Since I made new patchwork curtains, I’ve been wanting to recover my dining chairs. Some of them had pretty gnarly stains because LIFE. Plus, the colors were all wrong for my new living/dining room palette. Making new covers is easy peasy, but it does take actually doing. This week I put it on my calendar and thus it finally happened!

I turned this pile of Kismet fabric scraps into - - -

this hunk of patchwork. It’s sewn with the quilt-as-you-go method, meaning that batting is already attached. That method is always nice when using string scraps.

First I cut a piece of batting in the size needed for my cushion cover. Then, I placed a pair of scraps diagonal on the batting, with right sides together. I sewed to join the pair of scraps and sewed through the batting at the same time. This attaches (quilts) the scraps to the batting foundation in one fell swoop.

After pressing the fabrics open, I continued adding strip scraps in the same manner. Each joined strip is simultaneously quilted to the batting.

When my patchwork was finished, I could have called it a day and attached it to my dining char as a new cushion cover. Instead I decided to add additional quilting. Our chairs get a lot of use. Experience has shown that extra quilting can help!

Diagonal quilting in the Continuous Eight style finishes her off nicely.

My Kismet scraps were nearly up after sewing the one cover, so I made two more covers out of bigger pieces of fabric from the Kismet collection. Here’s the collection of newly covered dining chairs.

(See that paper chain hanging on the wall, by the way? That’s Elora’s countdown chain for our trip to the states! She is SUPER excited. It’s just a few more weeks now.)

This cover showcases the Ikat Diamond print, available at Sojo Fabric. I like how the rich, rusty hue pairs with the dark wood. I’m not totally sure about the feather pattern that I chose for the quilting. It’s okay, but I have a feeling something more geometric would have been better.

And this new cover is my favorite! Only because I can’t get enough of this Fleuron print, available at A Thrifty Notion. I love how it looks with the white chair and a simple, diagonal stripe quilting treatment.

Now I can enjoy the cohesive new look and turn my attention to planning a new quilt for the sofa that continues the theme, though also includes different fabrics for variety. I think that shall come to pass this fall!

Would you like to make your own? See this post for an overview of the process. Look for chairs with upholstered cushions that can be removed via screws. That’s the trick. Mine are purchased from Ikea over the years.