Christmas Snowflake Star Square Bed Cover Crochet Pattern

This bed cover is a Christmas classic made from one square repeated across the bed. Each square is a deep cranberry red with a big cream eight point star in the middle, the kind of snowflake star you see on old Nordic sweaters and holiday mittens. A thin round of evergreen green frames every square, and when the squares are joined with green, the bed fills with a neat grid of red and green with a snowy star in every box. It feels warm, festive and timeless, like Christmas morning at grandma's house.

The star is worked right into the fabric with tapestry crochet. You work the square in rows of single crochet, carrying the cream yarn inside the stitches while you crochet with the red, then switching colors where the chart says. Because the unused color is hidden inside the stitches, the back looks almost as neat as the front, and the fabric is thick, warm and sturdy. Each square is 29 stitches wide and 29 rows tall, and the chart is written out row by row with every color count, so you never have to read a graph.

After the star panel, two rounds go all the way around the square. The first is a round of red single crochet that tidies the edges and turns the corners, and the second is a round of green single crochet that gives each square its festive frame. Each square ends on 124 single crochet with four corner spaces, which keeps the joining nice and even. The finished, blocked square measures about 8 inches, and the star itself is about 6 inches from point to point.

The queen size uses 132 squares in a grid of 11 squares across and 12 squares down. The joined center measures about 88 by 96 inches. A border of one green round, one red round and one cream shell round adds about 1.25 inches on every side, for a finished size of roughly 91 by 99 inches. That covers a queen mattress and drapes well down the sides of the bed, so the stars show from every angle when you walk into the room.

The squares are joined with green single crochet worked on the right side, through both loops of both squares. This makes a neat raised ridge between the squares, and those ridges form the evergreen grid you see in the photo. The border repeats all three colors and ends with a soft cream scallop, which looks a little like fresh snow along the edge of the bed.

The finished bed cover is thick, warm and very cozy, perfect for cold December nights. The tapestry fabric holds its shape well and the stars stay crisp after washing. I would call this an intermediate project. The stitches are only single crochet, but tapestry color changes take a little practice, and 132 squares ask for patience and steady tension. If you have made a few granny squares and you want to learn colorwork, this is a wonderful project to grow into.

I love Christmas, and I love that this bed cover brings the holiday into the bedroom, not just the living room. When I pull it out of the cedar chest in late November and spread it over the bed, the whole house starts to feel like Christmas. Red, green and cream are the colors of my childhood holidays: the ribbon on the presents, the holly by the door, the snow outside the window. With a string of little lights over the headboard, this cover makes the room glow.

The stars are what make my heart sing. There is something magical about watching a star appear row by row as you change colors. For the first few rows it is just a little line of cream, then a diamond, then the points spread out, and suddenly there is a snowflake in your hands. I still hold up every finished square to the window to admire it. Tapestry crochet felt tricky at first, but after two or three squares my hands knew the rhythm, and now I find it very calming.

I also love that each square is a small, complete project. One square takes me about an hour and a half, so I can finish one in an evening with a cup of cocoa and a Christmas movie. A square and two small balls of yarn fit in my bag, and I take them along to waiting rooms and long car rides. Every finished square goes into a basket by my chair, and watching that basket fill with red and cream stars is the best motivation I know.

Here are a few more reasons this one is close to my heart:

• The chart is written out row by row, so there is no graph to read.
• Tapestry crochet hides the carried yarn, so the back looks neat too.
• The thick fabric is wonderfully warm for winter nights.
• It makes a Christmas gift that a family will bring out every year.

Each of these makes a big holiday project feel calm and doable, even in the busy weeks before Christmas.

A handmade bed cover becomes part of a family's traditions. In our house, the day this cover goes on the guest bed is the day the grandchildren know Christmas is coming. They count the stars, they argue about which one is the biggest, and they ask to sleep under it when they visit. That is the kind of joy I hope you find in making it. A store-bought blanket is just a blanket, but a handmade one carries every evening you spent making it.

This project taught me patience with colorwork. My first square had a few stitches where the cream peeked through the red, because I forgot to keep the carried strand snug. I made a second one, and then a third, and each one was neater than the last. When I joined the final square and worked the last snowy scallop around the edge, I could hardly believe that all those little stars had come from my two hands. It is one of the projects I am proudest of.

Try a new color pair. The star looks lovely in many colors. Navy with cream stars and a silver gray frame gives a calm winter look that lasts all season. Forest green with cream stars and a red frame turns the colors around for a different Christmas mood. Charcoal gray with white stars feels modern and Scandinavian, and soft blue with white is like a snowy morning. Keep the star light and the background dark so it always stands out.

Make it for a different bed. Every square is about 8 inches, so changing the size is just a matter of changing the grid. Add or remove a column to change the width, and add or remove a row to change the length. Here is a quick guide with the border included:

• Twin: 8 across by 12 down, 96 squares, about 67 by 99 inches
• Full: 10 across by 12 down, 120 squares, about 83 by 99 inches
• Queen: 11 across by 12 down, 132 squares, about 91 by 99 inches
• King: 13 across by 12 down, 156 squares, about 107 by 99 inches

For a taller bed or a longer drape, add one more row to the length.

Make a Christmas throw. A grid of 6 squares across by 8 squares down uses 48 squares and makes a throw of about 51 by 67 inches with the border. That is a lovely size for the sofa during the holidays, and it uses just over a third of the yarn of the queen size. It is also a great way to practice tapestry crochet before you commit to a full bed. Fold it over the arm of a chair and it becomes part of your holiday decorating.

Make a baby blanket. A grid of 4 squares across by 5 squares down makes a blanket of about 35 by 43 inches, perfect for a baby's first Christmas. The stars are worked right into the fabric, so there are no raised parts to worry about. Choose a soft, washable baby yarn. Pale blue with white stars or soft gray with white makes a gentle winter blanket that can be used long after the holidays.

Make matching pillow shams. Six squares joined 3 across by 2 down make a sham front of about 24 by 16 inches, which fits a standard pillow snugly. Use star squares on the front and plain red squares on the back. Join front and back on three sides with green single crochet, slip the pillow in, and close the last side. A single star square also makes a sweet little 8 inch accent pillow for a chair.

Change the edge. For a simple, tailored look, skip the cream shells and finish with one more round of green single crochet. For a deeper, snowier scallop, work 7 double crochet in each shell instead of 5 and keep the same spacing. You could also add cream pompoms or tassels at the four corners. Each small change gives the cover a new mood, from crisp and classic to playful and cozy.

Use a different yarn weight. In DK yarn with a 4.0 mm hook, each square comes out at about 6.5 inches, so a queen needs a grid of about 14 across by 15 down. In bulky yarn with a 6.5 mm hook, each square grows to about 10 inches, and a queen needs about 9 across by 10 down. Always make and block one square first, measure it, and plan your grid from that. Weigh your first square too, so you can work out your yarn amounts.

Mix in plain squares. If you want fewer stars to make, alternate star squares with plain red squares in a checkerboard. You still get plenty of stars, with less colorwork. You could also make a few squares with a green star instead of cream and scatter them across the bed like ornaments on a tree. Keep the frames and joining green so the bed still looks planned.