Accuquilt? Brother Scan and cut? opinions requested
 

I have finally succumbed and figure the next step in my quilting growth will be greater accuracy when cutting.
I am planning on buying a cutting machine for accurate strips. I figure I can use my various special rulers for triangles and other shapes but primarily want to start wit perfect 1", 1.5", 2", 2.5" and 3" strips. For the most part - I am not using shapes and fusing at this point.

Please leave me your opinions on the various cutting machines that are available
If you already have one - do you like it? what is the downside

This is my attempt at gathering information to make an informed purchase!!

Thanks in advance for your help
Marti in East TX

Might be easier for you to search the board - top right magnifying glass - type in Accuquilt, Big shot, fabric cutter. there will be soooooo many threads on the topic...

I have a GO.. I have two actually..and almost all the dies.. almost.. and I love it... Cant say a bad thing about it or the customer service.. Ive had mine when they first came out.. sheesh , that was a while ago.. and still love it..

If you want strips mainly, you should knock the Scan and cut off your list as it only does one layer at a time. I have the Studio and love it.

I would go with accuquilt cuts many pieces at a time over brother which cuts a single layer.

I have a Studio as well and love it. I have been doing a lot of strips lately and it's so convenient.

Accuquilt Go is for quilting. The Brother is more for projects. That's the way it was described to me by a Brother dealer.

This thread is very interesting because I want one too! How do you prepare the fabric to cut? wash, starch, how big a piece can you use etc?? Watching this closely!

I have both the Go cutter and the Studio and love them both, but there is a difference :
The Go is harder to crank than the Studio if you have any hand or joints problems but if you don't then it is an excellent cutter and worth every penny.
With the Go you can cut up to 6 layers of fabric (depending on the thickness of the fabric), but with the Studio you can cut up to 10 layers and a lot smoother cut than the Go. After all the Studio is meant for quilt shops so heavy duty and the dies are more expensive than the Go so they can handle more workload.
If you are wanting to cut strips I will not consider the Scan and cut as it is meant more for the crafters more than quilters because you can one layer at a time and it takes time to get that layer ready to cut..

With that being said I have the Go and the Studio for sale with some strip dies if you have decided which route to go pm me and I will give you details.

If you have the money then get what you want.

If all you want to do is cut strips then consider the Alto's QuiltCut2 [ www.sewezquilting.com ] It is affordable and accurate. I've had mine for years. There is no fabric waste. Even with my arthritis it is easy to use. At first I kept checking my cuts, afraid they weren't accurate. That didn't last long, thankfully, as the cuts were very accurate.

I love the Studio and you can buy and adapter that you can use the Go dies and also the Big shot dies with the Studio. I use mostly the shapes and not to many of the appliqués since I really don't need 100 of the same shape...I do have the stars and a few others that i know I will use a lot. I feel it is really worth it. Speeds up the cutting time.