Sizzix, Accuquilt, Cricut, etc Preferences?

[genevacarroll]

I received a Go cutter for Christmas. I am enjoying it. I'm having a lot of trouble with pain in my thumbs and cutting a lot of fabric makes them hurt more. With the Go cutter it's easy to turn the crank with no pain.

What Heather and others have said about the HST dies is true. So much easier to cut and sew! And much more accurate. I love being able to cut a bunch of HST so fast.

The dies are expensive, but they make nice gifts!

Have fun! geneva

[Marianne-is-sewing]

I have the Sizzix Big Shot and have had it for over 2 years. Without it I would have had to give up patchwork. Arthritis in wrist, elbow and shoulder but no problem turning the handle. I even cut my bias strips for dressmaking with the cutter now. Never before have I had such precise cutting. The dies are expensive and they do eventually have to be replaced but putting a piece of paper bottom and top of the layers of fabric can help for a while. Somebody else has already mentioned that starching the fabric is helpful but I have found that when doing the piecing it is important to make sure that all the fabric cut for the project has either been starched or not because non-starched fabric stretches ever so slightly when cut and the patches becomes slightly bigger the the starched patches which is important especially on triangular patches of course.
Marianne

[Marianne-is-sewing]

...and now that I've actually cut out all the HST's for my quilt -- 306 pairs of HSTs, so 612 triangles?! -- I feel I can give a valid review of the Accuquilt Go Cutter. It.Is.Amazing. Seriously.

I cut the strips, and since you have a tiny bit of waste, I cut them oversized, which also meant if my ruler slipped, it was okay. yay! So, cut my fabric into strips 5" x 11" (to cover the space used up in the die I was using, which cuts 4 HSTs/2 pair of HSTs at a time) (for HSTs to make a 4" finished square). Easily cut through 6 layers of fabric (Cherrywood, so a good hand dyed), every single time. Just as easily on the 612th as on the 1st. And then when I went to sew.....I had stacked the fabric in appropriate pairs, so I just took my stacks and chain pieced. And every single triangle was exactly the same. For me, this is huge....precision is, shall we say, not my strong suit. With this, it can be. Yay!

I am thrilled. Beyond thrilled. I would normally do HST squares by pairing squares, sewing down the 2 sides of the diagonal, then cutting. And then end up with not identical squares. And a sore shoulder/arm from using the rotary cutter for so.much.cutting. This made the process heavenly. Truly. I am officially sold, this thing is a gem.

[Marianne-is-sewing]

Heather, thanks for your opinion on this. And the explanation of the process that you just went thru. I'm trying to decide just when I want to jump in and get one. I guess I missed the latest sale where the studio cutter was $200 off. Oh well, once I make the decision I can watch and wait for a sale. Which dies do you have? Katie from Katie Quilts uses hers to cut strip pieced lengths into four patch units, ready to be sewed like you did your triangles. I just think I could really knock a decent hole in my stash doing charity quilts that weren't boringly the same 5" square scrappy. It is fast but gets tiring, I need to find a book on tape that I'd like read to me, I wonder how many quilts I could make while listening to The Bible?! Hmmmm

[Marianne-is-sewing]

Heather, thanks for your opinion on this. And the explanation of the process that you just went thru. I'm trying to decide just when I want to jump in and get one. I guess I missed the latest sale where the studio cutter was $200 off. Oh well, once I make the decision I can watch and wait for a sale. Which dies do you have? Katie from Katie Quilts uses hers to cut strip pieced lengths into four patch units, ready to be sewed like you did your triangles. I just think I could really knock a decent hole in my stash doing charity quilts that weren't boringly the same 5" square scrappy. It is fast but gets tiring, I need to find a book on tape that I'd like read to me, I wonder how many quilts I could make while listening to The Bible?! Hmmmm

Luann...check with the local library, ours has audio as well as digital books you can borrow, and you don't have to physically go to the library to get them

Dorothy

[she-quilts]

Oh, now that is a smart one, Annie! I have listed to just a few books and I enjoyed having them on while I piece. I should have thought of the Bible! I could use that pumping through my head every day. :cheer:

[she-quilts]

Thanks everyone for the info. I would imagine this thread will now go quiet, as I just placed my order for an Accuquilt Go and some extra dies that I've always wanted to do the shape, but didn't want to do the cutting. Here's to scrap busting and leader/ender projects!
And thanks to Dorothy for reminding me to check out my library for 'listening' resources.
I'll be checking with Spirit Truth Ministries for messages online.
May God bless each of you in what ever your day is about,
Luann

[Scoopie]

I'm so glad you ordered the GO! I have had mine for a couple of years now, and absolutely love it! My latest purchase was the 2 Heather Feather dies. I also have a lot of the flower/leaves dies. I went to the Janome site that Geneva alerted us to, for the 6" blocks, and then used my GO! to cut similar flower shapes. The Heather Feather dies are great for petals and funky leaves! Used these blocks on my first two rows for the row robin. You'll see them once the recipients post the pictures. Dorothy should get hers by Monday.

I also bought every die that has a circle in the sizes that I need to have one of every size they make. I do a lot with circles, and the GO! cuts them perfectly. But sadly, they do not have 7/8" circle. When I do graduated circles, there is such a gap from the 13/16" and the 1", that I always have to hand cut the 7/8". Grrrrr!





Have fun playing, once you your GO!
Dawn

[rehak]

Hi Dawn -

Have you asked AccuQuilt about the 7/8" circle die? I heard somewhere that they'll make custom dies, but I don't know how much that costs. Wouldn't hurt to ask! And if you mentioned the missing circle size, they might decide that they need to fill that gap anyway.

[rehak]

I try not to get too excited, but I wish they worked on Saturdays at Accuquilt! I'm chomping at the bit to get the cutter and dies.
And the circles, as well as the owl, are on my wish list.

[Scoopie]

Thanks, Nancy! (I miss your smiling face, at meals in Houston!) I did contact Accuquilt a couple of years ago, and asked if they had a 7/8" circle. They claim there is one on the Zoo Animals die. It is the spot on the giraffe. FYI! There is no spot on the giraffe! And, I think it would probably cost a fortune to have one custom made. I guess I need to find a higher up at Accuquilt, and explain they really DON'T have a 7/8" circle, and would they please add it to the next die they make that requires a small circle.

Dawn

[Scoopie]

Heather, thanks for your opinion on this. And the explanation of the process that you just went thru. I'm trying to decide just when I want to jump in and get one. I guess I missed the latest sale where the studio cutter was $200 off. Oh well, once I make the decision I can watch and wait for a sale. Which dies do you have? Katie from Katie Quilts uses hers to cut strip pieced lengths into four patch units, ready to be sewed like you did your triangles. I just think I could really knock a decent hole in my stash doing charity quilts that weren't boringly the same 5" square scrappy. It is fast but gets tiring, I need to find a book on tape that I'd like read to me, I wonder how many quilts I could make while listening to The Bible?! Hmmmm

I don't have many dies yet, as I just got the cutter a few months ago. So far, I have the one which came with it (make a small HST square, a regular square and smaller regular square), and I bought the size HST needed for this quilt, and a rectangle size needed for the borders for this quilt.

I had other things on my Christmas list, but expect that future bdays and Xmas's will involve Accuquilt dies so I can build up my collection.

[bhalbard]

I love my Go! I have gotten quite a collection of dies for it, but the most used ones are the strips. Whenever I am done with a project I take what's left and cut it into FQs, strips, tumblers or squares. They are then put in a bin to wait to be called into action. I am getting much more comfortable with scrappy quilts so this works out well.

[bhalbard]

I love my Go! I have gotten quite a collection of dies for it, but the most used ones are the strips. Whenever I am done with a project I take what's left and cut it into FQs, strips, tumblers or squares. They are then put in a bin to wait to be called into action. I am getting much more comfortable with scrappy quilts so this works out well.

Brenda, those are great ideas, thanks.

[bhalbard]

I love my Go! I have gotten quite a collection of dies for it, but the most used ones are the strips. Whenever I am done with a project I take what's left and cut it into FQs, strips, tumblers or squares. They are then put in a bin to wait to be called into action. I am getting much more comfortable with scrappy quilts so this works out well.

oh!! I do similar, the "long way" (with my rotary cutter) for my scraps.....using my Go to do this...what a brilliant idea!! You've just revolutionized my scrap organization, thank you!