Did you try contacting accuquilt? Ask them for some ideas, hints etc. It's a shame not to use it to the max. Otherwise sell it and get something that does work for you.

I have a go and I like it for certain things, tumblers, charm squares, etc. Mainly though, I prefer to rotary cut.

hheelleenn

There are a couple of yahoo groups, sewitsforsale and quiltersfleamarket where you couple post an ISO for an Alto. I've seen them several times recently and that is where I bought mine. I think I paid $65 (including shipping) used and it was in great shape. I would think it would work well for you. The clips on the one side hold the fabric and the ruler slips over an edge which would hold the ruler. You would probably still need to weigh the end of the ruler down but I think it would make cutting easier for you. Good luck.

Susan

I have the studio cutter and a good friend of mine has one as well. We watch for the sales of the dies and then each of us orders them. We do not get the same dies that way we can swap them, also invite friends to come and cut if they like. It is really nice with the strip cutters when you have to cut so many.

I also have the Altos quilt cut 2 and love it-it has really sped up my cutting and accuracy. I, too have been tempted to get the Go, but I would rather rent the use of one than pay for all of the dies and some of the dies I like are only for the Studio and I certainly can't afford that! Are any quilt store owners listening?

I do not have a Go, but my sister has the studio and my mother has the Go. We get together once in awhile to have cutting parties. I would like to get one for myself. I am not a great cutter and it does help. The dies for applique are alot of fun. It is not a must have item, but it is certainly an I want it item.

I have the studio, purchased it on ebay 4 yrs ago for a song and just love it. I will not cut another strip as long as I live. It saves time and my fingers. I have become the strip pattern police. I can now look at a quilt or the cover of a pattern and tell you if it is strip worthy before reading the directions. You think strips what can I do with them. Flying geese,6/9 patch, etc. CozyQuilt has great strip patterns and there are many more patterns/books out there by other authors. So think about it, When you are my mothers age 80 and the rotary cutter begins to intimidate you(after quilting most of her life) the investment is worth every penny. It will be with you for a life time.

My mom purchased the rag dies for the studio and just loves them. She had a friend who had surgery on her arm and could not do any cutting for 3mo but she could sew. So she told her to come over and I would cut her quilt out for her. I was done in 20min full size quilt.The look on there faces was priceless. The other plus is after sewing the quilt together you don't have to cut the fringe it is already done just wash and dry.

It's expensive but fun! I use the 2 and 2 1/2 inch strip cutter a lot. I can cut squares easily by tuning strips back through the cutter. I would love to buy more dies in the future. It's certainly not a necessity, but I love Mine. Diane C.

I can't wait to get mind... should be here today.. Got it from JoAnn's... sale 249.. and dies off the site for 25% off.....

The initial outlay of $350 is intimidating enough but if you look at all the dies you would need, it really gets way too pricy, especially with cotton prices set to rise in the coming year.
If you sell your products then you can perhaps justify it because cutting 6 fabrics at a time does speed production up.
Also, if you are disabled and unable to stand at your cutting mat to accurately
cut strips, this would be a solution.
-Judy

Thank you sooooo much. I was trying to find a place for an "I want" ad but I did not want to go to Craigs list. I'm going there right now!

My biggest question is how much waste do you end up with?

I got an accugo because I started getting arthritis in my hands and I was having a lot of trouble. I agree the dyes are quite expensive. I have the 2 1/2in strips,the triangle,the 6 1/2 square and want to get the circles. Oh,by the way I bought mine for a little over $200 on sale.
It is a "little stiff to turn" @ first. If I was a "pain free" person I may not of purchased it because of the expense of the dyes

I got an accugo because I started getting arthritis in my hands and I was having a lot of trouble. I agree the dyes are quite expensive. I have the 2 1/2in strips,the triangle,the 6 1/2 square and want to get the circles. Oh,by the way I bought mine for a little over $200 on sale.
It is a "little stiff to turn" @ first. If I was a "pain free" person I may not of purchased it because of the expense of the dyes

I draw lines on the die where the blades are, then position my fabric so that there is just 1/4-inch overhang on each side. Waste is similar to that involved in rotary cutting -- perhaps slightly more waste on certain shapes, but not a lot more.

I used my Accuquilt Go last night and was finished cutting strips for a queen size quilt in about 1/2 hour - your can't beat the speed of these little machines. I purchased one because I have a bad habit of moving the ruler when using a rotary cutter, this cutter helps me cut straight lines.
NormaBeth

Very interesting info from all of you....I am waiting for the delivery of my Go Baby, but I see the Go in my future as well. Thanks for all the hints on dies, etc.

I am budgeting for one myself, and have been shopping around for a while. Keep watching Amazon.com. Outside sellers sell it there a lot and the prices keep changing ($30 average), but the cheapest i found so far is for $238 with free shipping and no tax. They also sell the dies a little cheaper than MSRP but i am not sure if at Jo-anns you can use coupons on dies.
The truth is even though it is pricey, I honestly don't want to end up with Arthiritis or Carpel Tunnel because of quilting, so if this is gonna help me keep quilting and be healthy, then it is worth every penny :)
Hope that helps

Faten

By the way...with the strip cutting dies, how long can you cut the strips? Would it cut long strips like say for the inner border on a wall hanging or lap sized quilt?

I opted for the Sizzix Big Shot Pro Westminster Edition cutter over the Accuquilt Studio one for a couple reasons...... 1) price - Accuquilt Studio is $549+ and 2) it uses only it's dies in it.

My Westminster cutter 1) price was half of the studio 2) uses ALL dies from all name brands... yes even the accuquilt one's with the exception of the jumbo and extra large accuquilt dies.

I've been using most of the Accuquilt studio dies with exception of above mentioned sizes, the Go dies, Sizzix dies, Ellison, etc.

I paid $280.00 for my Westminster compared to over $549 for the Studio.

Another reason I went with that machine is not just to cut fabrics but also other type materials from paper, cardstock, chipboard, vinyl, etc although I have other cutters for that. It also is an embossing machine.

I am however using it only for fabric right now.

You can cut mulitples in one shot compared to cutting one at a time with templates. Saves a whole lot of time and also gives more accurate cuts especially if you have unsteady hands for whatever reason.

I bought the Sizzix Westminster one in lieu of the Accuquilt Studio due to pricing however if I had not had another choice I would have gladly invested in the studio one. With all it does you would get your money's worth and than some back saving lots of time in preping to applique or piece to sew.

I can cut 8-10 deep with my machine in one pass easily. So say you need 40 of one you only need to cut 5 times versus 40 by hand with a template.

for those with the GO and accuquilt products, you do realize that their website has FREE patterns you can download right?
there is also a yahoogroup called accuquilters and they are forever taking a designers pattern and remaking to make it accuquilt cutter friendly.(not sure if it is legal though)

there are also 2 books out with patterns.

Yes dies are expensive but if you shop around you can get them for literally pennies on the dollar. eBay is a good place to find them.

I just acquired 20 of them in bundles on eBay all for less than $300.00 which averages out to about $15 each and these retail from $34.99 to as high as $60.00 for one's I got. There were a couple or so that were lower than $34.99 retail and those I got for about $12. and some change. My averaging cost also included shipping if there was such in the auction.

You don't really need one, its more of a want, an expensive one at that for something you can do with a rotary cutter and scissors for much cheaper. I personally probably won't get one until i have arthritis and its hard for me to cut. Can't really justify the price for something i can already do myself, now if i get one as a gift, thats a different story

I have the first quilt cut that came out. I love mine also. Sometime I would like to upgrade to the 2nd version.

This is a misconception that I keep seeing here. The Accuquilt Studio/Grande Mark sells a special tray adaptor for other manufacturers dies!!! I don't know why people keep saying Ellison and other manufacturers dies don't work with the STUDIO, they do. The GO and Baby GO are the only ones that won't take other manufacturer's dies...

Here is the link http://www.accucuteducation.com/Gran...ter-P2954.aspx the adaptor is $25 and clearly states Place adapter in the base of an AccuCut GrandeMARK die tray to use with Sizzix(R) and Ellison(R) AllStar(R) dies. Also compatible with retired AccuCut Zip'eSlim dies.

I have the first one that came out. Sometime I would like to get the upgraded Alto's quilt cut. I find them to work really well.

I bought a Go cutter.off Ebay. I did not like it and sold it. It was a new toy. I am faster with the rotary cutter. I know I have read that a lot of people love theirs. I guess it is just a matter of what a person gets used to and enjoys.

I love my GO and do everything with it that I can to make my quilts and appliques. Sometimes the die cuts are a great starter point to make squares/triangles etc that I cut further down by hand or rotary to make particular pieces. Bottom line it saves soooo much work. As for the cost - I knew I wanted it for ever and found some really good deals on EBay. The store that I have found with some of the best deals on individual dies, die sets and GO! Machines (and almost always with extra freebies like a bottle of Best Press etc) has been the Seller/Store: QuiltingWithCricket2010. (No Affiliation - just sharing my experience for your benefit).

The sales she has sometimes as well - are just stellar! Several months ago she had EQ7 up for around $150 brand new, and specials come up with her all the time, usually a massive selection as well. When I got my GO from her - I paid $220 and got a free bottle of Best Press along with it... far cheaper than you can buy the GO almost anywhere else, so you might want to check out and see what they are offerring now. Seriously - buy the GO! it was the best investment I made to support my sewing/quilting addiction!

Explosive blessings, abundance and inspiration to you all!
- The Creative Seamstress

For those who still want a Studio, it is the same as the Accucut "Grande Mark" machine. I have seen several sell recently for $200 on ebay. As long as they box it well, these machines are very heavy-duty & well made. I get lots of AQ dies off ebay & have wonderful service consistently from a seller named "Janabrad". They charge very little for shipping & pack them well. All have been new or like-new.

sweetie, everything related to the "NEW" quilting industry is about WANTS....cutters, rulers, books, fabric, patterns..all a WANT, not a need...

I love my "go" - it is great!

I have ordered the Accuquilt Studio as I have shoulder problems and I am not the most accurate cutter. Also the Studio has a lifetime warranty.

I also want a cutting machine, my problem is this, not to sound morbid but I have been in end stages of heart failure for 5 yrs 6 months, most people live with reg heart failure 5 yrs or less. I try to see the glass as half full rather than half empty but how can I justify spending that money? Now if I would of bought it when I first decided I wanted it I would have about 2 years of use out of it, but I didn't Now I want to make all my kids grandkids and great grand kids quilts, I already have the material in my stash for these quilts[23] so somrtimes I think go for it and get started before it is too late. I can't use a rotary cutter worth a darn my cutting is never accurate I hve ra,corpal tunnel and fibro so using scissors is not an option. I also scrapbook and purchased a cricut machine thinking I could use it for cutting squares and triangles rectangles and ect. I have used it for appliques but it is basic a paper machine and to use fabric you have to use steam to seam which can get pricy and adds extra bulk I quess my posting has 2 purposes one to say if you honestly want one and are pretty sure you will use it go for it and my other reason for posting is trying to justify to myself whether I should get one or not.

Go For it!! Life is too short--your family will treasure those quilts so much and you don't want to waste any time. They can always sell it on ebay later.

Your'e like me. I just turned 80, I had a MIA 6 years ago,last march I got sick took me months had an allergy,arthritis pain in my wrist,it got hard all of a sudden to do my flower gardening,then I had more problems and had to have tests, after tests so now I have stomach problems and I thought I wanted a new sewing machine but like you I keep thinking "I am getting up in age,I probably won't get the use of it but I also think why not. Once I was told to enjoy the rest of my life,so I still may buy a sewing machine even if my old one does pretty good...at 35 years.

I put small punches of fine sandpaper on my rulers, just behind the numbers. It really helps to keep the ruler from slipping.

None with the strips. And what is left over with the other cuts I cut into strips,squares etc. Not much waste at all.

My rotary cutter skills are not terrific so my sweet husband gave me the Accuquilt Go for Christmas. I cut out 2 1/2" and 6"squares for a queen quilt in about 4 hours. My arthritic back appreciated the new machine also. Husband called a local quilt shop asking about the machine before Christmas and was told no one here is a dealer. I walked into JoAnn's after the holidays and saw a great display of the machine, dies, and cutting mats! I love the machine and already need a new cutting mat.