QuiltnLady1

I have had the GO Big for a couple of years - hand and arm issues mean I can't turn the crank. I it and find myself adapting patterns to the size dies I have. I got the Go Big on sale before Christmas, then waited until the cubes went on sale and bought the 6' and 12' as well as the companion sets in the same sizes. I am thankful I have the Go Big -- I couldn't cut fabric for larger quilts without it.

Here are some hints:
-- I starch my fabric almost board stiff before cutting so my pieces are accurate and have no issues when I piece.
-- I draw on my dies - I have found that if I extend the edges of the dies so I can check placement of the fabric it saves a lot of time.
-- I am also a fabric miser and I experimented until I found the minimum amount of extra fabric I need past the blades and I marked that on the dies as well (if you don't leave some fabric past the edge of the blades you get the fabric stuffed between the blade and the sponge and you get a bad cut). I leave a least a quarter inch around but my fabric is stiff.
-- Clean out any threads that get stuck as you get them - otherwise they are a bugger to get out
-- for my square mats, I rotate the mat 90 degrees every time I cut, then turn it over and rotate 90 degrees after each cut. The next time I offset the cut by a hair (as long as the mat covers the blades you are OK to move it around and rotate it). When I declare a mat dead it is well and truly dead. For the non-square mats I turn them 180degrees and move them as I can. The idea is to no continually cut in the same place.
-- If I use a block with several shapes and I want to cut several fabrics side by side I try to but the fabrics against each other (I draw a line halfway between the shapes) so I don't have to count the over lap as one of the 8 layers

Hope this helps.