Wow Pete, that looks great. Nice tease on the plugin. Artisan 2 perhaps?
Here's a quick UV mapping with the last model. Quick export of half the chair via Whaat's UV Tools, into 3ds Max. Converted to Edit Poly, Ran Unwrap UVW modifier. Selected all faces, ran a pelt map procedure followed by a relax by face angles. Back into Sketchup via UV Tools gateway. Still a bum seam down the middle, but if cushions are added, it's a non-issue.
[image: EEZP_WickerPeltMap.jpg]
WickerPeltMap.skp