Gaudi?

I too went to Bracelona for the Quilt Expo, many years ago, and absolutely loved the Guell Park, so that was the obvious place to look for inspiration. I went through all my photos (and that took some time), rejecting the obvious candidates as I was determined, this time, to not just do a photo realistic copy of one of my pictures. Two photos stood out.

Later I realised that the first photo might not actually be designed by Gaudi as there was at least one house on the site before he started work. Hence the question mark in the title. I then turned to my favourite computer tool, Illustrator, to help me generate a spiral that I could use as a starting point. Whilst playing in the program, and with the help of Youtube videos, I found a shape I loved and started work.

The piece is 16 inches square, and some of the mosaic pieces ended rather smaller than I had expected. I initially outlined the main shape using a twin needle, but the line ended up too uneven and I wasn't happy with it. I couched gold thread over the edge, which improved the look of it, even if I worried I was veering too much towards Klimt rather than Gaudi. It also caused the entire piece to puff up, so my quilting in the plain spaces had to be denser than origianlly planned. It would also benefit from being blocked, but despite my smugness at starting early, I only managed to finish the piece late last night. Overall I'm pleased with it, and my husband likes it too which is always reassuring.