sponsored review: accu quilt GO! cutter
disclosure: this review is in exchange for the cutter & 3 dies
Back in June I was contacted by AccuQuilt. They offered me a free AccuQuilt GO! Fabric Cutter along with three dies in exchange for a review of their product. To be honest I was skeptical at first.... of the "free" part and of the cutter itself. Those who know me... know that I'm a ruler junkie! But in the end after a phone call with AccuQuilt I agreed to try it out. So here is my experience and honest opinion of the GO! cutter.
fyi...
You will have an opportunity to enter to win a GO! fabric cutter next week courtesy of AccuQuilt.
I got the cutter a few weeks ago and immediately put it to work.... writing this review however took a bit more time... as i don't like to write! ;-)
AccuQuilt does have a large amount of YouTube videos to help guide you. I suggest starting with the ones on how to mark your die and cutting tips.
video by accuquilt on marking your die
fabric cutting tips video by accuquilt
I had my choice of dies. My first choice was the hexagon die since I am after all a hexagon junkie. My second choice was the drunkard's path die since if this cutter was going to work... I wanted a die that wasn't as easily replicated with a traditional ruler. The third die was recommended to me... the 2.5" strip cutter since it is one of their best selling dies. I should have spoke up and said I don't want that one... especially since I don't do 2.5" binding but I didn't. {My mistake}
I received the cutter & tested out a few things with it. Overall I'm happy with the product. I found a lot of success with the hexagon & drunkard's path dies and i'd recommend them. There is a small learning curve with this machine and it does take some muscle to get the dies through.
Unfortunately I have not been happy with the results from the 2.5" strip cutter. I watched most of the YouTube videos by AccuCut to see if I was doing something wrong, but hadn't found an answer. Fabric is moving and it is very hard to get through the cutter even with one or two layers of fabric. I did notice that the blades appear to be leaving much deeper marks on the cutting mat than the ones left on the same mat from the drunkard's path die. I don't know if there was a defect with my die, or if this die is just harder to use because the blades are straight? I contacted AccuCut and they sent me a replacement strip cutter die. I had more success with the second one but still found it much harder to get through the machine than the other two dies. Despite getting the second die to work I wouldn't recommend this one. With the prep time I found that in the end it was quicker to cut 2.5" strips with a traditional ruler and rotary cutter.
Here are some photos of me testing out the Drunkard's Path-7" Finished Die
mark your die...
cut & press fabric
i used a piece 17" x 36" {basically 17" x WOF with the selvages off}
after you run it through sometimes the fabric sticks to the mat
and sometimes you have a thread or two to cut where the blades come together
but with careful planning there is little waste
and each 17" x 36" piece yielded 8 inside curves and 8 outside curves
sometimes threads get stuck in the die
but you can usually get them out easily with a lint roller
in very little time i had cut my pieces from many different fabrics
Here are some photos of me testing out the Hexagon Die
i decided to use a charm pack with the largest hexagon on the die
and it worked very well!
although i'm still not sure what i'm going to make with them now
the middle hexagon size is also perfect for 1" paper pieced hexagons
which has been very handy
so to recap...
1. Do the prep work! Iron your fabric and cut it to the appropriate size for the best results. We all like things to be fast... but skipping these steps just results in headaches. Planning also = less waste!
2. Use a sharpie and mark your dies. After doing this run a piece of "junk" fabric through as some of the ink from marking transferred onto the first fabric I cut with the die after marking.
3. Watch the YouTube videos. They really do help!
4. Look to purchase the Applique, Classic or Geometric designs and skip the strip dies.
don't forget...
You will have an opportunity to enter to win a GO! fabric cutter next week courtesy of AccuQuilt
8/27 Update!
I made a step by step tutorial for making a drunkard's path quilt with the AccuQuilt
It's posted on the swatch & stitch!
I also made a video for you!
8/27 Update!
I made a step by step tutorial for making a drunkard's path quilt with the AccuQuilt
It's posted on the swatch & stitch!
I also made a video for you!
