Hi, everybody! Thanks for the well wishes that my quilting journey might continue with a little help from the TOOLS available! I truly appreciate your positive affirmations on my behalf!
Regarding the auto-shut off on the Bolt - i was aware of that before i ordered it and quite honestly it doesnt bother me at all. Im just thankful to have a smaller electric option.
Like some others have mentioned, i do MOST of my cutting with the AQ. And i do resize many patterns so i can use the dies i already have. My quilting buddy and i do a lot of Bonnie Hunters patterns (but i dont do the mysteries) and i am accustomed to just looking at the pattern i like and seeing how i can make it from my 8” Qube. If you can use the Qube, then everything fits together no matter what the original pattern called for with finished block size. I do have some strip dies and the wedge die to make tree skirts. But other than that i dont have a lot of dies because so far i have what i need.
My quilting buddy and i get together as often as we can for a “cutting party” from our scraps. We both love scrap quilts and make sure to have plenty of precut squares, rectangles, etc. available for the next project. We have quite a collection of neutrals and colors making it really easy just to sit and sew whenever we get the opportunity! Once in a while we might need something that cant be die cut, but we are ok with that because we already did the bulk of major cutting by machine.
I remember when AQ first came out with machines and dies - i was like WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I EVER NEED THAT OR EVEN WANT IT??? I was wrong, lol!