BETTY62

If you are going to continue to quilt you need to give the GO aother audition. Once you cut out shapes other than strips using the GO and sew them together you will have you have a whole different opinion of the GO. PRISM99 is right on in describing the difference using the GO will make in your work.

quiltybarb

I have to say you sound like me......my husband bought me an electric AccuQuilt Go for $550. about six months ago and it's still in the box.....The thing stares at me accusingly and I'm afraid to use it.....stupid I know....Since I have rheumatoid arthritis it would probably be in my best interest to use it.....

cathyvv

Yes, yes, yes, you will love it since you have RA! Because of fibro, CMT (inherited peripheral neuropathy), rapidly advancing osteo-arthritis and back problems, I just bought one - used. It's the Studio model; I got a bunch of dies with it, and bought some strip dies. Just got the new dies today and cut 2.5" strips - perfect. I suspect the 2.5 inch strip die is the one that will get the most use over time.

You still have prep time for the fabric. It has to be pressed and cut to fit on the bed of the accuquilt, but I was doing that when I was rotary cutting anyway. Once the fabric is loaded, it's just a matter of cranking it through the roller. Since you have the electric one, you don't even have to crank!

I'm not saying that there will be no pain and strain while using the accuquilt to cut fabric, but there will be less pain.

PS: My health sounds much worse than it is. Except for the osteo arthritis, most of what ails me is manageable most of the time. And I want to keep it that way!

Prism99

Cathy, it's not always necessary to cut the yardage to size. I believe lots of people simply position the fabric on the die and let the excess fabric hang over the side and/or back of the die. It passes under the rollers without incident. This eliminates a lot of pre-cutting.

Granchris

If I were you I would set the Accuquilt up and start using it. It is wonderful once you start using it.

misseva

Hey quiltybarb I would like to encourage you to break open that GO Electric. I had a Go and enjoyed using it until my shoulder started hurting so I gave it away and bought the Go Electric. I'm in 'hog heaven' now. I have several dies from my Go and just recently bought the tumbler die. I cut I don't know how many tumblers that match up perfectly when I'm sewing. I spent several hours last weekend cutting up scraps into 2 & 2-1/2" strips and 3-1/2" tumblers. Scraps look so much better when they're cut to size and in plastic boxes and ready to use at a moment's notice.

westmagic

I'm considering an Accuquilt (249.99 new) and think it would be great for cute cutouts but I'm afraid it would be very wasteful for cutting lots of 2 1/2" strips. Is my thinking correct?

Tothill

Wasteful? How? Do you think you will waste fabric?

I love mine for cutting strips. It is fast and accurate.

retiredteacher09

Westmagic: I just got my strip dies and have been using them mainly for cutting my scraps that are shorter than width of fabric and for binding. I have the 2 inch and 2 1/2 inch strip dies. It feels good to be cutting and organizing them.

If you take the time to precut your fabric, you will waste very little. For example: Measure from the left die cutting edge to the right one and add 1/2 inch, then cut your fabric that width from selvedge to selvedge before putting it on the cutting die.


Check out Ebony Love YouTube videos on strip dies.

Connie