garysgal

I never use paper and have had no problems, but I don't have this particular die either. Maybe I'll try the paper and see what happens.

pokeygirl

I'm sure glad this subject came up today. I, too, ordered one and it arrived yesterday. Going to buy fabric today and try it out. Thanks for all the good info.

DonnaPBradshaw

I think I'm staying with the old method of sewing and snipping the seams!

BETTY62

And I was thinking about buying this die. LOL Sounds like cleaning the die is equal to ripping out a seam and I hate doing that. Thanks for the heads up.

gump51

In defense of the die...I don't have to pull/clean threads because of poor cutting...it just looks packed and I want it cleaned. The time I save and accuracy of the precut fringe is so worth it to me I can't begin to tell you. Plus after it's washed and dried the rag is so uniform and full. I love my rag die and will sing it's praises again and again.

BellaBoo

That is tedious and unnecessary. I don't bother pulling the threads out at all. It works fine. The threads build up and come out on their own, and much easier to get a lot out at once. It doesn't bother the blade cutting. I'm on my third rag quilt and have't pulled the threads out.

willferg

So I cut out my blocks using the GO! die on my Studio cutter. I cut two at a time, which was a little time-consuming, but certainly less so than snipping the seams! I did pick out bits of thread periodically, but it wasn't a big mess and it wasn't difficult. I've had cotton threads stick in Studio dies that were much harder to remove.

I did think once or twice that I wish I had the Studio die instead, but since I don't make rag quilts ALL the time, I think I'm fine with the GO! die. Once I get the blanket made and washed, I figure I'll know for sure!

willferg

Well, an update on the rag quilt I made with the die. I am NOT blaming the die, but my quilt turned out terrible.

I think the first problem (which led to the second problem) was that I used two very different kinds of flannel. I bought the second to match the first, but they just weren't the same. As a result, as I was sewing an X through the blocks, on the solids the fabric tended to slide a bit, so they weren't real square. Totally my fault, but I thought there would be room to fudge since the seam allowance was so big.

However, as is so often the case, when you are off by a little, you can end up off by a lot. I ended up having some sections of fringe that were not caught outside the seam, and there was no way to correct it. Had I snipped the blocks by hand, it wouldn't have been a problem, although of course, it would have been a lot more work.

Next time I use the die, I will be much more careful and also choosy about my fabric. I have to say, though, I am not totally enamoured with this die and am not in a hurry to do another rag block soon!

BellaBoo

I learned from experience lack of accuracy and quality will result in disappointment. I have this plaque in my sewing room: Why is it there is never time to do it right the first time but always time to do it over.

romanojg

I agree, at first I was constantly pulling out the threads but the lady at Accuquilt said not to worry about it each time, it will still cut just fine. Im getting ready to do alots of them and would never do them if I had to hand snip all of those little cuts. No way, even if I had to pull thread after each run, its better than doing all of that snipping.