I was out of town for a few weeks, and wasn't able to be in the workshop.   But I was able to brush up on my Fusion skills and start modeling the framework of the chair.  I stopped at trying to sculpt the arms.   I need more time figuring out Fusion form.

The model was still helpful in planning the stretchers for the seat, where I plan to diverge from the original design and shift the rear seat stretcher behind the vertical back stiles (on the original, the stretcher was in front of them).  I want to do this for comfort, so the sitter doesn't feel a hard stretcher on their butt.  Here's a rendering of my Fusion model.

Shifting the rear seat stretcher back does complicate weaving because now the two back stiles intrude into the weaving area, interrupting (primarily) the weft cords that go side-to-side.

There's a straightforward way to incorporate interior blocking that gives the weft cord an alternative path to wrap and return to the opposite side (rather than wrapping over the outside of the seat frame).   

However, the intruding stile also blocks the path of front-to-back warp cords at the outer edge, but generally, the weaver just doesn't use any warp cords in that area and side-steps the problem.   I spent a good 3 days trying to work out how to create blocking that would also allow me to put warp cords right against the sides of the seat.  Lots of little sketches on scraps of paper.   I think I have a solution that will work.  I'll probably make a test frame to see how it works in practice.

Once I was back in the workshop, I started work on some test blocking components.  Here are a couple teaser photos.

Next, I'll start work on the chair stretchers.