Accuquilt Recommendation

[sewmarti]

My husband just gave the go ahead to purchase one of the cutters. Any recommendation on which one- the Go or the Studio? Today the price is fairly close -$50. I wasn't sure about the dies and which one offered more and if the Go could do as much, etc. Looking for advice. Thanks.

[ladyquilter]

I have the go and absolutely love it. The benefit of the go is that it is portable whereas the studio needs its own more permanent location. The studio, however, can cut more layers and has some nice, large dies. In a perfect world, I would love both! Lol. I'm not much help huh?

[gmhowl]

I think a lot would depend on how often you will be using the Accuquilt Go. I recently purchased the Go, Baby as I knew I wouldn't be utilizing it a lot. I happened to be on the website for Quilt in a Day (Eleanor Burns) and she had the Baby for $79 (which I thought was a great price) compared to $139. And she did have several of the dies on sale also. The Studio is a big machine (approx $400) however if you plan on using it as part of a business this might be the way to go.

[suehenyon]

I invested in a Studio, having had shoulder problems in the past. I use both Go and Studio dies and am a member of a Yahoo forum pinsandneedles1 where Kathy Tucker sells Go dies at a good discount. You can only buy Studio dies on the http://www.accuquilt.com website. To use a Go die on the Studio, an adapter is necessary. I have invested a LOT in dies, but I use the Studio all the time and it has tremendously increased my accuracy and joy in piecing. I even use it to make Leaders and Enders (Bonnie Hunter) so I always have one of those starty/stoppy fabrics that Alex is always using, when I'm piecing. That way, I'm working on two quilts at once. I have to admit, I have a big bunch of sewn together (2" squares and triangles) and have yet to make a quilt with them, but that's coming.

Either way, join the Yahoo groups accuquilters and/or accuquiltstudio for more information. Ebony Love has done wonderful Youtube videos on efficient use of dies and now has a book that is packed with information.

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Fa...rds=ebony+love

There is also her http://equivalentdienotation.com/ which is a way of figuring out which dies to use across cutting systems. Learning the language of the measurements took some doing for me, but I'm not a math whiz and really don't like formulas for half square and quarter square triangles.

You won't regret either system, but if you have the space and financial resources, I'd highly recommend the Studio.

[sewmarti]

Thanks Jo Jo, Nancy and Susan. I appreciate your response. Still not sure which way I will go but am probably leaning toward the Go. Susan, what wonderful information. I will certainly check out the links.

[Tessgo]

You will not regret it whichever you go....I have the Go (no pun intended!) I have found that the accuracy you get takes a lot of stress away and the process is speeded up. I particularly like the 2 1/2" strip cutter, great for bindings and I use it a lot when making totes. Also with added advantage of being able to place the fabric across the blades at a 45 degree angle you get diamonds which are great for stars for example, I marked the angle with a permanent marker on the die and find it very useful. and the number of dies seems to be on the increase which is great.
Enjoy

[eileenkny]

I've had the Go for almost 2 years and have barely used it. I want to, but the occasion doesn't arise much. I've got quite a few dies as well. You can buy dies for both the Studio and the Go on the Accuquilt website, and earn points to save on future purchases.

[eileenkny]

I've had the Studio for several years now and it's a toss up between it and EQ7 which is the most important tool in my studio! :mrgreen: When I bought my Studio, the GO was pretty new so there weren't many dies for it, there was no choice. Now however, as much as I love my Studio, I'd probably purchase the GO because the dies are so much cheaper. Forget the cost of the cutter, it's the dies that will be all the expense.

When they came out with the adaptor, I purchased it and now all I buy are GO dies.

[suehenyon]

I cut out a whole log cabin quilt last night, 64" x 64" in about 2-3 hours (I lose track of time listening to books). There was more prep time with ironing and starching (yep, still have to do it for accuracy). The cutting only took a few minutes. This is a new Go! die. The thing is, with Go dies, we are limited in the number of layers of fabric at one time. (4 to five depending on the weight of the fabric, and you will quickly start to notice the different weights of quilting cotton). With Studio dies, 10 layers can be cut at once.

[ladyquilter]

Susan, I'm interested in how you cut your log cabin. Are you able to get multiple colors or are you doing two colors? I've been eyeing that die but haven't wrapped my brain around planned cutting yet.

[suehenyon]

Hi JoJo
I used 10 lights and 10 darks, rough cut them 7 1/2 by 11 (longer than maybe necessary to account for selvages). I'm only making the 8" blocks, which is one half of the die. Accuquilt encourages the use of the lengthwise grain along the outside, but that's not always possible with scraps, which is why I'm starching, too. As I'm sewing them, I'm mixing up the order. I may even add more fabrics as I get the inclination to prepare the fabrics. I'm also blocking them with starch instead of trimming, after sewing. Even though the cuts are great, there are so many seams that the accurate 1/4" is required. It only took 4 runs to get all the fabrics cut. I bought an Artbox at Joanna's on 50% off, with dividers, to keep the pieces separated.

I was disappointed that a fat quarter does not cover the whole die, but then again, I think 8' blocks are a nice size. I think 12" is a huge block for this...maybe my inexperience. However, to cut 24" on the lengthwise grain of many of fabrics takes more fabric than I want to use for my first trial, especially when you only need 7 1/2 in width. I think if I wanted to cut the whole block, I'd still cut half of the die at a time to save fabric.

The strips are 1 1/2" unfinished. I'm using a mustardy yellow for the beginning square.

The sewing goes very quickly, fast gratification! I love log cabin quilts. There is a great study of them at http://www.quiltstudy.org/
the quilt museum in Nebraska.

TMI??
Have fun!

[ladyquilter]

Thanks Susan for the helpful information! Please post a picture when you have a few done.

[luvquilting]

Susan, Thanks so much for your additional info! I have successfully requested an Accuquilt Go for Christmas from DH, and the new log cabin dies were the tipping point for me. So glad to get your insight on actually using them....I want to make a queen-sized quilt for our "new" antique Craftique four poster bed, and your experience will get me on the right path! Please be sure to post your progress! Nancy

[suehenyon]

Here's a shot of a few of the first blocks. I'm getting them more square from the start as I practice. However, I'm learning that I need to pay attention more to how I want the final quilt to come out as these blocks are not identical in the orientation of the light and dark fabric...how I start off with the first 3 squares matters. I think I'm going to have to play a bit in EQ7 to figure out what I want.

Additionally, note that these cuts are designed with a small center square. Many quilts that I studied on the quiltmuseum.org have a larger center square (of course, I was looking at all antique quilts). I noticed that Lara Nownes also started with a larger square in her sampler class.

The great thing is, there is no trimming as you go with this die. The block goes together very quickly.

Happy Holidays!

[suehenyon]

We could achieve a larger square in the center by making the first 3 blocks identical in color.