Originally Posted by
mountainwoman
I will be purchasing the Accuquilt GO cutting machine today. In watching the videos, it seems to me that the fabric being cut had been previously cut down to small sizes before using the machine. Does anyone have any advice in this regard? Initially, I will use the die that comes with the starter kit (I plan on making a single Irish chain quilt using 2.5" squares), and I will be ordering over the next couple of months the 6.5 and 8.5 inch dies, sizes I frequently cut with my rotary cutter.
Thanks for any advice at all in regards to using the Accuquilt GO.
Honestly, if you want to make a single Irish chain quilt using 2.5" squares of assorted fabrics, then I highly recommend that you purchase the die for making multiples of the squares. Here is a link to it:
https://www.accuquilt.com/shop/go-sq...multiples.html
Think about it. With the die that comes with the starter kit, assuming you are cutting 4 layers of fabric, you get only 4 squares for each pass through the roller. With the multiples die, you get 36 squares with each pass. The savings in time (and fabric) is substantial. To get the same number of squares with the starter die, you have to position the fabric and mat 9 times and run it through the roller 9 times. In that 9 times, you are likely to make a mistake or two that costs you fabric. Plus, you will have wasted fabric around every cut. It is much easier to position fabric on the multiples die once, and you will have waste fabric around every 9 cuts instead of every cut. Worth every penny, in my opinion, if you are doing 2.5" squares.
As someone else mentioned, it's possible to also cut 2.5" squares with the Go! using only the 2.5" strip die. First you cut the strips, then you position the strips on the die to cut them into 2.5" squares. This is also much, much faster than using the single shape on the starter die. However, it does help to have some experience with the Go! before doing it this way. The 2.5" multiples die would be easier for a beginner.