I've been getting acquainted with my new cutter by cutting down as many of my scraps as I can, starting with the ugly ones. Or should I say, the less than appealing ones. I'm working my way up to the pretty ones. I've made some progress, I'm happy to say. And just in time...my scraps were ready to take over!
Using the Go! cutter is easy....
there isn't a lot of waste....but if you know me, you know I won't toss all that
It folds up and becomes very compact. It's lightweight and portable, too.
The pieces shown were cut using the value die. It has a 2 1/2" square, 2 1/2" half square triangles, and a 4 1/2" square. The triangles are cut with the dog ears already trimmed, which is extremely handy!
Here are two of the little half square triangles sewn together. This little block will finish at 2" square. Oh, my! But then again, I'm not a stranger to insane scrap projects. I rather like them. :)
71 comments:
I'm so tempted by these. I don't much like the whole fabric cutting in the quilt making process. I may give in.
Oh my goodness, I really need one of these! I have too many scraps, and I don't want to cut up all those little squares by hand while I want to make a quilt with a zillion 2 inch squares. Does that die have to cut the triangles when you cut the squares or can it just be used for the squares? I hope that makes sense. Maybe I can start saving my money over the next month or so to get one of these!
Ok, now I really know I must have this. Been seeing them around the blogs and I've him-hawed over it. But now I'd love to have one to help with the pesky smaller projects I'm fearful of starting but my cutting stinks. Putting this on my wish list!
I have been lurking around those cutters but I still have the feeling that there is too much waste.
Have to figure out how much that thing costs. I'd love to get my scraps all organized and more useful, but without spending a year at it! =)
This is on my wishlist! With mother's day, my anniversary, and birthday coming up, maybe I'll get one! I HATE cutting!
This looks awesome... but I already have 3 different die cutting machines... do you know if the dies are compatible with any other machines?
audreypawdrey,
yes, you can cut just the 2 1/2" squares. you don't have to cut the triangles at the same time.
aj
joella,
I'm sorry, i don't know if they are compatable with any other die cutting machine. but i bet if you call accuquilt, they could answer that question for you.
aj
I love how it lops off those little points on the triangle thingies. I bet you'll end up making something beautiful out of even the "less appealing" pieces.
Maybe I can try it out when I come over. :)
Love my GoBaby! I bought one a few months back...I use it mostly to cut strips and triangles.
PS: can I borrow your kids to turn the crank for me?
Toni
www.lifeinapinkbunnysuit.com
Jealous!! :D
You lucky duck, you! I hate cutting fabric--my daughter keeps begging me to teach her to quilt (she's 6) and since cutting's a part of that...then again, I couldn't trust her with a rotary cutter, but with one of those babies...hmmmm....
I really like how it takes the HST corners off.
This would help me out soooo much. I'm horrible at cutting triangles, at least getting them all to be the same size.
aha! i see how you organize your scraps now. i was only going to sort mine by color and leave them a wrinkly raggedy mess. but if you are going to make useful looking piles of triangles and squares, i might have to up my game.
or not.
you are the queen of scraps, after all.
I understand the Baby GO! does not come with any dies or the mat to cut. I'd love to have one, but it seems like it would add up to almost the cost of the regular Accuquilt GO! if you have to buy all the extras.
Congratulations on your new "baby." I am one jealous quilter. :)
Jealous :).
I've been lurking in this aisle at Jo-Ann Fabrics, debating on weather or not to get one. I looked online and they're on sale this week.
Mayyybeee I can get hubby to say yes? HA.
Happy Quilting!
www.skippitydodahquilts.blogspot.com
So, you can only cut one of each size at a time, right? Or can you have multiple layers of fabric that it will cut through on one pass?
I bought one about 6 months ago and I think I am finally ready to do a real quilt with her :o) I really like the 2 1/2 in strip die cut! I have used that on a lot!!!!! I am going to be stalking to see what you make!!!!
That looks awesome. I don't quilt enough to justify having one but I just love gadgets like this! How satisfying.
Call me jealous, I have been eyeing those up for quite a while now. Was on the Christmas list, but never appeared. LOL Maybe someday...
You know what cracks me up? Some of your "ugly" scraps in this post came from me! I sorta liked 'em, too. :)
Aren't they fun?!
I've had a look (every so often) at one of those Go Babys I am not the best cutter and think anything that would increase accuracy for me would be a good thing, but I am not yet sure that I am prolific enough a quilter to justify getting one. It is super cute though. I could see myself cutting up piles and piles of squares and then never doing anything with them :D
Thanks for showing it!
I have heard of the accuquilt and the accucut. how are they the same and how are they different?
which is better?
Q-
true but they'ed be there when you wanted to get started and you could!
M-
I own an Accuquilt Go. I also purchased a book "The Thrifty Quilter: Make (Nearly) Free Quilts from Leftover Fabric" by Anne Wiens. She has a process for using your cutter and scraps to make 80 blocks. The patterns only require the Value Dies; 3 1/2 inch square die, the 6 1/2 inch square die, and the 3 1/2 X 6 1/2 inch rectangle die. What fun!
Oh, and I also marked my dies with a silver "SHARPIE" so I can see where to place my pieces. I marked squares and diagonals on my strip cutters. There are lots of tutorials out there for this sort of thing! ENJOY!
I love my Accuquilt Go. I have used the hexagon die to cut over a thousand hexagons for a quilt I am making. I never would have tackled it without the cutter.
FYI for the commentors with questions: I purchased my Accuquilt Go (not the baby) about 2 months ago from Joanns for $199. That included the cutter, the value die, one cutting mat and free shipping. On my version you can cut 6 layers of fabric at a time.
tammy,
you can cut up to 8 layers at a time.
aj
Margaret,
This page http://www.accuquilt.com/fabric-cutter-comparison may be helpful to you.
aj
Very cute - enjoy your new "toy".
By the way, was this a sponsored post? It reads that way (more stilted than your usual tone) so I was curious.
It's gonna get a work out!
Congratulations on your new toy/tool. Just today mine was ordered so sometime next week I will be Go cutting, too.
So jealous! Have a blast with your new toy! This cutter looks like it would be such a time saver.
Wow! That is an interesting little gadget!
~Judy
I am envious! The baby GO looks so fun!! And would make fast work of scraps...and I have many, many fabrics.
Deb clutteredquilter.blogspot.com
Now that is the sort of baby I would just love to have.
you just GO girl and cut heaps. Looking forward to seeing the blocks in your quilt.
I have a cricut die cutting machine that I've used to cut fabric before for appliques. I really should try to do it for this kind of thing, too. I like my cricut because it can do fabric crafts and paper and vinyl, etc. Only paid $162 for it. How much does the Go Baby run?
That is really neat! I might have to look into it . . .
You are insane and I love you for it.
Cheryl says you are insane. I would just call you crazy.
And I'm glad my friend has a Go baby which she said I could borrow any time! *sigh* how I love my quilting friends, sane, crazy, whatever!
i'm completely jealous!!!
xo
eva
OMG how I would love one of those because I HATE cutting squares
I might have to ask for one of these next Mother's Day. I'm already getting EQ7 this year...what a wonderful husband and kids I've got:)
Are you ready for another scrap challenge? I have been saving up a bunch to audition when you post for it again. Thanks!
This looks amazing! So happy for you.
Lucky you and how productive and good use of leftover scraps. Can you tell me...once you've cut the pieces for 1/2 sq. triangles and sew together, are you finding it's a perfect 2" square, or are you having to still trim to get it perfect to 2"?
I don't know - if I got one of these handy gadgets, I might actually have to make something from my piles of scraps instead of just stockpiling pretty colors for the future :)
Gosh, I sure wish you lived next door so I could try yours out. I just can't imagine that having to lay all those pieces of fabric on the die could be faster than cutting squares zip-zip with a rotary cutter.
Now, hexagons are a whole 'nother story!
Wish I could afford a Go-Baby. Ah maybe one day. What a great way to use up your scraps and make something nice.
Really? You don't think that's a lot of waste? I disagree completely; maybe I'm just super frugal or something. I mean, I know you aren't going to throw away those scraps, but it just seems like a rotary cutter would get more like pieces out of the initial square, no?
Happy to see you finally got a Go cutter! I know you've wanted one for a long time. And I love the snippets you end up with, which will be perfect for your scrappy projects.
Thanks for posting about the Go cutter. I've seen them in the stores, but I wondered if they really worked that well. Thanks for sharing the process!
Ordered one last night, got an email saying "out of stock", won't be in until the end of next week....sigh....and I was already watching for the postman, lol. I can't wait to get mine!
Oh I want one too!!! What a neat tool. I will investigate where I can get one here at home. Thanks for sharing.
Oh I'm so excited for you (and a tad jealous if I'm being completely honest!).
Oh my gosh ~ How funny you'd post this today. I was just totally surprised about two hours ago by my doorbell and a delivery by my back door. My wonderful husband surprised me and bought me the Accuquilt Go cutter (not the GO! Baby). I am thrilled. And on the Accuquilt page they have a section for the cutter showing 'dies to try' and they have two on that page I was already thinking would be great to buy. They are the 2 1/2 in square multiples which cuts 9 square at a time and the half square 2 in triangle multiples which cuts 12 half square triangles at once.
Thanks so much for the quick tutorial on the machine since I'm sure they are both very similar in technique.
Hi Amanda Jean, Love your blog and have been following for a long time. I'm so intrigued by all the Go! products especially because I want to do a tumbler quilt, but I just haven't decided if its really worth it. Just curious...Did you decide to buy it and blog about or did the Go! people ask you to do a review?
Wow! it looks amazing :) I had heard of the baby Go but not seen what they can do, I want one lol.
You never fail to inspire me :)Thank you :)
Just purchased this little "baby" about a month ago, LOVE IT!!! it's so fast getting those squares cut and now saving to get more die's!!! congrats and can't wait to see what YOU do with those pieces!! love your ideas!!!
I've been wondering if this is something I would like to have around...and I'm thinking so after seeing your 'demo'... and my pile of messy scraps grows out of control.
Love your blog and all the ideas you share! I have the bigger Go! Cutter and use it a lot.
Deb,
I haven't sewn together any of the HST blocks together yet, but after sewing 2 of the triangles together, it does look like they will indeed finish at 2". Hope that helps!
aj
Just curious if you were given the Go to review. I saw similar reviews from other bloggers this week who got one from the company.
OK, you almost have me convinced to bite the bullet! I love how it trims off dog-ears!!
i have been looking at your blog for so long today that i don't even remember how i came across but man oh man i am sick to my stomach because of my lack of talent. i'm convinced...MAJOR LACKING ACTUALLY. I like to sew and quilt but mercy do i have a lot to learn.
Love that you show us how easy it is to use. Great for scrap :-)
That has got to be the COOLEST thing I've ever seen! I'll be dreaming of owning one for now on!
This looks like a great little tool. I'm not sure why I haven't heard of it before. Good review of it as well. I bet my kids would love to help with this thing.
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