Welcome to our series exploring quilting basics! We left off with a look at our 6 top tips for cutting fabric. Next time, we’ll be exploring pressing essentials for quilters, including our 5 top tips. For an overview of the series, you can check out all of the posts here.
Hi friends!
In today’s post on fabric cutting, we are going to chat a bit about fabric die cutting.
Some quilters find that the repetitive motion of cutting with a rotary cutter can, over time, become tiring on their hands. So they turn to fabric die cutting. One of the more popular die cutting machines for quilters is the line of AccuQuilt Go! cutters.
Go! Cutters by Accuquilt
They have 3 sizes – the small Go! Me (pretty much the same size as the older version- the Go! baby), the Go! machine, and the Go! Big electric machine.
They also have a heavy, professional machine called the Studio 2 die cutter.
I have a couple of Go! machines and while I don’t use them all the time, I love being able to use them to cut a lot of strips, or a bunch of squares from my scraps or for fun shapes!
They are also great for being able to cut curves with ease.
Another Option for Fabric Die Cutting:
Sizzix Big Shot and the Sizzix Big Shot Pro machines are great alternatives. The nice thing about the Sizzix is you can use the dies from the AccuQuilt Go! cutters in your Sizzix!
(And no, you cannot use the Sizzix dies in your Go! machines- the Sizzix dies are too thick.)
The Accuquilt Go! machines and the Sizzix machines are great for using premade dies.
Another Consideration when Fabric Die Cutting
But what if you want to create your own shape to cut?
Now, this is another story! Then you have to consider some of the machines that let you upload your own designs, like the Cricut, the Brother Scan ’n Cut or the Siloutte. This article I found mentions some of the die cutting machines and which ones they like best!
Or for more information on die cutters and adaptability, my friend Ebony Love of LoveBug Studios has a great post on die cutters.
Fabric Die Cutting: the Bottom Line
Before you decide on a machine, you need to decide if you want to design your own shapes and have access to commercial designs or just use shapes that are available from the manufacturer.
If you find that your hands get tired cutting fabric with your rotary cutter, you might find that the AccuQuilt Go! electric machine is just what the doctor ordered!
Do you have a die cutter? What do you love about fabric die cutting? Be sure to leave a comment and let others know the good and the bad of your die cutting machine!
To read what great thoughts Tammy has on die cutting, click here to go to her post!
happy quilting,
Kate
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