape block, try to keep to colours similar to the original, use some of the included fabric somewhere in the block.

Gustav Klimt 'The Kiss'

I chose this section from the man's robes:

Using Photoshop I edited the section using the 'Cut Out' filter - this defined the design and colour sections more.

Using a pen and ruler I divided the section into strips and blocks I could reproduce as part of a quilt block.

I raided my stash and chose colours appropriate for the block - Kona solids (black, yarrow, wheat, corn yellow and curry) and a small piece of Timeless Treasures 'Sketch' to add a little interest and texture.

I labelled the sections with my colour choices and cut into three strips.

I started sewing strips of fabric together, slicing as I went - no measuring just piecing and seeing what happened. 
This is the first strip complete.

I did have to take more care sizing the next two strips to make sure the overall length was the same as the first so all three strips could be joined together.  I still didn't measure, I just did it by eye.

The finished block

And that first photo again!

As always I had a lot of fun making the block.  I like the unexpected challenges being in a Bee brings - fabrics, colours, designs, styles you would never dream of using yourself that involve pushing your own boundaries,  I really enjoy the months we have a more artsy, creative challenge rather than following a pattern, makes you have to think and step outside the box a bit - great stuff :)

You can also check out all the blocks that our Bee make for Deidre on my Quilty - Klimt Pinterest Board - I'll add more pins as each person in the Bee posts photos of their finished blocks and you can see my NYC Mod Guild Post here too.

Click these buttons to see more of my NYC Mod Guild blocks and my tutorials

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.