You don't mention which machine you have, but the rag dies have a lot of work to do. My first suggestion is a single layer, which you have already tried. Next, make sure that the cutting blades for the square you are cutting are going into the machine on an angle. Some dies blades are already laid out on the die backing at an angle, some aren't. If you have the Baby, you might not have a lot of room to manoever it. Also, how old is your cutting mat? Sometimes a new mat is harder to cut with.