Here’s a little guide on how to make my Daisy Wheel Granny Square cushion. This isn’t exactly a step my step tutorial but more of a guide to basic join as you go method. It hasn’t always been my favourite way to join granny squares, but i really like how it looks with certain designs.  You can find the free pattern for the Daisy Wheel square here. There are a few ways that you can join your squares – whip stitch them together, dc them together or join as you go, which i’m focusing on here. If you’d prefer to whip stitch i’ve found a good tutorial here.

To start you need to make 1 full Daisy Wheel square and 8 x  partially finished squares (leaving the last round of white off). The last round of white is added during the joining process. You can see one partially completed square in the image below – make 8 of those. Okay, you should have 1 full square and 8 partially completed squares  – making 9 in total. The first step is to attach one partially finished square to your completed square. Start adding white until you reach your first corner. At the corner, work your first group of 3dtr and ch1 and STOP.

Where you would normally add your second ch, we are going to join to our completed square. Slip your hooked into the corner sp of the completed square  – see below (ignore all the extra squares, pretend there is only 1 completed square).  Now instead of that second ch we are going dc (sc for US) to join the two squares. See the steps below. You can see below how the join looks. If you find it easier just to slip stitch them together that’s okay too. You can now go ahead and finish the corner on the uncompleted square, remembering that the second chain in the ch is swapped for the dc join. So your corner will consist of (3dtr, ch1, dc join, ch1, 3dtr). Make sense? Here’s what the completed corner looks like below. You can also see that when you reach the ch1 that is along the side, you substitute it for a dc join. Continue along the side, substituting the ch1 for a dc join (sc for US) where needed. Obviously, if there are no joins along the side you’re working on then please include the chains as usual. The corner join is a little different when you are joining to more than one square. In the image below we need to join to the TOP RIGHT square and the square on the bottom left – so we need 2 joins at this corner.

When joining to one square at a corner always us this pattern – (3dtr, ch1, joining dc, ch1, 3dtr).

When joining to two squares at the corners always use this pattern (3dtr, joining dc, ch1, joining dc, 3dtr). See more images below.
The image below shows where we need to start joining to the top right square. Complete the first 3dtr of the corner, dc join, ch1……

And now compete another dc join to the second square’s corner – see below.
You can see the two joins below and now you can complete the rest of your corner with 3dtr. Continue down to join down the side by swapping ch1 for dc join (sc for US).
Once you have joined all nine of your squares it will look like the image below. 

Add another round of white trebles around the entire front to create a bigger block of crisp fresh white. I’ve used 3 chains at the corners. The front is now complete. Hooray!!

For the cushion back i’ve just used a solid granny square of green to add a bit of contrast. You might like to make the front and back the same – it’s completely up to you. Here’s a link to a great solid granny tutorial by Cherry Heart Crochet  Continue adding rounds until it is big enough. Now to join front and back! Once again there are many ways you join the front to the back – whip stitch it, dc join or maybe you’d like to run a length of chain through the stitches so it can be removed for easy washing. I’ve used a dc join through both loops for a nice secure finish. Place front and back, wrong sides together and start working a dc through both loops on front and back. This little photo guide is a handy resource if you’re not sure. I find it easier to peg them together so they don’t slip out of place. Once you’ve complete 3 sides, insert your cushion and complete the round. 

Sit back and admire. All of these beautiful colours can be found at Yummy Yarn and co in the Heirloom Cotton section.