Just Can't Cut It: Quilts from Fabulous Fabrics

Rating:
Summary: Twelve quilt patterns & tips for using large-scale prints
Review: Just Can't Cut It!: Quilts From Fabulous Fabrics is a simple guide by quilting expert Pamela Mostek to the art and craft of assembling quilts from fabrics that are simply too gorgeous to be cut into small shapes! Twelve quilt patterns, tips for using large-scale prints, step-by-step instructions, and more, make Just Can't Cut It! an easy-to-follow addition recommended for any and all personal needlecrafting reference collections.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful quilt designs to complement wonderful fabric
Review: The title says it all! So often in a fabric store, I run across gorgeous fabric that I absolutely love but can't for the life of me figure out how I would use it in a quilt. Sometimes it's a large-scale print that wouldn't look right cut into itty-bitty pieces for a traditional pieced quilt. Sometimes it's a '30s repro novelty print where, again, the scenes would get destroyed if cut. More recently, it's been the lovely toiles that have come into vogue.

Pamela Mostek's "Just Can't Cut it!" provides terrific inspirations for quilts to make from those fabrics. Designs range from a simple scalloped whole-cloth quilt to a quilt with more intricately pieced diamond sashing that frames the "can't cut it" fabric. Since most of the design comes from the featured fabric, many of these quilts would be quite simple to piece.

The 12 designs include "Japanese Jewels," a crazy quilt made of Japanese prints, "I Love Liberty," which takes advantage of a strong horizontal design of a Liberty of London fabric, "Josie's Quilt," which shows off a '30s repro Red Riding Hood fabric that I've long admired, and several quilts using a lattice design to frame the featured fabric.

Those more addicted to hand quilting than to piecing will appreciate the simply to make quilts that will enable them to spend less time with the construction and get right to the quilting. I should note that Ms. Mostek doesn't provide any ideas of quilting the finished pieces. Fortunately, the photographs are clear enough that the quilting designs are apparent in most.

In addition to providing the piecing designs, Ms. Mostek gives suggestions for selecting companion fabrics that won't compete with the "can't cut it" fabric. Although she doesn't go into as much detail about companion fabric selection as some quilting books do, she does a good job focusing the short fabric-selection section to this style of quilt, where one fabric will (or at least should) dominate the design, and the rest are there to act as condiments, so to speak.

"Just Can't Cut it!" also contains a brief section on the mechanics of putting a quilt together, including applique and binding. The book, however, doesn't pretend to be a comprehensive "how-to-quilt" guide, and instead contains a good Resources section for those with questions on color, piecing, etc.

My one extremely minor criticism is that, for the most part, Ms. Mostek doesn't show any variations on her designs. Since the featured fabric serves as such a strong design element, visualizing the quilt made with anything else can be a challenge in some cases. Fortunately, the one quilt design where this is most true--"I Love Liberty"--does depict the quilt made with a different fabric.

The second I ran across this book at my local quilt shop, I knew I had to have it. One of these days, I will run across another one of those "Love It, But What Would I Do With It?" fabrics and will turn it into a "Just Can't Cut It" quilt.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful quilt designs to complement wonderful fabric
Review: The title says it all! So often in a fabric store, I run across gorgeous fabric that I absolutely love but can't for the life of me figure out how I would use it in a quilt. Sometimes it's a large-scale print that wouldn't look right cut into itty-bitty pieces for a traditional pieced quilt. Sometimes it's a '30s repro novelty print where, again, the scenes would get destroyed if cut. More recently, it's been the lovely toiles that have come into vogue.

Pamela Mostek's "Just Can't Cut it!" provides terrific inspirations for quilts to make from those fabrics. Designs range from a simple scalloped whole-cloth quilt to a quilt with more intricately pieced diamond sashing that frames the "can't cut it" fabric. Since most of the design comes from the featured fabric, many of these quilts would be quite simple to piece.

The 12 designs include "Japanese Jewels," a crazy quilt made of Japanese prints, "I Love Liberty," which takes advantage of a strong horizontal design of a Liberty of London fabric, "Josie's Quilt," which shows off a '30s repro Red Riding Hood fabric that I've long admired, and several quilts using a lattice design to frame the featured fabric.

Those more addicted to hand quilting than to piecing will appreciate the simply to make quilts that will enable them to spend less time with the construction and get right to the quilting. I should note that Ms. Mostek doesn't provide any ideas of quilting the finished pieces. Fortunately, the photographs are clear enough that the quilting designs are apparent in most.

In addition to providing the piecing designs, Ms. Mostek gives suggestions for selecting companion fabrics that won't compete with the "can't cut it" fabric. Although she doesn't go into as much detail about companion fabric selection as some quilting books do, she does a good job focusing the short fabric-selection section to this style of quilt, where one fabric will (or at least should) dominate the design, and the rest are there to act as condiments, so to speak.

"Just Can't Cut it!" also contains a brief section on the mechanics of putting a quilt together, including applique and binding. The book, however, doesn't pretend to be a comprehensive "how-to-quilt" guide, and instead contains a good Resources section for those with questions on color, piecing, etc.

My one extremely minor criticism is that, for the most part, Ms. Mostek doesn't show any variations on her designs. Since the featured fabric serves as such a strong design element, visualizing the quilt made with anything else can be a challenge in some cases. Fortunately, the one quilt design where this is most true--"I Love Liberty"--does depict the quilt made with a different fabric.

The second I ran across this book at my local quilt shop, I knew I had to have it. One of these days, I will run across another one of those "Love It, But What Would I Do With It?" fabrics and will turn it into a "Just Can't Cut It" quilt.