Design Tinkering

I was feeling tired and sleepy today, and it’s Friday so rather than work on what I SHOULD have been working on, I’ve been tinkering with a design for a new goddess: Light in Me.

free motion quilting | Leah Day

I’m now designing almost 100% on computer (Serif Draw Plus or Adobe Illustrator) because it’s so much faster than hand drawing. I can set up lines, copy and paste to mirror and rotate with a few clicks rather than a lot of copying and tracing with a pencil and tracing paper.

However, this is still not a speedy process. I’ve been spending most of the day adding lines, deleting lines, trying out new ideas, adjusting things to fit. It’s a bit tedious, but also fun to see the design coming together.

When designing any quilt there’s only one question I ask:

What do I like?

The things I like, I try to emphasize. The things I don’t like, I know to adjust until I do like them. It’s a slow process of adding, tweaking, then deleting, adding again. Eventually the design will be complete when I can look at it and like all aspects of it, and feel no twitchy need to adjust that area or fix that spot.

So that’s what I’ve been up to today. Whatcha think? Does she need more hair?

Let’s go play,

Leah

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

9 Responses

  1. Julierose says:

    I love your drawing–my opinion –no more hair –just sayin' –I love it just as it is..but I realize that you are thinking in terms of piecing this beauty–so I cannot wait to see how she comes out, Leah. Just got your pkg today –love that little pin holder suction thingey–and you are so right about the Fons and Porter white marking pen–it is amazing on black…thank you for all your videos and tutorials…hugs, Julierose

  2. Linda Wujcik says:

    I love your design…wonderful name!

  3. I think she has just the right amount of hair! It's all going to look awesome!

  4. Anne Hayward says:

    It looks perfect just as it is look forward to seeing your completed quilt

  5. I have missed seeing your progress on the beautifully complex design of Duchess Reigns and look forward to your pulling it out to finish.
    Thanks for sharing about your design process.

  6. Jake says:

    Heeheehee,…yes, more hair! I love the new design Leah. You are so creative and talented too. I'm so glad you found it in your heart to start this blog to share with us. I've been following you almost since you began and have enjoyed seeing the changes and progress in you and your skills as well.. He to meet you one day. I really admire you.

  7. kgrammiecaz says:

    Beautiful. The hair on the goddesses is always my favorite. Lookong forward to,the end result.

  8. Denise says:

    Only because you asked, yes the hair distribution does not seem even. There is a thin patch between approx 9-11 position on the clock face.

  9. Roxane Lessa says:

    Leah, beautiful uplifting design! I loved getting to meet you in Charlotte too. Congrats on your new ebook-I know how much work these are to produce!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *