Pin-loom weaving means creating small pieces of self-contained fabric in certain shapes. Traditionally, squares were the most common shape, by now accompanied by rectangles, triangles, hexagons, diamonds, and a few other shapes. Those little pieces of woven fabric are perfect for modular projects that combine shapes, and the quilt world provides a vast ocean of inspiration for just that.
In this blog post I’d like to walk you through the process of creating a traditional star quilt design, inspired by this year’s International Quilt Festival logo.
The traditional eight-point star design (Lone Star) can be easily broken down into squares and triangles. For those shapes, pin looms are available in many sizes and a variety of weaving methods.
The chart shows the color distribution “wrong side”, so it’s ready for you to use.
For demonstration purposes I decided to make a table topper, using a 2″ square loom and cotton yarn (I used the TURTLE Square 2″ F-fine sett loom and Catona by Scheepjes, a fingering weight cotton yarn).
You can weave both, squares (video instructions for square weaving) and triangles (video instructions for triangle weaving) on this loom. Some people prefer the convenience of a matching triangle pin loom.
If you are weaving along this blog, here is a list of pieces that you will need to weave. Once the pieces come off the loom, they are ready for assembly. You can use the yarn tails for sewing.
| Catona Color | Color | # of Squares | # of Triangles | Yardage |
| 130 | natural | 12 | 32 | 87 |
| 253 | turquoise | 0 | 8 | 14 |
| 388 | rust | 12 | 24 | 73 |
| 401 | teal | 36 | 8 | 111 |
When assembling pin-loom projects, I usually look for how I can join the pieces into rows first, then join the rows. This keeps the project manageable, allows for frequent checks to make sure that there are no mistakes, and it nicely shows the progress while you work. Use the chart above to assemble the table topper.
To assemble the Lone Star design, start by “thinking in squares”: Join triangles first into squares. Then it’s easy to connect the squares into rows, and lastly connect the rows.
Weave in the ends and clip to about 1/3″ to avoid that the tails travel to the right side of the fabric. You don’t need to weave in the ends if you plan to add backing.
Block as desired. A 20-minute soak in cold water with a no-rinse detergent will do.
While I chose a small loom for the demo project, you can work the same design on any loom size and still follow the same process. Make sure to adjust your yarn requirements to the loom that you are working with. I’m working on a blanket right now and will show it here on the blog when it’s done!
Oh do I love this ideaš„°
Thank you, Bonnie!