A Free Throw Pillow (Corner to Corner) Crochet Pattern You Will Love!
Welcome to my latest crochet creation: the free Cactus Corner-to-Corner Throw Pillow crochet pattern! I’m thrilled to share this crochet pattern with you, especially for those who adore the charming appeal of cacti in their home decor. With its quirky yet cozy design, this throw pillow pattern adds a touch of desert-inspired flair to any space.
Measuring 25 x 25 blocks in size, this project is a perfect blend of simplicity and style. Whether you’re a seasoned corner-to-corner enthusiast looking for a quick and satisfying make, or a beginner eager to delve into color changes, this pattern has something special for everyone. Plus, with the flexibility to adjust the yarn weight and hook size, you can customize your pillow to fit just about any size you need. Using a 5mm hook and 4 weight yarn with the hdc method my pillow fit a 16″ pillow form, or if using the double crochet method it will fit an 18-20″ pillow form, depending on your tension.
Let’s embark on this crochet journey together and bring a little slice of the desert oasis into our homes!
Please note, this post may contain affiliate links – should you purchase anything using my affiliate link I may get a small commission at no extra cost to yourself!
Inspiration behind the design
So, you know how much I love playing around with corner-to-corner (c2c) crochet? It’s my go-to technique for adding some fun to my projects. If you’ve been following my blog, you’ve probably seen a bunch of my c2c patterns—I just can’t get enough of them! And I genuinely miss the technique if I haven’t done it for a wee while.
The Cactus Corner-to-Corner Throw Pillow was designed to brighten up a dark and dull winter. Picture this: it’s been a long, dreary winter, and my living room is feeling a bit… blah. The days never seem to get any cheerier, and I’m seriously missing those sunny vibes. So I am stuck at home a lot and noticing that the chair tucked away in a corner is just begging for a pop of color!
Then it hit me: cacti! They are the ultimate symbol of sunshine and warmth. Can you feel cold when you think about catci? I absolutely cannot! That’s when the idea for this throw pillow really took off. With each stitch, I’m bringing a little touch of springtime into my home. It’s not just about decorating—it’s about bringing that feeling of hope and renewal into the space.
And working on this project has given me all those cozy, creative vibes that I’ve been craving. It’s like therapy with a side of yarn!
So, if you’re ready to dive into some c2c goodness and want to add a splash of color to your space, this pattern is definitely for you. Let’s brighten up those dark corners together!
Embellishments:
You could add a little extra whimsy to this free pillow crochet pattern design and add small pompoms or small crocheted flowers where the pink buds are, and maybe some of the lighter green squares denoting the spikes could be pompoms too?
What about adding tassels to the corners? Or adding a fancy edging around the whole pillow once it is assembled – maybe some bobbles or a picot design to maintain the ‘spikey’ feel?
Of course, you don’t need to use the cactus panel as a crochet pillow – you could use it in so many different projects:
- a blanket square,
- a front panel for a bag,
- a wall hanging, to name just a couple!
Construction of the design
The Cactus Throw Pillow crochet pattern uses the corner to corner technique. So you can choose whether to use hdc (dc in UK terms) or dc (tc in UK terms) stitches to create your blocks.
Obviously, if you use hdc your throw pillow will come out smaller and feel slightly thicker than if you use dc stitches. But both options produce the same outstanding project.
My corner to corner patterns all include the written and colour bock instructions and graphs so you can choose which version you prefer to work from.
New to Corner to Corner?
I have a learn to corner to corner course that has helped a lot of crocheters to master the art of corner to corner. We go through it step by step from reading the patterns to how to do the stitch, increases and decreases to colour changes. I will show you how to work both squares and rectangles too. We even make a couple of free pattern projects together!
If you are looking for some beginner corner to corner patterns check out:
Polar bear baby blanket – paid pattern
Carrots Square – free on the blog
Tulip Throw Pillow – free chart on the blog.
THE YARN
For this project I used my go-to yarn – Paintbox Simply Aran. I have mentioned many times why I love this yarn. It ticks a lot of the boxes for me as it comes in a superb range of colours, is easy to wash and dry, doesn’t tend to bobble and looks great for years! And the price point is As a 4 weight (aran) yarn, this one is definitely my go-to. It is a great option for this type of throw pillow project, as well as blankets, sweaters and so much more!
ALTERNATIVE YARN SUGGESTIONS:
Of course, there are some great alternative yarns out there to suit all budgets. Some of my suggestions to crochet this project would be:
Brava Worsted by KnitPicks – This yarn is 100% acrylic and also comes in 100g skeins (218 yards).
If you want to use a yarn that is a little more expensive but still a great fit for this project then why not try their Heartland yarn which is 100% acrylic will and comes in skeins of 113g (200 yards).
Get the PDF pattern!
You can find the ad-free PDF Pattern for this throw pillow crochet pattern in all of my shops:
The Cactus Pillow crochet pattern specifics:
Materials:
| #4 weight yarn 5 colors 5mm hook Scissors Tapestry needle Blocking mats and pins (optional) |
Gauge:
Does not matter as long as tension is consistent.
Sizing:
Finished size once blocked is approximately 16” square depending on tension if using HDC, larger id using DC
Abbreviations used:
- Ch(s) – chain(s)
- St(s) – stitch(es)
- The arrows indicate which way the row is worked according to the graph – left to right or right to left (this is the same with the arrows in the color block instructions!)
Other notes:
| Written in US terms Chain 1 does not count as a stitch. There are no special stitches used in this pattern. This is corner to corner graph and is worked bottom right to top left on the right side. To work out how much yarn you will need you will need to do a sample swatch with the stitch you intend to use (HDC or DC) and then measure how much yarn you used per stitch multiplying that by the number of stitches of that color and adding some for the tails to be worked in at the end. |
The Free Cactus Throw Pillow Crochet Pattern:
** This is a free pillow crochet pattern on the SunflowerCottageCrochet.com blog. If you are reading this anywhere else it is stolen content. Please do not copy and paste any part of it or print this pattern out. Please bookmark this page and use the website to work up your pattern. This helps my small business greatly as it provides a little bit of ad revenue which will in turn will allow me to continue to create free content for you!**
For the front panel:
Written Instructions:
↙ Row 1 [RS]: (w) x 1 (1 square)
↗ Row 2 [WS]: (w) x 2 (2 squares)
↙ Row 3 [RS]: (w) x 3 (3 squares)
↗ Row 4 [WS]: (w) x 4 (4 squares)
↙ Row 5 [RS]: (w) x 5 (5 squares)
↗ Row 6 [WS]: (w) x 6 (6 squares)
↙ Row 7 [RS]: (w) x 7 (7 squares)
↗ Row 8 [WS]: (w) x 8 (8 squares)
↙ Row 9 [RS]: (w) x 9 (9 squares)
↗ Row 10 [WS]: (w) x 10 (10 squares)
↙ Row 11 [RS]: (w) x 8, (b) x 3 (11 squares)
↗ Row 12 [WS]: (b) x 4, (w) x 8 (12 squares)
↙ Row 13 [RS]: (w) x 8, (b) x 5 (13 squares)
↗ Row 14 [WS]: (b) x 6, (w) x 8 (14 squares)
↙ Row 15 [RS]: (w) x 8, (b) x 7 (15 squares)
↗ Row 16 [WS]: (b) x 8, (w) x 8 (16 squares)
↙ Row 17 [RS]: (w) x 9, (b) x 7, (w) x 1 (17 squares)
↗ Row 18 [WS]: (w) x 1, (b) x 7, (dg) x 1, (w) x 2, (dg) x 5, (w) x 2 (18 squares)
↙ Row 19 [RS]: (w) x 2, (dg) x 3, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 5, (b) x 6, (w) x 2 (19 squares)
↗ Row 20 [WS]: (w) x 2, (b) x 6, (dg) x 1, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 9, (w) x 1 (20 squares)
↙ Row 21 [RS]: (w) x 1, (dg) x 2, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 9, (b) x 5, (w) x 3 (21 squares)
↗ Row 22 [WS]: (w) x 4, (b) x 4, (dg) x 3, (lg) x 2, (dg) x 5, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 2, (w) x 1 (22 squares)
↙ Row 23 [RS]: (w) x 1, (dg) x 5, (w) x 2, (dg) x 6, (lg) x 1, (b) x 3, (w) x 5 (23 squares)
↗ Row 24 [WS]: (w) x 6, (b) x 2, (dg) x 2, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 5, (w) x 2, (dg) x 3, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 1, (w) x 1 (24 squares)
↙ Row 25 [RS]: (w) x 2, (dg) x 3, (w) x 3, (dg) x 3, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 4, (w) x 1, (b) x 1, (w) x 7 (25 squares)
Corner: Start decreasing on both ends
↗ Row 26 [WS]: (w) x 8, (dg) x 9, (w) x 3, (dg) x 3, (w) x 1 (24 squares)
↙ Row 27 [RS]: (w) x 1, (dg) x 2, (w) x 3, (dg) x 9, (w) x 8 (23 squares)
↗ Row 28 [WS]: (w) x 7, (dg) x 7, (lg) x 2, (dg) x 1, (w) x 4, (p) x 1 (22 squares)
↙ Row 29 [RS]: (w) x 5, (dg) x 7, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 2, (w) x 6 (21 squares)
↗ Row 30 [WS]: (w) x 6, (dg) x 4, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 5, (w) x 4 (20 squares)
↙ Row 31 [RS]: (w) x 3, (dg) x 3, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 7, (w) x 5 (19 squares)
↗ Row 32 [WS]: (w) x 4, (dg) x 12, (w) x 2 (18 squares)
↙ Row 33 [RS]: (w) x 2, (dg) x 5, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 2, (w) x 1, (dg) x 2, (w) x 4 (17 squares)
↗ Row 34 [WS]: (w) x 3, (dg) x 1, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 1, (w) x 2, (dg) x 7, (w) x 1 (16 squares)
↙ Row 35 [RS]: (w) x 1, (dg) x 1, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 1, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 2, (w) x 2, (dg) x 3, (w) x 3 (15 squares)
↗ Row 36 [WS]: (w) x 2, (dg) x 2, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 1, (w) x 2, (dg) x 5, (p) x 1 (14 squares)
↙ Row 37 [RS]: (p) x 1, (dg) x 4, (w) x 2, (dg) x 4, (w) x 2 (13 squares)
↗ Row 38 [WS]: (w) x 2, (dg) x 1, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 1, (w) x 6, (p) x 1 (12 squares)
↙ Row 39 [RS]: (w) x 6, (dg) x 3, (w) x 2 (11 squares)
↗ Row 40 [WS]: (w) x 2, (dg) x 3, (w) x 5 (10 squares)
↙ Row 41 [RS]: (w) x 4, (dg) x 3, (w) x 2 (9 squares)
↗ Row 42 [WS]: (w) x 2, (lg) x 1, (dg) x 1, (w) x 4 (8 squares)
↙ Row 43 [RS]: (w) x 3, (dg) x 2, (w) x 2 (7 squares)
↗ Row 44 [WS]: (w) x 2, (dg) x 1, (p) x 1, (w) x 2 (6 squares)
↙ Row 45 [RS]: (w) x 2, (p) x 1, (w) x 2 (5 squares)
↗ Row 46 [WS]: (w) x 4 (4 squares)
↙ Row 47 [RS]: (w) x 3 (3 squares)
↗ Row 48 [WS]: (w) x 2 (2 squares)
↙ Row 49 [RS]: (w) x 1 (1 square)
To finish off the square: Round 1
Note: you can find my blog post with photo and video tutorials on how to do this at https://sunflowercottagecrochet.com/how-to-prepare-your-corner-to-corner-projects-for-joining-and-borders/
If you worked a HDC c2c block ….
With this part you are going to be SC into the spaces between the C2C blocks and chaining 2.
If you worked a DC c2c block:
You will substitute each CH2 for a CH3.
Round 2:
If you used hdc: Ch1, work 2 hdc into each ch space around, making sure to work [2hdc, ch2, 2hdc] in each corner space. SS to join. FO and weave in ends.
If you used dc: Ch1, work 3 dc into each ch space around, making sure to work [2dc, ch2, 2dc] in each corner space.
SS to join. FO and weave in ends.
Back Panel:
There are two options here.
- You can make a second front panel so that your throw pillow has the cactus on the front and the back.
- If you would like a plain back panel make a 25 x 25 square in a solid colour. I did mine in cream.
The written instructions for the solid back panel are:
↙ Row 1 [RS]: (w) x 1 (1 square)
↗ Row 2 [WS]: (w) x 2 (2 squares)
↙ Row 3 [RS]: (w) x 3 (3 squares)
↗ Row 4 [WS]: (w) x 4 (4 squares)
↙ Row 5 [RS]: (w) x 5 (5 squares)
↗ Row 6 [WS]: (w) x 6 (6 squares)
↙ Row 7 [RS]: (w) x 7 (7 squares)
↗ Row 8 [WS]: (w) x 8 (8 squares)
↙ Row 9 [RS]: (w) x 9 (9 squares)
↗ Row 10 [WS]: (w) x 10 (10 squares)
↙ Row 11 [RS]: (w) x 11 (11 squares)
↗ Row 12 [WS]: (w) x 12 (12 squares)
↙ Row 13 [RS]: (w) x 13 (13 squares)
↗ Row 14 [WS]: (w) x 14 (14 squares)
↙ Row 15 [RS]: (w) x 15, (15 squares)
↗ Row 16 [WS]: (w) x 16 (16 squares)
↙ Row 17 [RS]: (w) x 17 (17 squares)
↗ Row 18 [WS]: (w) x 18 (18 squares)
↙ Row 19 [RS]: (w) x 19 (19 squares)
↗ Row 20 [WS]: (w) x 20 (20 squares)
↙ Row 21 [RS]: (w) x 21, (21 squares)
↗ Row 22 [WS]: (w) x 22 (22 squares)
↙ Row 23 [RS]: (w) x 23 (23 squares)
↗ Row 24 [WS]: (w) x 24(24 squares)
↙ Row 25 [RS]: (w) x 25 (25 squares)
Corner: Start decreasing on both ends
↗ Row 26 [WS]: (w) x 24 (24 squares)
↙ Row 27 [RS]: (w) x 23 (23 squares)
↗ Row 28 [WS]: (w) x 22 (22 squares)
↙ Row 29 [RS]: (w) x 21 (21 squares)
↗ Row 30 [WS]: (w) x 20 (20 squares)
↙ Row 31 [RS]: (w) x 19 (19 squares)
↗ Row 32 [WS]: (w) x 18 (18 squares)
↙ Row 33 [RS]: (w) x 17 (17 squares)
↗ Row 34 [WS]: (w) x 16 (16 squares)
↙ Row 35 [RS]: (w) x 15 (15 squares)
↗ Row 36 [WS]: (w) x 14 (14 squares)
↙ Row 37 [RS]: (w) x 13 (13 squares)
↗ Row 38 [WS]: (w) x 12 (12 squares)
↙ Row 39 [RS]: (w) x 11 (11 squares)
↗ Row 40 [WS]: (w) x 10 (10 squares)
↙ Row 41 [RS]: (w) x 9 (9 squares)
↗ Row 42 [WS]: (w) x 8 (8 squares)
↙ Row 43 [RS]: (w) x 7 (7 squares)
↗ Row 44 [WS]: (w) x 6 (6 squares)
↙ Row 45 [RS]: (w) x 5 (5 squares)
↗ Row 46 [WS]: (w) x 4 (4 squares)
↙ Row 47 [RS]: (w) x 3 (3 squares)
↗ Row 48 [WS]: (w) x 2 (2 squares)
↙ Row 49 [RS]: (w) x 1 (1 square)
Finish off this square as you did for the front.
Assembly
Step 1: Take your front and back panels and place wrong sides together (this means that the right sides will be facing outwards).
Step 2: SC around three sides of your cushion ensuring that you sc through both the front and the back panels (see photo below). At each corner (sc, ch1, sc). Do NOT work the last side yet.
Step 3: Insert pillow form into cushion and then continue to sc along the last side. This might be a little trickier as you have the pillow form to work around too. Slip stitch to the first stitch you made.
FO and weave in ends!
Don’t forget to tag me in your throw pillow pattern makes on social media!
Events featuring this free pillow crochet pattern
This pattern has featured in the following events:
March 2024 – International Crochet Month Blog Hop by Underground Crafter.
