I'd love to ask anyone, about a wide variety of quilt tools from rotaries, rulers, aids, and even books & magazines.
There are so many on the market, and I know some who have a dozen different seam rippers. And some will swear by one product after having tried several. It would sure help "Newbies" and all quilters, to hear the opinions of others on these tools.

To start us off, I'd like to ask about rotaries. What do you use, and why? I've got an assortment of sizes of Olfa rotaries, and love the tiny one for nipping off my points at seams. I love the large one for cutting polar fleece. I love the auto blade cover (release the handle and it covers the blade) for classes so I don't get caught with an open blade on my table. But I LOVE my Gingher as these blades stay 'sharp'! I have made a King, 3 queen, 6 full & a lap, plus have 3 twins cut, all on one blade...amazing! And I recently realized, use the Gingher blade in the same size handle of my "release" Olfa. Dah! Ok, I'm not the sharpest pin in my pincushion.

And yes, I am trying to become a recovering "gadget" junky. :roll: :roll:

I love Olfa cutters also! All sizes!

I love the quilt in your 'name photo', what pattern is this? Any special ruler needed? :thumbup:

Sorry, I also wanted to ask about these two items, bigger ticket, would like info from actual users not ads...
AccuQuilt cutter and the Sizzix cutter???

I mainly use Olfa as my daughter bought it for me but I also use a blade sharpener when I feel my cutting is getting more difficult.

My favorite cutter is an Olfa with the yellow handle that was the first cutter I bought about 24 years ago. I have a Clover and a Fiskar, but keep coming back to "old faithful".

I love my Olfa rotary cutters the best. I have not tried Gingher. I have a Fiskars with retractible blade but I don't think it cuts as well. I love the release on my Olfa.

There are a lot of threads about the Accuquilt cutter. Use the "search" option up above. Sizzix is used more by paper crafters. The dies are not interchangeable between the two cutters.

I guess I am what you would call a gadget junkie or notions nut. LOL Yep I'm the one who has better than a doz rippers.
I am down to just 10 rottery cutters right now. and about 7 matts. I love, love, love trying out new goodies!

Love my Gingher rotary cutters. All 3 of them. 1 on my cutting table, 1 in my carry to quilting tote and 1 stays in my sewing room.

Great! A true junkie, we'll really count on your opinion here, I'll bet you've tried about everything?

So, with all those mats, is there one that you like more?
I have the blue 'Duraheal' (melted a spot when my little press iron got knocked over at a class), so it's more my craft protection one now.
And my green 'Olfa' is on my main cutting table. And a little gray 'June Taylor' turn table one beside the machine.
I have a cutting shaver? cleans up the board, especially after polar fleece. Do you use the lines on your board?
If yes... how? Seems confusing to me, guess I just use the rulers.

Did you buy at a fabric shop? I found my 2 ginghers off ebay with replacement blades for $20 each (set).
But the local fabric shop they are $80 and $70 at JoAnns.
I'm hoping to find more, I'm buying for 2 daughters now.
Bought all 4 girls a starter sewing machine, but 2 won't even learn how to turn them on. Maybe one day.

I love my green Olfa mat. I do use the lines when I need to cut strip wider than my ruler (6"). I line end up with lines, both horizontal and vertical, then line ruler up with vertical line to get the width I want. I have never had a problem with this. Is this clear as mud?

I'm a gadget junkie. Have more than one of almost every tool/gadget. My favorite rotary is Martelli, I have both sizes. I also have a Gingher I bought on clerance at Joann's. I like the way it feels in my hand, but it doesn't close by itself. A most for me. I also have several Firskars rotaries.

Carol, I do that also, but I was thinking of the diagnal lines?
Nice Batik Light houses. My daughter lives in OR, this is my first year I made it to Sisters OR outdoor Quilt show, that was something! I'd be worried about weather, they have it scheduled so far in advance, what if a storm rolled in, strong wind, rain... guess they've been blessed to continue on faith of good weather. Beautiful inspirations.

Olivia: Cute little one (in your photo), ok never heard of Martelli?
Can you share about this...seems most have Olfa or Fisckers.
(Just realized you have to post the name of who your asking/replying to, sorry ladies on earlier posts)

I only have a fiskar rotary cutter, used a friends' olfa and no blade guard, I would be afraid I would cut my wrist. I will stick with the fiskar, just what you get use to I guess.

My dad was the sewer in my family. He made a beautiful prom and wedding dress for my cousins. I had no interest in sewing, until about 3 months after he passed away, now I love to sew. Go Figure! 2 of my daughters and one of my boys are showing an interest in sewing and my oldest learned to at least use a machine and do the basics in school. :)

I prefer fiskars rotary cutters. I've tried other brands and keep going back to my fiskars. I even bought a spare in case I lose one (it happens!) or one breaks. I also prefer fiskars for cutting mats but I like Omnigrid brand rulers.

Very interesting about your dad, was he in business with sewing? My daughters took home ec sewing, then lost interest, the 33 & 26 yr olds both sew, the 24 never liked domestic, the tomboy (girl) 22 used to make simple quilts for siblings 1st borns, she's youngest, now not interested.

I like omnigrid also, but I'm losing vision, wish they'd have a way to make those tiny lines more visible. Anyone know of a ruler brand with easier readable numbers?

I love the Olfa original rotary cutter because I use my left hand and my right hand when cutting. The ones with the guards won't work for that. I trained my left hand to cut so I could always keep the majority of my ruler on the fabric. What I mean is once I have my fabric on the matt I want to move it as little as possible if that makes sense.

I just bought a June Taylor "Shape Cutter" ruler and it's fantastic. It's a 12" x 12" 'mat' with slots every 1/2".
It's like using a rotary cutter with training wheels.
Cutting strips is amazing. If you have 44" fabric, you just fold it twice so it's 11" wide. Place the ruler on top and slice through it at every 2" or 2 1/2" or 4", what ever you want without moving the ruler! I've always had problems with my ruler shifting but this thing even gets me cutting straight. For a rotary cutter, I like my Fiskars comfort grip handle - Squeeze it together and go. I use whatever blades I can find on sale.

I have the shape cut, love it, big numbers too.
Use grip dots or invisigrip on back of your rulers to prevent slipping. Also can try the gypsy quilter handles, asst sizes, helps hold with more pressure.

They have a new ruler/mat/rotery combo out, the ruler stays on mat, moving along the runner...the rotary follows a groove on the ruler to cut right. Anyone try this?

I love my Dritz rotary cutter. Have Olfa in various sizes but keep gravitating back to the cheaper one. Perhaps it fits my hand better? I buy Olfa blades for it, though. I use my smaller (but not smallest) Olfa for cutting around curved templates, though.

Rotary cutter--Martelli's cutter. (I think I spelled that right) Right and left handed cutters are offered. The handle is bent to fit in the palm of the hand. It takes a bit of a learning curve to get used to it, but I can cut all day and my hand and wrist doesn't get tired. Also can cut sitting with ease.
Mats--have all sizes of Olfa mats.

It took me many, many years to start sewing....my folks bought me one too...I never used it...let my husbands brothers girlfriend borrow it...they broke up...that was many years ago...never saw that machine again...I just bought one this year and now love to sew! Never had time with kids.

I bought that last week....love it for cutting fringe on scarfs....worked like a charm.

I still use the Olfa rotary cutter that was the first one they came up with. And I think we all tend to use what we started with as it is what we're used to. My blades tend to stay sharp for a long time and I do a lot of cutting. However, when I do put a new blade in my cutter I always wonder why I waited so long to change it!!!

I use the diagonals only to help line up for cutting HST's.

I use all the different Rotary cutters but the Go Cutter has been a lifesaver for me. I am coming up to shoulder replacements and have NO strength for rotary cutting. (I do change blades often so I always have a really sharp blade) I bought the Go cutter because I do all the cutting of donated fabric for our Project Linus chapter and I can cut stacks of strips, etc without feeling any pain. Mostly, I have been cutting boxes of 2 1/2 " strips for scrap quilts. Also find easy scrap patterns for them to make with the strips.
Cathy

Does this Martelli have a 'handle' sideways instead of like a pizza cutter? I think I've seen one, never tried it. Would it benefit arthritis or difficulties? I've had 5 surgeries on R, 3 on L, and the scar tissue is building to act like arthritis now, so I like ergonomic tools, even in the garden. I've never seen them at the local stores, I'll have to search the internet for one. let me know how it works for problem hands, harder or easier?

Martelli is an Ergonomic cutter and it is supposed to be easier for Arthritics. I have a niece with MS who really loves it .. makes it much easier for her to cut.
Just be sure that your replacement blades are NOT the ones with the notches - I forget which one has the 3 notches cut out so it fits the rotary cutter). They (Martellis) recommended that I not use them in any of the rotary cutters that don't need it because the blade will dull quicker in 3 spots.

My daughter recently bought an Accuquilt cutter that she LOVES for certain cuts. She does a lot of cheniled quilts and loves the dye cutter made for that. The only negative side to it is that it takes a little more fabric. She also bought the extra set of dyes. I haven't had the need to use it yet , but I can hardly wait to cut a quilt in record time.

I use the cutter and ruler from the Grace company, I had to wait a long time for it, but it works great and the ruler has a strip that guides the cutter for a perfectly straight cut with no slipping. The ruler and cutter work as a set. :-D

Sisters, OR only has one kind of weather for the quilt show -HOT!!

Debbie: I think the ruler/cutter set you are talking about is by TrueCut. They also have a rotary blade sharpener that seems to really work! I bought the ruler because it has slots in it where you can get a pencil in to mark grids, start/stop points, etc. The ruler has a lip and the rotary cutter has a matching part so the rotary cutter "rides" on the ruler. It helps with accuracy, other cutters can be used with the ruler. The best thing I have found to hold the rulers steady comes from Australia, RuleSteady made by KeepQuilting.com.au It is a plexiglass platform that has an upper portion that goes over the ruler, a lower section with non-skid feet that stays on the mat, a ridge that keeps the ruler from sliding, and a long handle on top. It is about $40 but it was a Christmas present and well worth it!

I want that True Cut ruler. I'm just waiting on a good deal.

I use fiskars rotary cutter, fiskars scissors, both large and small. I love them all. The guarentee on them is terrific and they do that for life. I just had the wheel nut on my fiskars cutter get loose. I wrote them, sent a photo. They contacted me 2 days later and said they will send a new one. It just came in yesterdays mail. New cutter with a blade

I also have the Olfas and I use the 45mm for most work. The small one -28mm- is best used in circular templates and around tightly-curved templates.

If I were to buy another one, I would get an ergonomic one because I have trouble with tendonitis.

I also love my Olfa rotary cutters, the 45mm one I'm using now works like a dream.