The Kiss: LSQG 2024 March Madness Challenge Quilt

It's finished!  The March Madness Challenge for the Lakeside Quilt Guild.

 

I decided to make a wall hanging modeled after Klimt's The Kiss.

This the fabric we were given.  Kaffe Fasset's Roman Glass, like a mosaic.

Here are the instructions.   In short, we can make anything, any size, as long as the given fabric is a focal point of the piece.  It can't be backing or borders, but must be a central part of the work.

Although I tossed around a couple of ideas (1 involving an octopus, another involving an abstract landscape), this is the one that came to the surface and wanted to be made at this point in time.

Here is my pattern.  Because Klimt's The Kiss is old enough to be in the public domain, there are lots of line drawings/ coloring pages of this painting out there.  So I picked one, enlarged it, and made it my pattern.

Klimt is also a favorite of quilters because of his use of textures and patterns in his paintings.

Here is is with everything fused, no stitches yet.  I am amazed at how recognizable it is, even using different colors and fabrics from the original.

The first piece I put in was the Roman Glass for her dress.  

All the other fabrics came out of my stash and scrap pile -- That was the self-imposed rule I wanted to follow.  The "big blue building" for his robe came from Laura R.  I'm much more partial to blue than gold anyway.  ;-)   I think her hair was a bandana that Sophie got from the groomer -- I washed it.  

I did have to purchase more Wunder Under fusible, but that's ok.   

 

The next step was to stitch everything down.  First I did a zigzag stitch with invisible thread - clear and smoke.  then I went back over some edges with a satin stitch.  Here are all the threads I used.  I'm so glad I bought that set of embroidery threads -- I've used them a lot.  I'm glad there are so many colors. 

 

Here's the threadwork from the back side.  The heavier lines are the satin stitch edges. 

 

Detail of The Kiss. 

I used a scrap of Dream Wool for the batting, so it puffs up nicely, giving some definition and body to the bodies.

I am so pleased with how this came out!  This has long been one of my favorite artworks.

I might even turn this into a postcard next time around!