Accuquilt - Worth It?
 

I have an anniversary, birthday and mother's day coming up soon ... and rather than get gifts that I don't really want or need, I figured I'd tell my husband and son to chip in for an accuquilt. But ... is it worth it?

i think you will find a lot of mixed reviews i gave mine away

I gave mine away as well.

I really like mine, but it does have its limitations. My father helped me get mine to assist with the cutting of quilts. I have medical issues that makes using a rotary cutter for any length of time (more than one swipe) painful. With the accuquilt, I don't have as much pain, and I can con my kids into helping once the fabric is placed.

I use mine all the time. I don't have any of the applique' shapes, just the geometric ones, strips, triangles, squares etc. that I can use for many different quilt block patterns. For me, the accent is on accuracy, not speed. I don't cut more layers with my machine than I would attempt to cut with a hand rotary cutter (no more than 4). I love that my piecing is so easy because everything fits (I am careful with my 1/4" seams). many of the geometric dies have engineered corners, which aid in lining the pieces up. I've read that some people think it wastes fabric, but I don't see any more waste than when you square your fabric up when hand cutting. I don't think I cut any faster, just more accurately.

My opinion only: I tried one and think the unit itself is overpriced for what it is. And then there are the mats and dies which have to be purchased. Would rather buy fabric.

I have the Go and Go Baby. I use mine more then my rotary cutter! I can have a queen size quilt cut in minutes. My quilt pieces fit together perfectly. I had a learning curve at first and thought I'd never use it much but when the concept kicked in I was off and running. I can make many designs from one die just by placing the fabric half way on the die in different ways. I have most all the Go dies and haven't a pieced pattern I can't adapt and cut with the Go. I would buy it again in a second. I had the Alto Quilt Cut 2 before the Accuquilt. Now I use the Alto for cutting fabric to fit the Go. I don't think of a tool in terms of what it cost. I think of what value does it give me in relation to the cost. The value of time saved and perfectly cut fabric pieces makes the price secondary to me.

I really like it, for the tumbler, strips, circles, and a few others, but for the squares they do not square up as well as doing it by the rotary cutter.

I love mine as well. I have everything from applique dies to strips and my favorite the rag quilt die; what a time saver that one is. I had a few problems when first cutting with the rag die and emailed the company and they emailed me back the same day and helped me. Their customer service is great and they stand behind what they sell.

If found that using the strip dies to get square cuts works better then the actual square dies and triple the amount in one cut.

Make sure you have the grain the right way; if not you'll get bad cuts for the squares. I learned the hard way. Just a suggestion.

Using a thin piece of paper on the die before placing the fabric will keep the fabric cut on a bias from stretching. I starch my fabric if I know it will have bias edges. For off beat cuts I will use a fusible interfacing before cutting.

Seemed to me t.hat since you still have to cut smaller strips to feed through the machine it doesn't save that much time or stress on my shoulder.

I was thinking about one some time ago but decided, it wasn't worth the money for the kind of quilting that I do. If I am doing a quilt that requires a lot of strips, I tear them and then subcut.....

I can't imagine what I would use it for except to cut strips, if it does it the way I want it. The dies that come with it, I wouldn't use. I don't do applique. I think by the time I spent fussing with it, I could just as well do it by hand the usual way. I think it waaaaay too expensive to begin with and then the dyes are too....

I really like mine for odd shapes and for triangles (because the corners are lopped off, making perfect alignment very easy).

Not as keen on using it for cutting strips unless you need a lot of strips from the same fabric. For strips, I actually prefer the June Tailor Shape Cut.

Haven't tried the applique shapes, but one day plan to get the Sunbonnet Sue and experiment with using fabric fused to Misty Fuse.

If I had the space and the money, I'd get the Studio rather than the Go! that I have -- just because I think it would be easier to turn the crank!

I like mine lots ... For triangle fun. For strips, i use june taylor shape cut:)

I have one and use it quite a bit.Major gripe is the time it takes to set things up...lot different than just slapping a piece of fabric on the Olfa and doing the ruler-rotary cutter thing...

I really like mine!

I love love love mine... hubby bought me dies for the holidays and my birthdays and sometimes he ordered some for just because.. It is worth it for me. I cut up alot of scraps. I have bins of 2x2, 2.5x2.5, bricks, HST of all sizes, sqs of all sizes, bricks, tumblers sm & large, 9in Hex.... I have most if not all dies- all of the geometric ones and quite a few applique ones. I dont really care for the most recent appliques so i dont have them..I have the strips and the rags... I LOVE the rag ones.. soooooo simple and fast !!! I do buy the mats in bulk and on sale. So i have a back up to the back up to the back up as I do believe they are basically disposable.. I cannot imagine rotatory cutting the DWR- so yes in my eyes this is so worth it..

My crank did break after 5 years of loyal service so hubby bought me a new one while it was getting fixed... I shipped it to AccuQuilt and they fixed it and shipped it back no charge... So now I have TWO of them.. But I used it ALOT.. All i paid for was the shipping to- and after the use it has gone thru in the last 5 years it was well worth the shipping cost...

I plan to buy one. I have made a list of the dies that I want. I think you should make a list of the dies that you want to make sure you are going to use it enough to make it worth while.

It depends on what kind of cutting (pattern/pieces) you do. I have cut hundreds of yards of jelly rolls and other strips for classes. My advice is not to go overboard in buying dies at first. Only get those you know yu will use and add as you need them. For example, if you decide to make a double wedding ring, then it will be worth the $ in time saved to get the appropriate die. etc etc.

lots of folks are ditching them for the more versatile Sizzix machines. There are several yahoogroups you can find them for sale!

My sis in law gave me the Sizzix Big Shot Pro die machine for my birthday. I like the Go much better. She has the Vagabond, it's electric, and it cuts fabric applique shapes with no effort at all. The Go dies are tricky to use with it.

I have been wondering the same the same thing need to check out the newer ones too i am still working on learning to cut fabric with the cricut that was $300 & 50 to 100 for cartridges that don't do what i wanted i did not check it out enough when they said it cut fabric i bought it wish i hadn't now i will check things out more maybe sell it and buy something else

Does your LQS have one? maybe you can just use theirs??? There is one at my LQS which i can use, although I have only used it once.

I have the studio cutter and love it. I only use the geometrics also, I have not bought an applique die. Yes it is expensive, but because I have major hand problems I find this works for me and I can get things cut much faster. You don't have to buy all the dies at once, you can get them when they are on sale. Having used my Studio from Accuquilt, I wouldn't be without it.

It's worth it to me because he cuts are accurate and fit together with no problem when piecing (I piece by hand). I just finished piecing one and all 12" squares fit together perfectly. No trying to adjust so the square match. I may not all the dies I have each time I make a quilt but many of them are typical sizes for squares and HSTs. My DH insisted on buying it (I didn't want it) but don't think I could have done as well on this quilt without it.

LOVE LOVE LOVE my Accuquilt GO, especially for applique projects!

As mentioned you will find different views. Only you can decide if it is/will be worth it for you. I have access to the studio, and really like that one. I started using it for charity quilts and the 15 quilts I sent to Afghanistan last year in 6 months could not have been made with out.
I own the Go, and have only used the 2.5 strip; I have been cutting strips and cross cutting them into 2.5 squares to use for English paper piecing hex's for GFG. This alone has been a great time saver.
Consider what sizes you use and are those sizes available in dies.

Thanks for this thread! I too have been tossing around the idea of one, but haven't decided if the value is really there for me. Will keep watching...

I like mine. They are expensive when you consider the dies. The mats last a long time. I use mine any time it is possible. It is a real time saver.

I don't have one but my 75 year old buddy does and it hurts her shoulders, I got a simplicity deluxe rotary cutter and I like it

I have the Go Baby and I really like it. I have the 2 1/2 strip and some squares and I use mine all the time. I am in the process of cutting a bunch of scrap material for scrappy quilts and the GO makes the process so much faster.

It really does depend on what you usually make. I think it's great for the drunkards path, pieces with rounded edges that are difficult to cut. The drunkards path has a cut little notch on each piece to make it easy to sew together. It's great for applique pieces and odd shapes.

another option is the quiltcut if you do mainly simple designs-but it also has some drawbacks. Wouldn't it be nice if we all had the space, money and time to get all the cutting systems to fill all our needs/wants/desires?

Thanks for all the ideas and opinions. Lots to think about. I started to think of adding one after "carefully" measuring strips to cut into HSTs and then "carefully" sewing 1/4" seams ... and ... can you guess where I'm going with this? That's right! Different sizes. Did I lapse into a teeny tiny coma while cutting? Anyway, maybe I need to pay more attention. Or maybe I need a cutter. Decisions, decisions!

For me, I feel the AccuQuilt has paid for itself many times over. One example is that I now cut scraps and save the cuts in a large ziploc, until I have enough to stitch a block or two. These scraps were typically so small that I would have previously tossed. I have ended up making several beautiful quilts out of such scraps. To clarify, I recommend people pick one or two dies for this. The Value Pack die, that comes with the GO! is a great die for such scrap quilts. I have one scrap bag currently going with red/white/blue scraps cut with the Value Pack die and another scrap bag of cuts with dark-medium-lights in non-brights. I'm close to having enough cut and ready to sew two more tops.....all out of fabric scraps that would have been tossed if I would have needed to pull out a mat, ruler & rotary.

I have one and am sorry I wasted the money. The dies are expensive and my rotary cutter and Bernina 830 does all the same things and more. I would not suggest it to anyone.

I use mine a lot.

It's a whole lot faster to cut strips and squares yourself, but I do love the triangle pieces and half squares. I think they are pretty over priced for what they are. If you use it great, but for many it's another quilting toy to sit on a shelf somewhere. I have made little use of mine and I had to have it!

lol wish someone would give one away to me. I'd love one but I don't want to spend that much money