One of my favorite C&T Publishing books is Jan Mullen’s Cut-Loose Quilts. It has been my go-to project and idea book since it was published in 2001, and I’ve made dozens of quilts from the projects inside.
The quilt projects in the book are fast, fun, easy, and delightful. The quilts I have made won’t win me any awards, but they aren’t meant to! What Jan’s relaxed style does win her readers is freedom—freedom from cutting restrictions and rigid construction methods. She gives the quilter room to get improvisational with their project.
Once I followed instructions for a project or two, I felt confident emulating Jan’s free-spirited style without having to keep picking up the book. This is a great exercise for beginners, or for veteran quilters who find it hard NOT to cut things precisely and exactly to specs.
Here are pictures of quilts I have made using Jan’s “Roman Stripez” project:
Like most avid quilters I have a prodigious stash, and when I don’t have a specific fabric in mind for a quilt I’m about to start, I just go and grab some fabrics that stick to a particular theme or color scheme. Leftovers work just fine and if they don’t coordinate perfectly, that’s OK with me.
Here is a detail shot of a quilt I made from the “Mainly Logz” chapter in the book.
Here is my take on “Grannie’z Fanz”—I call it “Sportz Fanz,” because I made it for my manic, sports fan son, Paul.
I still need to make a “Butterfliez” quilt, so I’m not through with this book yet.
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LOVE Jan Mullen quilts, and this book is just wonderful!
LOVE Jan Mullen quilts, and this book is just wonderful!
LOVE Jan Mullen quilts, and this book is just wonde
I have this book and yes, it is great for fast easy project.
Ruthmary is right about this book freeing up the quilting process. It is a lot of fun to just “have at it” and not worry about points being perfect and seams joining exactly. This is especially useful when an “instant” small quilt is needed for an event.
I forgot to add that the Fan Quilt is one of the most versatile and beautiful quilts you can make from this book. The method adds to the enjoyment of putting this one together. A great way to use up scraps and chunks of fabric. Even cutoffs and trimmings from past projects can be incorporated.
A theme quilt like the “Sports Fan” Ruthmary made is really fun to make and the resulting quilt is beautiful. A good way to sneak some style into a sports=mad son’s environment!
I love this book too. Although the editor in me kind of shudders at all those zzzzzzs!
I made the butterfly block and used it to decorate a bag and to fill in the back of a baby quilt. I also liked the crazy stars and fans and the Exquisite (or is that not in this book?)
Our whole quilt group really got behind this craziness, and I still think “would that be fun to do crazy?” when looking at traditional patterns. The answer is often “YES”.
I love wonky quilts. All of mine come out that way anyways, so better to start that way;)
Debbie
That sounds like a great book. I had not heard of it before.
I love this book. Back when it came out, I was working on a maple leaf quilt. I used her techniques to make some leaf blocks and the result was wonderful. You can see a picture at http://kitdunsmore.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/wip-maple-leaf-quilt/
Ooh, I like this one.
I met Jan Mullen in 2006. We were both in India on holiday… Pretty funny given that we both live in the same country!!
Is there a pattern in this book called On the Crooked Path?
Hi Mary,
Jan doesn’t have one specifically named “On the Drunken Path”, but she does include “Drunkard’s Path Unit” in her Mainly Curves section. You then get to use your imagination to construct the wobbly path. Have fun!
Ruthmary
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[...] not all my leaves look the same. I intentionally made some wonky blocks using the techniques in Cut Loose Quilts: Stack, Slice, Switch, and Sew by Jan Mullen, and I really liked the results. To me, the odd angles make the leaves look like [...]