Accuquilt? Brother Scan and cut? opinions requested
 

I have finally succumbed and figure the next step in my quilting growth will be greater accuracy when cutting.
I am planning on buying a cutting machine for accurate strips. I figure I can use my various special rulers for triangles and other shapes but primarily want to start wit perfect 1", 1.5", 2", 2.5" and 3" strips. For the most part - I am not using shapes and fusing at this point.

Please leave me your opinions on the various cutting machines that are available
If you already have one - do you like it? what is the downside

This is my attempt at gathering information to make an informed purchase!!

Thanks in advance for your help
Marti in East TX

Might be easier for you to search the board - top right magnifying glass - type in Accuquilt, Big shot, fabric cutter. there will be soooooo many threads on the topic...

I have a GO.. I have two actually..and almost all the dies.. almost.. and I love it... Cant say a bad thing about it or the customer service.. Ive had mine when they first came out.. sheesh , that was a while ago.. and still love it..

If you want strips mainly, you should knock the Scan and cut off your list as it only does one layer at a time. I have the Studio and love it.

I would go with accuquilt cuts many pieces at a time over brother which cuts a single layer.

I have a Studio as well and love it. I have been doing a lot of strips lately and it's so convenient.

Accuquilt Go is for quilting. The Brother is more for projects. That's the way it was described to me by a Brother dealer.

This thread is very interesting because I want one too! How do you prepare the fabric to cut? wash, starch, how big a piece can you use etc?? Watching this closely!

I have both the Go cutter and the Studio and love them both, but there is a difference :
The Go is harder to crank than the Studio if you have any hand or joints problems but if you don't then it is an excellent cutter and worth every penny.
With the Go you can cut up to 6 layers of fabric (depending on the thickness of the fabric), but with the Studio you can cut up to 10 layers and a lot smoother cut than the Go. After all the Studio is meant for quilt shops so heavy duty and the dies are more expensive than the Go so they can handle more workload.
If you are wanting to cut strips I will not consider the Scan and cut as it is meant more for the crafters more than quilters because you can one layer at a time and it takes time to get that layer ready to cut..

With that being said I have the Go and the Studio for sale with some strip dies if you have decided which route to go pm me and I will give you details.

If you have the money then get what you want.

If all you want to do is cut strips then consider the Alto's QuiltCut2 [ www.sewezquilting.com ] It is affordable and accurate. I've had mine for years. There is no fabric waste. Even with my arthritis it is easy to use. At first I kept checking my cuts, afraid they weren't accurate. That didn't last long, thankfully, as the cuts were very accurate.

I love the Studio and you can buy and adapter that you can use the Go dies and also the Big shot dies with the Studio. I use mostly the shapes and not to many of the appliqués since I really don't need 100 of the same shape...I do have the stars and a few others that i know I will use a lot. I feel it is really worth it. Speeds up the cutting time.

I have the AccuQuilt Go and love it. It has more than paid for itself in the 2 years I have owned it by cutting strips straight for me. I seemed to have a lot of strips that resembled a "VEE" before. Watch for sales. I have several of the other dies and they are a lot of fun but the real savings for me has been in cutting strips!

Have you tried the June Taylor Shape Cut? I have a Go! Cutter that I use and like, but I rarely use my strip dies for it. The shape cut works better for me. Less hassle and more flexibility in my opinion.

I use june taylor cutting system, there are slots you use to cut measured strips, you can also cut basic shapes. look on amazon. Cheaper to start out

If you want to do strips I would get the altos quilt cut 2 as I think it would be cheaper in the long run, accuquilt or sizzix die cutters are very expensive as are the dies and if all you want it for is strip cutting the quilt cut 2 would probably be a better buy for you, brother scan n cut is more for applique. Also have you tried june tailor shape cut, this has helped my cut strips very nicely and accurately and is cheaper than all three. i have sizzix but never bought the dies strips because of the expense and june tailor does such a nice job and I think it is so much faster than running dies through my machine IMHO. Also you can still get bowing if you don't know how to properly fold the fabric for cutting, dies or with a ruler. Me personally I would not get accuquilt or any other die cutting system if you only want it for strips. I don't have many dies for my sizzix but I also do not use it as much for what it cost. I get tons of use from my june tailor 30-40 bucks versus hundreds of dollars to cut strips.

http://www.joann.com/search?q=june%20tailor%20shape
I have both the regular shape cut, and the plus(same, just a little longer 12 vs 18 inch-slots are 1/2 inch increments) I also put dots on the 4 corners to keep it from slipping). Its on sale right now, you might want to try it out before investing so much money in a system unless you have your heart set on it. I have never tried the pro one I think it only has slots every 2 1/2 inches

Thanks ladies: I already have an June Taylor strip cutter- and may put some non-skid disc on it - thanks for that idea
I also got a 'GO' via Amazon but appreciate all the feedback - it confirmed my thoughts - which is what I needed. I live in an area where the closest guild is 1 hr 20 min each direction and meeting during the day - which doesn't work for me. So This is my source for ready info - once again - T H A N K S !!!

I just bought a slightly used GO and the die for 2 1/2 strips. So far, I've cut strips for the quilt I'll be working on next week at a retreat and last night batting strips for a purse. I'm really enjoyng it. Hope you love yours as much as I do.

But she didn't know what she wanted yet. That's why she was asking for others' experiences...

I had the Go but didn't like it. It was too limiting and I had trouble cranking the dies through. I bought a Big Shot Pro and love it. It can take almost any die on the market and for me, it's easy to crank. I have the shape cut too, and really like it too.