I have been wondering about a die cutter also. I can't use my left hand or wrist. I have to press down with my left forearm to use a ruler when rotary cutting. It hurts my back and shoulder.
My big question is should I get am electric one, they do seem to have their problems?

I have a GO and Sizzix big shot and I love them both......don't regret the purchases, or the continuing purchase of additional dies, one bit. Best thing since sewing machine! One day may splurge and get electric GO........

I also have both. I can't cut straight. The ruler doesn't slip, the fabric does. I wanted to cut a 1" strip from a 1 1/2 strip and wound up having to tape the strip down to cut it. Tired of the nonsense. I've tried just about everything else, and still can't get straight cuts. Looked at the June Tailor rulers and decided they were not for me. Started using an old Sizzix, and things went so much better.

I decided I wasn't cutting 49 LOF 1 1/2" strips for Jaybird's Night Sky!

My "signature" baby quilt is an I Spy production that uses 80 4 1/2" squares. While some fabrics can be cut into useful squares using 4 1/2" strips, many require fussy cutting, which I despise. Thinking a die-cutting machine would simplify things, I bought a bottom-of-the-line model when it was on sale for ~$75. When it arrived, I discovered that it could handle fabric no wider than about 6", so I had to rough-cut each piece before feeding it through the machine. It saved me no time at all and wasted even more fabric than fussy-cutting did. On top of which, it didn't cut cleanly. I had to scizzor-cut certain areas on almost every square. I buried that machine so deep that I can't find it to tell you what brand or model it is.

Bottom line: Know what you want your die cut machine to do, and choose accordingly. Clearly they handle some tasks much better than others!

Want to sell some of those strip dies? I would love to have them. I do like mine, but I just got a used one, so have no idea how much I will use it.

Over the summer I purchased the Sizzix Big Shot Pro. It is easier to crank then the Accuquilt Studio. It can handle all Sizzix dies, all Accuquilt Go dies and most of the Accuquilt studio dies. (some of the studio dies are too wide but those dies are also the ones I do not like because they are very large and heavy)
http://www.sizzix.com/shop/sizzixquilting

If you purchase http://www.sizzix.com/product/657600...d-accessoriesa Sizzix Big Shop Pro besure to get the quilter's edition.


Accuquilt now also has an electric die cutter twice as wide as their Accuquilt Go. I have heard nothing but good about this option also.

I am a ninja with my rotary blade and love rulers but due to back issues and starting to have osteoarthritis in my wrist I was having pain after cutting extensively.

I must say I really like a die cutter more then I had anticipated. I do not use the strip cutters as much as I thought I would and will frequently use the June Taylor shape cutter for that purpose. I do use the 1/2 square triangle, squares and flying geese shapes all the time to make blocks. I am pleased with the accuracy of the blocks I make from die cut shapes.

Sizzix dies tend to run significantly cheaper then Accuquilt dies. I was able to purchase many Sizzix dies and and some Accuquilt Studio dies because the Sizzix and the dies from Sizzix run cheaper. I do think it would not be as much fun if I didn't have all the dies.

I absolutely love my Studio cutter, particularly the strip dies. I have a few square dies, but prefer subcutting strips.

AccuQuilt Studio has several Clear Dies for fussy cutting, for those who enjoy fussy cutting blocks.

I have the electric go, it is worth it. I can cut a quilt perfectly strips/squares/ triangles or whatever and get the quilt sewn together so much faster. I also do lots of cutting for my guild and it helps a lot.

Today, I cut 540 (4" finished) HST's on my Go machine to make a navy blue and white herringbone quilt. I've already sewed 1/3 of them, in addition to sewing on the binding to 6 placemats, and finishing 6 blocks for another quilt. And, I read 1/3 of the book I started the other day. Not a bad day.

I could have never gotten this much accomplished without my Go. The HST's went together very nicely, in fact, I carefully sewed 1/4" seam, and it appears they came out so perfectly that I don't even have to square them.

You will love the accuracy of the cutting with a Go machine.

I love it, I used the drunkards path and the curves went together smoothly and perfectly, I doubt I could have cut each as accurately. I love the strip dies and also the Sunbonnet Sue and Sam dies and a couple of others. You can cut 8 layers at a time, with the 2 1/2 strip, you cut the strips faster and neater in the time it takes you to cut a couple manually.