luvTooQuilt

if i need a 2.5x3 ill use the 2.5 die cut my fabs then use the 3 inch die to cross cut.. I make silver sharpie lines on my dies so i know where i can place fabs for cross cutting..

I do this with many of my dies..

PaperPrincess

Go to Ebony Love's site, LoveBug studios or view her youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/LoveBugStudios

She also has a book out:
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Fa...rds=ebony+love

lfstamper

What about the Silhoutte cutter? Less money because scanner is not built in. You have to use your own scanner which most of us have. I am considering this one.

gale

You wouldn't even need a scanner with the Silhouette as long as you can either find the shape online or make it yourself using the silhouette software. It only cuts fabric easily if there's some kind of stabilizer like heat n bond on it though. I'm not sure if anyone has successfully cut fabric without the stabilizer.

romanojg

Hi, sorry that would be me. I've had a very busy week and spend more time on here Sun thru Wed when I'm at work than I do when I'm at home. I have both the Go and the cut n scan. I love the Go, I use it mostly for the rag quilting and my daughter who mainly makes either raq quilts or block quilts uses it to cut her 8in blocks. I've also used the go for some applique designs for the non-ragged side of the rag quilts. You have to be careful to how you place your fabric because of grain and it stretches the fabric as it cuts so you can get blocks that aren't the correct size, ask me how I know. So the Go is good but it is different than the cut n scan.

The cut n scan, I love and I'm still learning. There are 2 CS. One has more features but if you opt for the cheaper you can purchase the additional parts so that it has the same features. The more expensive one is worth the price because you get lots more built in designs and it would cost more to buy those additonal parts that comes with the 2nd one. There are lots of built in designs including quilt blocks. You can resize all of the blocks to get the finished size you want, you can have the machine draw your 1/4 in seam allowance on the block, which is great for all of you who complain you can't get it right on your machine. It even has the HST so you can have the lines drawn on them and just sew the lines and not sew two lines and cut down the middle and resize to what you want, saving time. You can scan in your fabric and either fussy cut your designs where ever you want on the fabric. Its so easy since your fabric will show up on the screen and then you move your block where you want it. You can also have the machine to utilize your fabric and it will chose the best way to layout your designs to minimize waste. You still should be careful with the grain as you would with any cutting, machine or by hand. For cutting on fabric, if you are going to piece it you would starch it to make it more sturdy, if its for something else you can either starch the fabric or use a fusable (any kind of light one would do) on the back of the fabric. By the way, the 1/4 in seam allowance is adjustable, so you can make your seam allowance bigger or smaller, its not just the 1/4. I've used the built in designs to cut halloween decorations with the kids out of construction paper and out of the colored see thru plastic sheets, I used the cheap ones that you buy to separate things in a notebook. The kids had a blast. I also used felt to make footballs to put on the pockets of my quillows for the football fans in my family, there are alot of them except for me. This week I'm doing names on t-shirts for Easter on my emb machine and there are letters and designs for applique so I'll scan in the the shapes and have my machine cut them out so that there will be limited trimming once they are sewed on. Lets see, you can also scan in your kids art work and make designs from them or you can use the scanner to scan in the artwork or photos or documents, etc to your pc for storage. You can have your kids or your can scan in your own signature and the machine will cut them out, what a way to save your kids handwriting as it evolves over yrs in scrapbooks. You can make holiday cards. There are so many things it will do but I think the scanning feature is the best. Right now I'm also working on scanning in those 18in doll patterns so that the machine will mark the seam allowance and cut them out for me. You can save your designs on the machine or a USB. You can take mulitple designs and weld them together to create one design. Brother has lots of tutorials on this along with lots on You Tube. Yes, there is a learning curve but most things in our lives have them. It took me most of the day to figure out why some of my 5in blocks I was cutting with the GO was accurate and some were off. The more it out the more videos and learning tutorials there will be. You can even use the markers and draw your own designs with this machine. You can iron on a sticky fusible like steam a seam and fuse your designs after the machine has cut them to your fabric. Yes, it only cuts one layer at time, but you can put lots of designs on each layer and it cuts faster than the GO when you consider the time you spend cutting the fabric to fit the Go and then placing the fabric on the Go so that the die lines are covered and rolling it thru the machine. The mats can be cleaned with non-alcohol wipes, some use a temp spray adhesive to refresh the tackiness and I've even heard one person who used template plastic placed on the mats to make it last longer, not sure about that but like I said, the longer its out there the more tips will pop up and I never have to buy additional dies or shapes and if I don't have a certain shape I can create it and scan it in, I don't have to order it online or go to the store to buy it and of course that also depends on if the make a die for the shape I want. Since its so new there aren't as many who can successfully demonstrate it in the store, even though they sell it as there should be. I have lots of Sew n Vac's around here but only one that has really tried to learn all the tricks to this machine. I'm still learning as I said and there have been times I got really frustrated, the last time was me having brain loss because I was pushing the thing that holds the cutter blade in the wrong direction the wrong way and couldn't figure out for a couple of hours why it wasn't cutting. If you have any more questions ask and if I dont' know or can't figure it out I'll call one of the stores and try to find out. The biggest down size of this is that I'll eventually have to buy a new mat or replace either the permanent or the temp ink pens or new blades but most of the machines out there have addtional cost, like having the right die that you need. Please be patient for me to repsond but I'll try to get back to you within the week you ask. Best days are Sun thru Wed.

franie

OH MY GOSH now I want both machines!!!! I see there are two other machines similar to the Go Cutter. Yikes--more research must be done. Thank you all who responded.

Cathieinut

Judy thanks so much for your through reply.
I agree with the comment that which ever one you might wish to buy is going to depend on what kind of quilts you are interested in making. I just got mine and haven't had the chance to even try it out but I can already see the potential for me.
1. No, it really isn't just for applique cutting although I am going to use it for just that very soon.
2. It comes with quite a few shapes built into the machine for patchwork that you use in many many blocks. So not only do you get a square you can change the size up to about 11.75 and as small as you want really. I don't know yet how small of increments it changes but I think you have the option of 10ths of an inch from what I have seen so far on Youtube
3. It also has quite a few (depending on which model you get is how many) quilt blocks that allow you to just size each piece and placing different shapes on the same fabric pieces...for example if you need to cut both squares and triangles for a block from a pink print you can place them together and have it cut at the same time...also the whole thing is resizeable so if you want to make a 4.5 inch block everything will be to the correct size when cut
4. if you can find a either a line drawing or even a picture of a block you want you can scan it in then you can cut the block piece by piece.
5. very true that you wouldn't use the Scan N Cut for strip cutting and it does only cut one layer at a time so if that is what you want to do...make tons of the same shape over and over at the exact same size then it might not be the best cutter for you.
6. if you are in to English paper piecing with paper shapes then you can cut a whole sheet of them with no scissors and have them exactly the same
7. you can cut template plastic which will be nice when I use the mylar plastic for my starch method applique
you can also cut cardstock, thin cardboard and poster board easily from what I have seen and read.
8. you can do a initial scan to use scraps that will then have the cutter only cut where the scrap is on the cutting mat and you can manipulate the shapes to get as many as possible on that scrap

My dear friend has the Go...both sizes and she uses it all the time but she tends to do the same type of project over and over also she has pretty poor eyesight and I know the small screen would be a problem for her.
You can join the online design board site and import and save online to a USB drive then import your work to the Scan N Cut which opens up a whole world of images and fonts. Although this is a good thing it kind of defeats the whole idea of everything being built into the machine but if you are comfortable with your online skills, which I am, then hopefully it's going to allow me to really expand what I personally can do.

I know the Go ladies are very passionate about their cutters but I think I am going to really love this machine. I also will say I am used to the Cricut system so it's not entirely new to me as it would be to someone who has never used any electronic cutting system.
Hope I didn't ramble too much as there is so much out there for those who really want to get the most out of their machine online, youtube and just discussions. Kind of like sewing machine preferences!

carmen garcia

I have the Go. I just finished cutting lots of 6 1/2 triangles. It was so easy. My 4 year old help me and enjoyed it.

Pagzz

I have the GO and I just bought the Scan N Cut. I had a beginner's class on the scan n cut today. There is a learning curve but I think I am going to like it. My disappointment with the GO is that I buy a new die for a specific quilt and then never make that quilt or never make it a second time. I like the GO for cutting strips. I avoided applique because I hate the drawing and cutting so I will use the scan n cut for that. Also, I do a lot of doodling and drawing as I practice for quilting so I have been thinking drawing applique shapes like I quilt could lead to some fun projects. The Scan N Cut comes with a blue (water disappearing) pen, a purple (air disappearing) pen and then 6 other pens. I scanned in a saying that I am going to hand embroider and used the blue pen. As you can tell I am having fun.

cbjlinda

I would suggest going to utube and watching all the different machines in action. I was quite impressed with the brother scanner. I currently own the sizzix big shot and it is simple to operate but all of the dyes for both the sizzix and the go machines are pricy.