Prism99

I have a manual crank Go!, so not sure how much help I can be.

I personally do not use the strip dies as much as I thought I would; however, I'd use them more if I had the Studio dies. My problem with the Go! strip dies is that the fabric wrinkles on the middle unless I stop halfway through the crank and straighten the fabric underneath the mat. The roller seems to stretch the fabric just enough (even though I am using the lengthwise grain, as recommended) that I have to do this in order to get straight strips without wrinkles and wrinkly cuts in the middle. It would be worth the hassle if I had a Studio and Studio strip dies, which cut more pieces at one time. I would not recommend getting the Go! strip dies for the Studio. For me, it is simply easier to hand cut strips using my June Tailor mats.

What I ***love*** the Go! for (aside from turned edge machine applique; I use the applique dies to cut my freezer paper) are the irregular shapes and triangles. For irregular shapes, the tumbler is a lot of fun. Any shape that is difficult to cut accurately by hand I like. For example, I have hexagons and circles, and Hunter's Star (none of which I have used yet) because those are more difficult to do by hand. Unlike sval, I really love cutting triangles with the Go! All the "dog ears" are cut off, so matching and sewing become very accurate for me. My favorite die combo is the square in a triangle (requires 2 dies for the Go!); makes a great scrap quilt. I also liked the Go! for large flying geese.

It really depends on what you intend to make. To be honest, it's very easy to over-buy on dies. Although it becomes very fast to cut out a quilt, it takes a long time to piece, layer and quilt a quilt. That is why I and many others have die collections we haven't gotten around to using yet. Also, no matter how many dies you have, you will always find you are missing one specific size down the line.

If you have any intention of making a wedding ring quilt, I would definitely get the wedding ring die (for the Studio) -- including the optional arc -- while you can take advantage of the sale price. That is one quilt that is ideal for cutting out with the Studio.

Edit: I love the look of Winding Ways quilts, so that is a die I would consider getting too.