Flora Starburst Mini - Chair Recover in Progress!

I only discovered the 'starburst' pattern in January but since then it has become one of my favorite blocks. Despite my busy schedule and/or being more or less on creative burn out, I've managed to make four in the first six weeks of 2014 - and I've cut half the blocks for three more; I just need to dig through my stash for another background fabric to go with them.

I've been spending quite a few hours digging around in my stash, attempting to reorganize and/or shop my stash, and I came across a scrap I'd been holding on to for a couple years. I can't really say why I'd been holding on to it; there wasn't much of this little scrap, less than half a fat quarter, and really the little plants on taupe were cute, but seemed more botanical/country than my usual taste runs. That said, there was something about it that kept me from using it up earlier. This time, I pulled it out, thinking I might be able to use it in the multi-starburst quilt. Nope - but completely by accident the already chopped up pieces wound up sitting on my desk as I went through another project and my favorite olive/avocado green dots landed right next to the botanic print. I tell you it was fate. They were meant to be together.

Seriously, the green could not be a better match for the botanical print. The purple would have been better with a bit more red/pink to it, but it's not a bad match either (especially in person).

After piecing the outer eight blocks, I had three squares leftover from my cutting - two of the floral and one of the purple. I had thought about making the center block all the green dot, but it seemed a shame to add those three leftover squares to my scrap pile. So, I made the center a little scrappier than I'd intended. I'm still debating whether that was a good choice or not, but it's really too late to do anything at this point!

While my first block became the mini-quilt that started this obsession, and my second and third are the beginning of a quilt, my fourth one had a different home in mind. With the help of a little extra fabric, a scrap of batting, and some quick quilting, it's in place and looking amazing!

My sad, old office chair which has seen way too many years (probably even too many decades) since it's last recover finally has a pretty new recover!

Well - almost.

I'm currently just holding everything in place with four safety pins while I try to get my hands on a staple gun (or another way to attach the new miniquilt to the seat). I think I should probably remove the three wooden pieces that lock the seat into the small storage compartment, staple in place, then cover with another piece (just like the last recover did) before reattaching the wooden pieces. It seems like that would be a more professional looking finish.

Ugly underside or not, the top is looking amazing. The path to recovering this chair wasn't easy, but now that it is finally (almost) done, I'm so thrilled. I should have done this right away instead of putting it off - but then again, I didn't discover this pattern -- or the way chopping up a 'too country' print could change it -- until this year.

Now I'm wondering what else in my stash could completely change with a little chopping, the right block pattern, and the right partnering fabrics. Hmm...