Lone star quilt hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Lone star quilt: preview of the stitched design

A lone star quilt block is seamed in back stitch: eight large diamond points meet in the middle, each pieced of nine small diamonds, three by three, seventy-two in all. The eight diamonds at the middle and the eight at the tips each hold a gold French knot, and the three diamonds across the middle of each point each hold one red straight stitch from end to end. It is nearly all back stitch, worked seam by seam.

Size and details

Easy. Simple stitches in three colors.

3 colors of floss and 3 kinds of stitch, all of them line stitches and knots:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.6 × 1.6 in	4.1 × 4.1 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.4 × 2.4 in	6.1 × 6.1 cm
5 in (13 cm)	3.2 × 3.2 in	8.1 × 8.1 cm
6 in (15 cm)	4 × 4 in	10.2 × 10.2 cm
8 in (20 cm)	5.6 × 5.6 in	14.2 × 14.2 cm

In a 3 or 4 inch hoop the French knots are drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for them there, or choose a larger hoop.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 336 Navy BlueSeams
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawMiddle and tips
DMC 304 Medium RedMiddle ring

The floss is six-strand cotton; the stitch guide says how many strands to use. You also need a hoop, an embroidery needle (a size 7 to 9 suits two or three strands) and plain cotton or linen fabric. To frame the piece in its hoop, cut a square 3 inches (8 cm) wider than the hoop: a 9 inch (23 cm) square for a 6 inch hoop.

Stitch guide

Back stitch 2 strandsSeams
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsMiddle and tips
Straight stitch 2 strandsMiddle ring

Getting it onto your fabric

The PDF holds the pattern twice at actual size: once as drawn, and once mirrored for an iron-on transfer pen. Print it at 100% with scaling off and check the one-inch square (25.4 mm) with a ruler before you trace. How to transfer a pattern explains tracing, carbon paper and the other ways. The files are under Downloads.