Red and Cream Sunburst Flower Square Bed Cover Crochet Pattern

This bed cover looks like a collection of grandmother's doilies sewn together into a quilt. Every square is a cream sunburst of fine lace, with spokes of treble crochet radiating out from the center like rays of light and rounds of open mesh around them. In the middle of each sunburst sits a layered flower with a deep red center, a ring of round white petals, a ring of burgundy petals and a ring of bright red petals. Each square is framed in red, joined with red seams and finished with a scalloped edge in red and cream.

The square begins like a doily. A small ring of double crochet opens into a round of treble crochet spokes with chain spaces between them, then a second round of longer spaces and a third round where each spoke splits into two. That gives the fine, radiating sunburst you see behind every flower. A squaring round then turns the circle into a square, using taller stitches in the corners and shorter ones in the middle of each side, so the shape becomes perfectly square without pulling the spokes out of line.

Three more cream rounds frame the sunburst: an open mesh round, a solid round of double crochet and a second mesh round, which echoes the lace of the center. Then two red rounds, single crochet and half double crochet, make a crisp frame with 35 stitches on each side. The finished square measures about 9.5 inches. The red frames are what turn a pretty doily into a bold quilt block, and when the squares are joined, the frames line up into a red grid across the whole bed.

The flowers are made separately and sewn on, which keeps the sunburst flat and the flower lifted. Each flower has seven rounds and uses the front and back loop method to build its layers. The petal rounds go into the front loops and fold forward, and the base rounds go into the back loops behind them, ready for the next ring of petals. The result is a round, full flower about 4.5 inches across, with three rings of petals standing up from the lace.

The queen size uses 72 squares in 8 columns and 9 rows and 72 flowers. The squares are joined with a red whipstitch through the back loops. The border has four rounds: red single crochet, cream shells, a red round outlining every shell and a cream round with a picot at the top of each scallop. The finished cover measures about 79 by 88 inches. The counts work out evenly for any number of squares.

The stitches are chain, slip stitch, single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet, treble crochet and double treble crochet. What makes this pattern intermediate is the squaring round, with its mix of stitch heights, and the layered flower. I give the count at the end of every round, and each round is short, so it is easy to check your work and fix a mistake before it grows.

The finished cover is light, lacy and joyful. The fine cream spokes look delicate and old-fashioned, and the bright red flowers and frames make the whole cover sing. It looks wonderful at Christmas, of course, but just as lovely in summer with white curtains and fresh flowers. Red and cream suit a cottage bedroom, a farmhouse guest room or any space where you want a cheerful, welcoming heirloom on the bed.

I have always loved doilies. My grandmother had them on every table, under every lamp and on the back of every armchair, and I spent hours as a child tracing their lacy spokes with my finger. This bed cover is my love letter to those doilies. Each square starts just like one, with a little ring and a burst of spokes, and when I hold a finished sunburst up to the window, I can almost see her living room again.

I love the first rounds of every square. The spokes grow so quickly, and each round opens the lace a little more. Then the squaring round comes, and the circle turns into a square right in your hands. I never get tired of that moment. It feels like a small piece of crochet magic, and it is surprisingly easy once you follow the order of the stitches: tall in the corners, short in the middle.

The flowers are pure joy to make. They are small, colorful and quick, about half an hour each, and they pile up in a bowl like a heap of red blossoms. I make them while watching a film in the evening, one layer at a time: the deep red center, the white petals, the burgundy ring and the bright red ring. When I lay a finished flower on a sunburst square for the first time, the square suddenly comes alive.

Here are the habits that made this project easy for me:

• Count the spokes after Rnd 2: there should be exactly 16.
• Place a stitch marker in each corner space during the squaring round.
• Make all the flowers in one color order so they all match.
• Weave in the flower ends as you change colors, not at the end.

I love the red frames and seams. Without them, the squares would blend into each other like one big lace tablecloth. With them, every sunburst sits in its own little window, like a framed picture, and the whole cover looks crisp and tailored. The red grid also connects the flowers, so the eye travels happily from one blossom to the next across the bed.

The colors feel cheerful in every season. At Christmas, the red and cream look festive and warm, with the flowers like poinsettias or holly berries. In spring and summer, they feel fresh and bright, like strawberries and cream. With white hydrangeas on the nightstand and a soft beige rug on the floor, the cover makes the bedroom feel cozy and welcoming all year long.

Finally, I love that this cover carries a story. Every square is a little doily, and together they hold the memory of all the doilies and all the hands that made them before us. If you make it, I hope it reminds you of someone you love, and I hope it becomes a treasured heirloom that tells your own story for many years to come.

Choose new flower and frame colors. The sunburst looks beautiful with many color pairs. Navy frames with blue and white flowers feel fresh and coastal, sage green frames with pink flowers look soft and romantic, and gold frames with yellow and orange flowers feel sunny. For a calm, all-neutral cover, make the frames in taupe and the flowers in cream and oatmeal. Keep the lace in a pale color so the spokes show clearly.

Make it for any bed. Each square is about 9.5 inches, and the border adds about 1.5 inches on every side. The border works for any number of squares, because each side of Border Rnd 1 always has 36 stitches per square plus 1, which divides evenly into the 6-stitch shell repeat. These sizes include the border:

• Twin: 6 by 9 squares, 54 squares and flowers, about 60 by 88 inches
• Full: 7 by 9 squares, 63 squares and flowers, about 69 by 88 inches
• Queen: 8 by 9 squares, 72 squares and flowers, about 79 by 88 inches
• King: 10 by 10 squares, 100 squares and flowers, about 98 by 98 inches

Make a sofa throw. Five columns by six rows, 30 squares, makes a throw of about 50 by 60 inches with the border. It uses less than half of the yarn and is a lovely way to try the sunburst and the layered flower before a full bed. It looks especially pretty folded over the arm of a cream sofa, and it makes a wonderful Christmas gift for someone who loves vintage lace.

Make a baby blanket. Four by four squares, 16 in all, gives a blanket of about 41 by 41 inches. For a baby, use soft pastels, such as pink and white flowers with pale pink frames, and a washable cotton blend. Close up the spokes a little by working Rnd 3 with ch 1 instead of ch 2. Sew each flower down around its outer base and tack each outer petal, so no small petal can be pulled by little fingers.

Make matching pillows and doilies. One square with the full four-round border makes a pretty pillow front of about 12.5 inches, or a small square doily for a nightstand. Six squares joined 3 by 2 make a standard sham front. A single sunburst square without the flower, edged with the border, makes a lovely lace mat under a lamp or vase, just like the doilies that inspired this cover.

Leave out the flowers. For a delicate, all-lace cover, make the squares without flowers, and work the red frames in cream too. The result looks like an antique lace bedspread, with rows of sunbursts across the bed. Or make the flowers on every other square only, for a lighter, more playful look. Lay out a few squares before you decide.

Change the edge. The red and cream scallops are bright and pretty. For a simpler finish, stop after the cream shell round and add a round of reverse single crochet. For a deeper edge, add a second round of cream shells before the red outline round, working each new shell into the center of the shell below. You could also work the whole border in red for a bold frame.

Change the yarn weight. In DK cotton with a 4 mm hook, each square comes out about 7.5 inches and the flowers about 3.5 inches, so a queen needs about 10 by 11 squares. In fine cotton thread with a small steel hook, the squares become true doilies, perfect for a table runner. In bulky yarn with a 6 mm hook, the squares grow to about 12 inches, so a queen needs only 6 by 7 squares.