Future BOMs

[E.M. T.]

Might be magic !! or a bit o' Blarney :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Rita C.]

Or both! :lol: And there might have been drink taken, hic! :wink:

[E.M. T.]

:mrgreen: TeeHee ! Not little Rita !

[Carol R.]

I have actually used my accuquilt cutter when ever I could. Last year I used it for all of those tiny circles. This year so far I cut my sashing strips. Janet gave us the longest strips on one of her posts and I used that as a guide for the length. I just fan folded and cut the width of the strip cutter die. I would not want to be required to use dies, but since they are one of the advertisers, it would be great if suggestions were given for different uses, if there are any within the project. So I thought all the suggestions and thoughts were wonderful. I have appreciated all the thoughts. Carol R

[Lorna B.]

When rotary cutters first came out I was a late adopter. I thought why should I spend all that money on cutting mats, handles, blades, and rulers when I have perfectly good scissors and plenty of cereal boxes or sandpaper to make patterns.

Now I can't live without my rotary cutter.

I wonder how long it will be before more and more of us adopt this latest technology.

Lorna

[E.M. T.]

Gotta a point !!

[Hannelore N.]

I humbly suggest that some of my friends here brush up on their Maths skills.

Marianne, I don't know who said that your comments were inappropriate, but I'm going to add my opinion: I do not have the time to do this BOM (or any of the previous ones), but I have read this thread with great interest. Please, ignore anything negative and focus on those of us who enjoy a good discussion.

I'm all for instructions for the use of 'gadgets' are includes whenever suitable, as long as methods that don't need them are also given. Not all quilters have the money to buy lots of expensive 'stuff'.

I feel the same about speciality rulers.

[ANNE E.]

I agree with you Lorchan, as much as I would like a Accuquilt to use and to play with I could not justify the expense. The rulers I have are the basic ones and I find that I can do everything with those......It may take a bit longer but I manage
Anne

[Lois B.]

I love the varied opinions here. That is what it's for. Marianne, I think you introduced a very interesting topic.

[Lois B.]

I know I'm kind of late in replying to this thread. I did a search on the forums here to find some info on the Accuquilt Cutting system. I was really impressed with it when I saw The Quilt Shows recent episode done from the Accuquilt Offices. Normally I wouldn't post all this info I'm about to share about my medical problems in an online forum but I thought it was appropriate to this discussion as it pertains to why I decided to purchase this system.

I'm disabled with spinal and nerve problems. I've had 3 spinal surgeries, one both elbows and one on my right hand. (I'm right handed). I'm now being told I have arthritis in my shoulder and in my back. I have been having a lot more hand pain lately and I'm waiting for my appointment to see a hand specialist. That started after I spent a couple days cutting out all he pieces for a storm at sea quilt. I picked up Quilting a little over a year ago when I could no longer knit due to carpel tunnel and ulnar nerve issues. You know someone should have really told me beforehand how addicting quilting can be lol. Agewise I will be 48 this year.

I researched the prices on the Accuquilt system and all the good I've learned about it. This week Joann's is having a 30% sale on the dies and cutter. I figured that would be a good time to purchase the system. Thankfully before I drove to Joann's, I looked online at Amazon and found out they were selling it close to 40% discount. I could have saved a few dollars more if I went with one of their marketplace sellers but I felt for a big purchase like this I wanted to deal with Amazon directly. They have all of their dies and cutters cheaper than anywhere else. I compared cutters and die sets and choose the AccuQuilt GO! Mix & Match Starter Set while more expensive than just the cutter with the value dies $219 opposed $389.28 I felt It had a good number of useful dies and would be cheaper than buying those dies separately later. I'm sure I could make a ton of quilts with just these dies :

Included in Value Die & Starter Set:

Square- 4 1/2" (4" finished),
Square- 2 1/2" (2" finished),
Half Square- 2" finished triangle (cuts two),


Included in Starter set only:

Square- 6 1/2" Triangle,
Triangle- 4 7/8",
Parallelogram- 3 3/4" x 3 1/2",
Rectangle- 3 1/2" x 6 1/2" ,
Square- 3 1/2",
Half Square- 3" Finished Triangle,
Square- 4 3/4

and as for Cutting Mats it comes with 5" x 10", 10" x 10", 6" x 12" . I also separately bought strip sets dies 2.5" & 3.5" plus the 5" die so I could cut my own Jellyrolls and Charm packs. I haven't received the cutter and dies yet. They are due to arrive by UPS today. So I'm unable to let you know how well they worked for me.

My thought on the outlay of cash is that we buy specialty rulers all the time for different blocks plus pattern and technique books that show you how to use the rulers. Why not pay the same for a die when it will save you pain and hours of cutting?

As for the BOM adding the die cutter directions as well and the worry that it would inhibit the designers, I feel that wouldn't have to be the case. They could always put the die directions for what could be accomplished by dies and the rest would be rotary cutting directions. It isn't like we are throwing our cutters, mats, & rulers we already own away. We will always still need to true up blocks and square up our quilts for quilting. And if the worry is the designers being given a greater task then why not after the designer designs the BOM, They could ask Accuquilt or Sizzix to convert the patterns. I'm sure they would do it as it would be additional advertising for them and in their best interest.

Just IMHO. thanks for listening.

Happy Quilting,
Josie

[Catherine S.]

Josie, I have an accuquilt Go too. I think you will really like it. If turning the handle gets to be too much for you, you can line up the material the way you want on the die and find some one to turn it for you (child, spouse, neighbor, friend). My grandkids love to do this. You will also be introducing them to quilting. Yes, it is addictive, but so fun.

[Judith A.]

Josie,
I think you and your Accuquilt will become great friends! Mine prevents a whole lot of shoulder and wrist pain.
I read that Accuquilt has modified the GO to be easier to use. I think you can tell whether you have the new one or the old one by the colors on the box.

Watching my posture helps me also. If I remember to hold my shoulder back, and not slouch forward, it helps a lot.

Have fun! Let us know how you are doing with it.

Judy Austin in Virginia

[Judith A.]

Thanks for the encouragement. The cutter and dies came by UPS just a little bit ago. My husband sweet man that he is opened the boxes and unpacked for me. Next to read everything carefully, probably watch a youtube video on it and then play. I told my husband I have a lot of smaller size scraps and I'm thinking of sewing them together randomly and then use that to practice on. It was Episode 1402 "Cuttin' Up" with AccuQuilt where Linda Pumphrey showed that technique. This would give me practice before I work on my better fabric. TBH since I'm a newish Quilter I started out with a bunch of donated scraps so I have bins of them. I'm still hesitant to work with some of the quilt store purchases as afraid to ruin them. I appreciate the posture and other helpful hints for using the machine without pain. I will be sure to post my progress. I'm looking forward to working on the BOM too. I'm behind as I still need to learn how to applique. I have a class on Craftsy that I got on one of their 50% off sales and I plan on watching Alex's class in the classrooms section. That is such a great help. I can't believe all that I have learned all ready since I joined here.

Thanks all.

Happy Quilting,

Josie

[Andree B.]

If you are sewing scraps randomly and use this newly created fabric, be sure to watch episode 1404...

You will find good use for this!

Andrée

[Carol R.]

Sharon Pederson, one of the presenters in the classrooms has some excellent tips on quilting and I especially enjoyed her tips for the AccuQuilt cutter. Carol R