Why I Love My Accuquilt

(Disclaimer -- I'm not affiliated with Accuquilt in any way -- just a happy customer!)

7:31 PM: Exhibit A. Stack of 9 half yard cuts of pink, yellow and white Heather Bailey Nicey Jane fabrics (For my tumbler lap quilts, I like to start with 9 or 10 half yard cuts -- this gives me a nice variety to work with in the final layout, and I can get 14 tumblers plus some usuable scrap pieces out of each half yard.

7:34 PM: Exhibit B. Stack of 7 1/2 width of fabric strips cut from the half yards shown in Exhibit A. This is why I purchase half yards. I can get two strips from 15 inches, and have a 3 inch strip left over for scrappy projects. Third yard cuts (12 inches) would be too small.

7:51 PM: Exhibit C. Stack of 126 tumblers ready for sewing. Not only are these cut AMAZINGLY fast, they have pre-trimmed corners that makes sewing them together incredibly easy. You don't have to worry about off-setting the blocks to account for the angle of the seam -- just match up the sides and sew. I lay these out in 10 rows of 12 blocks, which gives me a really nice size lap quilt (approximately 48 x 55).

So for those of you doing the math, that's 20 minutes of cutting. That's why I love my Accuquilt Go. Now, they're not the cheapest investment, but I did some research last year on price comparisons and decided it would be the perfect thing to put on my Christmas list! My husband bought it for me, and I asked other family members to give me some dies to "play" with (and I do admit that I was like a kid with a new toy on Christmas morning, cutting everything in sight!). The dies I use the most are my tumbler die and applique dies. I do have some of the squares and triangles, but unless I'm cutting up uneven bits and pieces of scraps, I don't think these dies are the most efficient way to cut the basic shapes -- they waste quite a bit of fabric if you're cutting them from yardage. However, cutting tumblers from the 7 1/2 inch strips wastes very little fabric (as you flip the strips after each cut to match the angle of the next cut). The next dies on my list are the soon-to-be released mini tumbler (3 1/2 inches) and equilateral triangles (with precut corners!). I highly recommend the Accuquilt for cutting anything that would normally require a template and precision cutting! In addition to the new dies, they are releasing a smaller version of the Go Cutter (Go Baby) which will be even less expensive than the Go! (just make sure all the dies that you're interested in purchasing will fit in the smaller version).

So that's my take on the Go! Cutter. Now I've got to order some backing fabric, because these tumblers will be a quilt top very soon!