Back in the Studio with Duchess Reigns and Emergence

Whew!  Lots of traveling and packing and unpacking chaos can really mess with quilting time!  Fortunately I left NC in the middle of two big projects that really need to be completed this summer, so coming back home I know exactly what I need to work on next.

The first project is Emergence, who I’m calling my “problem child.”  She’s had her string of issues so a few weeks ago I pulled her off the wall and ripped her face and hair out.

Hairless and faceless, she’s now ready for a new design.  Using tracing vellum, I’ve sketched the outline of her face and neck and have begun designing her new hair and face.  With these elements designed, it should be a simple process of attaching new applique shapes for her hair and quilting in the new face design.

On the design front, The Duchess Reigns is almost ready!  I played with many designs for the woven star in the center of the quilt, but ended up deciding to use both circles (as in chain of pearls) and triangles (as in flock of geese) in the spaces between the woven lines.

I’ve also taken another look at the goddess and her vase.  These elements were designed first and after completing the rest of the quilt now they need a bit of adjustment to fit into the symbols and shapes I ended up using elsewhere.

A big change was the goddesses breastplate.  Every time I tried to sketch a fill over the area, I couldn’t figure out what to quilt there.  That’s a good sign that the design needs to change!  So I drastically changed the vase and elements of the goddess so they now fit more solidly with the other elements in the quilt.   

Now looking at the design, the only thing left to complete is some triangles or circles in the border area.  Once this is done, I think it will be finally time to print and start marking fabric!

With two big projects going on, it’s tough to decide what to work on first.  One thing I like to do is have a project in a hand work stage and another project in a machine quilting or design stage.  This way there’s only one quilt on the lightboxes or machine, and one quilt rolled up on the couch for hand work.

It’s also a nice way of balancing the projects by what I feel like doing each day.  Sometimes I just don’t want to do hand work, while other days I’m craving it.  As always, balance is best!

So now I’m off to the studio to begin working on Emergence.  Once her face is put back on properly, then it will be the duchess’s turn.  I can’t wait!

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day