Quiltingboard Forums - HST's...Magic 8 vs. die cutting

I'm making Quilts From El's Kitchen in the 12 inch size for my mom and the 6 inch size for me. I'm working on the center block, which takes 55 HST's. For the large block, I have the die to cut them. For the small size I'm using the magic 8 technique. I remember someone saying that the magic 8 was faster, so I decided to time myself both ways. The magic 8 produced 56 HST's in 72 minutes. Die cutting I made 60 HST's in 52 minutes. This includes cutting, pressing, and with the magic 8, squaring up and trimming dog ears. As far as wasted fabric, for the larger size, the magic 8 calls for 7 inch squares, and for the die I cut 3.5 inch strips, so I can't see that one way produces any more scrap than the other. Now, if I didn't already have the die, I probably wouldn't have ordered it just for this, but I buy dies when I find great deals on them, and am so happy to have them when I want them.