accuquilt advice

[Kathryn S.]

Thanks all for your replies on using the accuquilt. I am going to be acquiring one soon, through a private party. I thought about the fact that the dies come in limited sizes, but honestly I haven't made any quilts with 2-1/4 inch HST's, etc. I mostly stick to the standard sizes- probably because calculations are easier ! If I need to make some non standard stuff, well, I do have plenty of rulers :lol: . I am really looking forward to playing with this, especially since retirement is around the corner and there will be more time for quilting.

Dawn, I am in awe of the hummingbird!

Kathy

[Kathryn S.]

Hello all, I've been seriously thinking about the accuquilt fabric cutter. Between my ongoing wrist pain and not being able to see as well as I used to, the accuquilt is looking more attractive to me. I've read online reviews and watched some of Ebony Love's you tube videos (they are great!). Does anyone have or use one of these? I'm considering either the Go or the Studio 2. They go on sale periodically, apparently I just missed one of their sales. I would love to read what you all have to say, yea or nay. Kathy

[Anne B.]

I bought one for $200 on cragslist, it cam with a bunch of dyes and mats, what a score! It just so happens my new guild has one too with proby 75 different dyes, MAJOR SCORE! i really like mine a lot and am very happy with it. I am not having trouble with my wrist or eyes, but I truly find that this a great, though pricey product. You should check to see if any of your local guilds have one, or perhaps you suggest to your local guild to buy one.

[Anne B.]

I love my GO and my Baby GO for traveling to classes. I have had the GO several years as I bought it at a quilt show when it first came out. I have made 3 Drunkard's Path quilts and don't think I'd have ever attempted one without the perfectly cut quarter circles and frame I got from the GO machine. I never used more than 1 pin while sewing each block. Perfect fitting pieces and perfect matching block seams. I sound like a commercial for Accuquilt but I have no affiliation or gain from them. I have even done some of the applique designs and bought machine embroidery designs to go along with them. The little cars in all their variations were perfect for a little boy's quilt. It's just too much fun.

Waggs

[Anne B.]

I was fortunate to receive the Go as a gift from my dad & stepmom for a combined 40th bday gift/Christmas gift, when my stepmom knew I was planning a queen sized bed quilt made all from HST blocks. The Go at that time came with a starter bundle that included a HST die, which was perfect. I cannot imagine having done that quilt w/o it; the triangles were so perfectly aligned, and already "dog eared" so they matched up well.

I've since bought more dies for it, and use it often. Also my local quilt shop has one and allows folks to come use it (well, she is in the process of setting this up), and I know many of the guilds around here have a lending library of the dies as well.

It's a pricey item, and mine was a gift, but I would have to say I can see the value in it, and would suggest it to others in a heartbeat.

[Kathryn S.]

Heather, which dies did you find useful? Do you use the strip dies?

My local guild and the quilt shop don't have anything in the accuquilt line for people to use. I think the quilt shop cuts their kits by hand, since I've been in there while they are cutting!
Kathy

[Kathryn S.]

Heather, which dies did you find useful? Do you use the strip dies?

My local guild and the quilt shop don't have anything in the accuquilt line for people to use. I think the quilt shop cuts their kits by hand, since I've been in there while they are cutting!
Kathy

Kathy, I haven't tried strip dies yet but I think they'd be fabulous.

I love any of the triangle ones, and I just bought some for an upcoming project (petal shapes) that I haven't used yet. I have some plain square ones as well, and some rectangle ones, and those were brilliant. At first I thought it wasteful to use them for simple squares and rectangles, but every time I've had a ruler slip while cutting things in sizes I don't have dies for.....I'm reminded that putting a wonky strip in my scrap bin wastes more fabric than the little extra bits leftover when I use the Go cutter.

I think as to what will be most useful, that will depend on what style you mostly sew. A friend of mine likes to buy the block sets, that have all the pieces for a whole block; I haven't splurged on those yet, they are pricey!, but they are a good way to get lots of shapes. I just don't always sew traditional stuff.

I guess if it were me, I'd either buy first what I use the most of (and it may still come with the starter dies), or the hardest for me to cut. For example, if I ever make another Storm at Sea pattern, I will definitely find what dies they have for that and get one, rather than cutting all the wonky angles of the diamonds. But, between now and then, I don't use diamonds much so I wouldn't buy it "just because" if that makes sense.

I will say, one thing that is a draw back -- my sister has a Sixxix cutter, that can cut fabric, vinyl, paper, etc. and she is able to download shapes from the internet and her cutter can cut them out. She had me send her Sunbonnet Sue templates from my EQ7, and just from that PDF file she was able to have her machine cut all the pieces...vs. I would have had to buy the templates for $33 each (one for Sue's pieces, one for the Sam pieces) or cut by hand. Now, I don't know the quality of the cuts, how many layers at a time, or anything like that, but I have to admit to a little bit of cutter envy there!

Bottom line, though, whatever shape you'll use the most, that's the one(s) to get first and then just add as needed.

[Carol G.]

The strip dies are versatile. You can sew your strips together, say for a 4 patch, then sub-cut them. Makes them go together quickly!

[Barbara C.]

Kathy...... I sent you a private message. Did you receive it?

Barbara

[Rob H.]

I seriously looked at the accuquilt cutters. They are nice but you are limited to their templates.

I went the Scan n Cut route. And love it. It will cut any shape any angle any curve each and every time.

And you can buy all the Accuquilt shapes for the scan n cut.

All the best in your search

[Dawn S.]

Kathy, I bought one a couple of years ago. I absolute love mine! I don't do a lot of pieced quilts, so don't use any of the square or triangle dies. As for the strip cutter, a friend said it is useless, since she has to drag out her AccuQuilt cutter, get set up, and then cut them. But, if you have pain in a hand that will not allow you to cut many strips, then this could be the ticket! I have any die that has a circle in it. I now have all of their circles. Love working with circles. And I have lots of flowers and leaves, because I do appliqué art quilts. Yesterday, I cut dozens of feathers for a very large quilt I am working on, using one of my three feather dies.

At first I was wondering if I would really use the cutter, but found it is one of my favorite tools! I even bought a new cutting mat yesterday. The first one I ever bought was beginning to crack. So, I have definitely used it! Here's some of my work using the dies. (The hummingbird's feathers are all different sizes of circles, overlapped.). Love , love, love my AccuQuilt Cutting system!!,

[Carol G.]

Kathy--I cut lots of 2 1/2 inch strips and love using my GO. If you have wrist problems, you might think about getting an electric model. I have to hand crank mine and it is a bit of work, but I don't have any issues with it. If you use lots of the same shapes and sizes of strips, this is the way to GO (pardon the pun). Pat

[Kathryn S.]

Hi Pat, I actually did get a GO big- through a very nice person on TQS who sent me hers. About a week after it arrived, I broke my arm . During my recovery, I was so grateful for having the GO big! I couldn't use a rotary cutter but I could load the fabric on a die and run it through the machine. Wonderful! My HST's were perfectly cut and quickly too. I meant to update the topic sooner but other things intervened Kathy

[Barbara C.]

So happy the electric GO has saved the day for you! It was meant to be that it found its new home with you.

[Barbara C.]

... Here's some of my work using the dies. (The hummingbird's feathers are all different sizes of circles, overlapped.). Love , love, love my AccuQuilt Cutting system!!,

Dawn, absolutely LOVE your hummingbird quilt. Did you designed it or did you follow a pattern? If there's a pattern available I'd love to know how/where to acquire it, please.