How to Crochet a Quilt

Star quilts are some of my favorites and although they look very difficult they're actually very easy to crochet. I made my first one when someone asked me if I would make a blanket for them with a traditional star pattern but with the warmth and weight of pure wool. I loved the idea of combining two traditional crafts into one result so I gave it a try. This example is for an 8 pointed star with 6 rings and it uses about 4000 yards of worsted weight wool. You can learn all about the placement for the diamonds by looking in a basic quilting book or you can do it like I did and just stare at it until the pattern becomes clear. I'm like a guy that way - why read the instructions if you can simply wander around until you figure it out? That's half the adventure of it.

The first step is to crochet each diamond in a 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 pattern, increasing and then decreasing at the end of each row. (Any odd number will do depending on the size quilt that you want). The number of diamonds in each ring will increase by 8 because there are 8 points to the star so you will need 8 of the first color, 16 of the second, 24 of the third and so on until you reach the number of rings that you want.


I sew each ring together with a tapestry needle as I finish the diamonds for it and then block and steam the wool into shape using blocking pins. I strongly suggest doing this for each round and not waiting to block it all at the end when it's big and unwieldy to work with. If you skip this step you'll end up with a ripply blanket that won't lie flat. Wool is very forgiving so you can lay a damp cloth over it and the steam won't hurt it a bit. Let it lie in place until completely dry. Even though the standard is to hide the ends under the rows I don't even try with this type of work because I hand tie each diamond before sewing it and it's very difficult and time consuming to hide all of those ends from the sewing stage. Given that the final step is to back it with cloth it doesn't really matter that they show.



Once the star is completed you need to make the points by decreasing the number of diamonds in each row. Then the areas between the points are filled in with squares at the corners and triangles in between the other points. This should result in a perfect square. You can insert smaller quilt motifs into each square to add some more visual interest. The border is created by simply crocheting around the edges (increasing by 2 at each corner) until it reaches the desired size.

The final step is to back the quilt. I use soft flannel so that it will be comfy against the skin since wool can be a bit itchy. By this time the quilt is so large that you probably have to finish it on the floor so if you're over 40 you might want to take some Motrin and duct tape your glasses to your head first. I lay down a clean sheet, pin the quilt to it and alternate between miserably uncomfortable positions like sitting crosslegged or lying on my side. Since you're down there anyway you can toss in a few side leg lifts and call it your exercise for the day too.

That's it - you're done! I have to admit that it takes a very long time to make one but I just love the results!




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Sewing Stage Fright

So I finally finished my big queen-sized wool star quilt blanket and the only thing left is to sew a soft flannel backing onto it and now that I'm looking at it I'm terrified. I don't know how to sew! I took it to a master quilter for advice and she said that she wouldn't try it even on one of those big machines with the rollers that are used to back sewn quilts because the wool will stretch as it moves through the machine. It's got to be done by hand.

This is my plan so far and I'm hoping that Stephanie or anyone else reading this will tell me if there is a better way:

I bought a soft flannel sheet that is larger than the blanket. I'm going to take advantage of 2 of the hemmed ends and cut the other 2 sides so that the whole thing is about 3.5" bigger than the blanket on each side. Then I'll fold over 1.5 inches on each side and iron in some of that sewing tape stuff to hold it in place. This will leave me with a square that is about 2" bigger than the blanket on each side. I want that extra play in the material because wool stretches a bit over time and without it the blanket will pucker. Then I'll lay it out on a sheet on the floor and carefully tack the edges and pin or baste it in place. Once that's done I'll move it onto the bed and stand at some horribly awkward angle to hand stitch it all in place right under the edging and try to keep the stitches as even as I can. After that I'll lightly tack the backing down at regular intervals to keep it in place. It will be a little loose at first but will fit more tautly as the wool stretches. Does it sound like I'm leaving anything out?

I'm going to make myself start it tomorrow morning because the longer I think about it the more nervous I get. I suppose that the worst I can do is ruin the flannel or have to spend a day carefully picking out stitches. I suppose that one advantage is that no one will ever question whether or not it was handmade once they see my amateur uneven stitches. Maybe they'll think it's quaint and charming or something cool like that :).


Please come see my handmade designer plus size sweaters, sweater coats, capes and shrugs at MirabilisFashions.com