You'll have a great time using it! I have one. It is very well made and the mat is one of the best I've used. I have never used the carrying case though. The box makes a nice carrying case if one isn't free. I learned it works best using no more then 1/2 yard to cut the second cuts like squares and diamonds. I bought it before the Go became available and I still use the QuiltCut2 to cut the fabric to perfect size to fit the Go dies. There a some youtube videos you can watch while waiting for it to arrive.