Susan,
I had a great (long) response to you that has now gone the way of cyber space?...lol.
To be honest on the strip dies, I still find it easier to use my rotary cutter! I am hoping to become an AQ educator and that is one of my questions...to learn how to use the strip die more efficiently. I mainly do scrap quilts so I don't have much need for my strip die.
I use old file folders and make a template of each of my dies. I am a chapter leader for Quilts for Kids and am given a lot of scrap fabrics, and with the templates, I can see if my pieces will fit the die cut. My waste fabric is put into kennel pillows for the Humane Society.
For correct placement of your fabric line it up parrallel with the edge of the die cut. Each die comes with a cardboard instruction insert that will tell you what size strip of fabric to cut for each die board. If you are doing a quilt top, you DO need to pay attention to grain lines along your die cuts. Again, because I do scrap quilts, I rarely both with the grain lines.
I mark all my dies with a Silver Sharpie, which makes it much easier to see where your cuts will be.
Does that help? And if not, feel free to email me at
[email protected] . I am not the best online teacher!