In your grandmother’s (or great-grandmother’s) day, delicate crocheted bedspreads were common in any collection of household linens. Unfortunately, those hand-crocheted bedspreads were as time-consuming as they were lovely. As a result, today’s fast-paced homemakers think they simply don’t have the time to invest in such a large-scale project.

If you think a lack of time is stopping you from crocheting a bedspread, a 16-page guidebook, “Crochet Bedspreads in Half the Time,” will help you speed through a whole collection of heirlooms for the next generation. The secret lies in the weight of the thread. Instead of thin, bedspread-weight thread, the book’s five designs were created for a heavier thread that works up in half the time.

Each design includes step-by-step instructions plus specifications (a simple adjustment of the number of squares crocheted) for twin-, full- and queen-sized versions of each bedspread. Designs include “Briar Rose” (pictured), “Bed of Roses,” “Starry Night,” “Cluster Leaves” and “Pineapple Passion.”

The “Crochet Bedspreads in Half the Time” guidebook, No. AN1302, is $7.95. If you’d like to learn to crochet, a 33-page guidebook called “Learn to Crochet in Just One Day,” No. AN1146, is available for $8.95. Prices include postage and handling. Please allow about four weeks for delivery (for rush delivery, add $1 per item up to $3 maximum and allow about two weeks).

To order by mail, clip this article and send it with a check or money order to U-Bild Features, c/o Lewiston Sun Journal, P.O. Box 2383, Van Nuys, CA 91409. To order by credit card, call 1-800-828-2453. Visit U-Bild on the Web at www.craftbook.com.