carolaug

I also have a cricut and agree....it never cut right and also the cartridges are so expensive. My has been in the closet for several years.

BellaBoo

My guild is deciding about buying the ScanNCut for members use. We have the Go and Go Baby and lot of dies and they are in constant use during open sew days.

Weezy Rider

I had a Cricut, but never bought cartridges. I discovered 2 independent programs that would allow you to manipulate designs with just one cartridge, any cartridge. Called Sure Cuts a Lot, no longer supporting Cricut. Make the Cut is another one. There is a learning curve. But if you have time, it's cheaper. I had a problem with the way the Cricut cut. I now have the Silhouette Studio Pro and if they ever come out with fabric inks, I will have a blast.

I prefer to cut applique with scissors as I can use any scrap in whichever way I want and don't have to worry about it fitting a die or staying put on a cutting mat. Scissors take up less room. I don't do enough applique to bother, and the stuff I will do you mostly have to cut yourself. One was a wall hanging of Otters playing in the snow.

The Cricut, using SCAL, and now the Silhouette will cut those odd designs for you. So will the Brother. Accuquilt won't. (not enough demand to make dies - you can't blame them)

There is a tutorial on this site about using Gimp to design quilts. I use Illustrator. One thing about learning to use any program that deals with shapes and bezier curves - you have less trouble with any other design program. I had no problem drawing my own stuff in EQ5, it was more how the software dealt with saving and opening. If you are interested in doing your own stuff, read the tutorial for the insight. Once you see how stuff works, and understand it, the easier it is for you.

Geri B

I envy you and your guild.....very progressive......l have suggested purchase of GO for members use and just get a blank look..........BORING!!!!!!

I have my own...am not interested in scan n cut machine.............

gale

You're only supposed to cut one layer at a time. Of anything. The one for just over $200 was probably the silhouette. The brother has never been that low and hasn't been out for very long.

BellaBoo

When I joined this guild many still were using scissors instead of the rotary cutter because the mats cost too much!! I started doing demos of the new tools and met resistance with everthing new I showed. The majority of the members were charter and elderly and voted everything down that cost money. I went on a member drive and got many new younger members involved. It took several years but finally the newer members had the majority vote. We changed a lot of the by laws and started spending the money hoarded for years. Some of the older members still complain about spending guild money on what they see as unneeded or foolish. They keep using a yard stick and scissors. No kidding.

Digitizingqueen

The scan n cut, is an electronic cutting machine and you can only cut one layer of fabric at a time, but you can cut multiple items at one time, they even make a 12 x 24 mat you can use in it, if you don't want the ability to cut what ever you want and don't care about using the limits of dies ( big shot, and aququilt) then this machine is not for you, someone mentioned software like sure cut a lot and makes the cut, provocraft - the company that make the circuit machine stopped those companies from makeing the software to use with the circuit, my biggest issue with the circuit, is it does not cut fabric as advertised and from my many tests the brother scan cut does, I have done appliqué quilts for lots of things and can not wait to start on my next one, don't do appliqué on everything but it works for t-shirts and small projects, it was worth every penny I spent on it and I am a very happy customer.

Weezy Rider

I bought the SCAL before they stopped it. It did work, but not with my favorite vector program. I had to use Inkscape to save SVG. While I've never tried cutting fabric in the Silhouette, I can cut a paper design exactly where and how I want. It isn't automatic like scanning and having the machine do everything, but it can be done. I see that Silhouette does have stabilizer out, would have to buy it to see what it actually is and if it works. Most won't like the learning curve. I'll admit that. I do like a learning curve most of the time. It's good exercise for the brain.

I have a friend who is totally baffled by any learning curve. She does want the machine to do everything automatically so I can understand that viewpoint. Even with an automatic anything, I get a phone call.

I have seen the Scan n Cut in action. I got the store's Silhouette Cameo (unused to boot) at a really good price. I don't really do enough applique to warrant the expense.

gale

I've cut in my silhouette using their sew-in interfacing (they call it interfacing even though it's fusible web). It cut perfectly. I'd like to be able to skip the fusible web though.

romanojg

I have the Go and love it, for what dies I have bought. Mostly my daughter and I use it for raq quilts and she does block quilts so its great. Yes, the Scan and cut only does one layer at a time but it does it so fast and takes less time that you use layering your fabric and positioning it correctly and then using your muscles (sometimes mine aren't the greatest) to roll it thru the cutter. So even though it only does one layer at a time it does it faster and will do the same design multiple times at once. So if you have enough fabric where more than one design will fit, you keep adding more to fill the area of fabric to cut. You can also tell the machine to save on fabric and it'll line up the designs so that it makes the most of your fabric with the least amount of waste. I think all of that makes up for the fact that it can only do one "layer" at a time along with the fact you don't have to make sure you have the right die to do the job.