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.

Confetti For A Spring Wedding? - No It's My April Bee Block

My NYC Metro Mod Guild April Queen Bee is my good friend Maren @The Agitprop Quilter.

Take a look at the fabric package that arrived in the mail.

 Maren asked us to make a Confetti Block using a pattern from the book Block Party: The Modern Quilting Bee "Megan's Quilt - Party of Twelve"

And here's the finished block.

 This was such a fun and easy block to put together.  Just put white borders around the sections of colour and then add more white strips to join them together in a 13.5" block.

This is going to be a really fun, crisp quilt when it's finished. 

Updated 16 May 2019

Maren has finished her quilt top - love how this turned out, and I've spotted my block - it's centre-left.

You can take a look at all the blocks that our Bee have made for Maren on my Quilty - Confetti Block 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.

And you can click this link to see all of my NYC Mod Quilt Guild Bee Blocks and Challenge Blocks/Quilts.

 

 

My September Bee Block(s) - Yes, There's Two Of Them!

September Bee Block time!

My September Queen Bee is Nicole, and she's asked us to make one or two modern sampler blocks of our choice in red and white with just "a very small bit of cheddar" yellow; here are her instructions.

Now's the time to check out all those images I've put on my Pinterest Quilty - Block Inspiration board - keep adding things to my boards and hardly ever do anything with them!  I chose two blocks which I then adapted slightly to incorporate the Cheddar Yellow fabric:

Block 1 (original block tutorial:  

July 2011 Modern Block of the Month from Handmade by Alissa via Sew, Mama, Sew!)

Block 2 (original block tutorial: X Marks The Spot block from SewCraftyJess)

I straightened up the half square triangles using a Bloc-Loc - they're amazing.  If you've never used one, then be sure to check out my tutorial.

So another tremendous fun month, and again I'm sure the finished quilt will look amazing.  I've posted the blocks to the NYC Mod Guild Blog, and you can take a look here.

And you can click this link to see all of my NYC Mod Quilt Guild Bee Blocks and Challenge Blocks/Quilts.

 

 

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Stop Blogging; Start Making

This morning I've had a bit of a shock that has to spark me into action for the day - my June Bee Block fabric arrived in the post along with a class supply list for a course next week's LQS Free Motion Machine Quilting: Next Step and I see that there's prep-work required beforehand.  I'm starting to think that I'm a bit snowed under.

To explain, I've finished Surprise Project I but haven't labelled or photographed it yet and on Monday I planned out my top and backing sheet for Surprise Project II but I really must get on with making it now as my deadline is approaching fast, very fast.  I've not done any prep work for my Transparency Quilt course - final class tomorrow- think maybe that should become a priority today!  I've also had a class supply list for another LQS course that also starts next week, Sparkle Plenty Star Quilt by Stephanie Dunphy of Loft Creations and I need to put a bit of thought into my colourways/fabrics for that.

So why am I falling behind with all my quilting commitments - the answer is that I'm too busy pinning to Pinterest and following quilting blogs - so for the rest of today they're banned, it's the only way I'll get anything done though obviously posting to my own blog doesn't count! ;)

Here's a peep at the wonderful fabric selection that my June Queen Bee, Kim, has posted to me - batiks in stunning jewel colours.

Kim's requested two New York Beauty (NYB) blocks with the same or different patterns from a 10 pattern choice.  Here's a look at her guidelines (June Bee Block instructions) and she's also pointed us at an NYB Block Quilt Along which will be very useful.

Lots of points and curves so I'm going to get together with my friend M, who is in the same NYC Mod Bee, and we can give each other encouragement and support and put our thinking caps on.

While I've been busy swooning over fabric and quilt block patterns Tatty has achieved another puppy milestone.  After she realised only yesterday that she can jump on to the sofas all by herself, she has put her new found skills to the test and scaled the dizzy heights of the coffee table - and who can blame her for as we all know a crafty girl just can't live without her sellotape!


Related posts:
New York Beauty (June Bee Block) - Sunglasses Recommended!
Liberated Log Cabin - My August Bee Block

So Much To Do And Not Enough Hours In A Day!

I've spent the last two days learning how to do all this stuff, setting up my facebook page and this blog and linking my accounts on facebook, Pinterest and Ravelry. It's quite a task and really all I want to do is crack on with my latest quilt project - I'm very, very excited about this one, it's top secret for now but over the next few weeks I'll be able to tell you all about it. Bear with me for a while, I need to get my act together but I promise I'll be posting lots of photos with my posts very, very soon!