Review of AccuQuilt GO Fabric Cutter

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AccuQuilt Go Fabric Cutter / B0021F62D6

I love quilting, but I'm having a harder and harder time making quilts due to some persistent back pain from my scoliosis. The fabric cutting portion of any quilt project is where I really struggle all that bending over, measuring, and pressing and moving the rotary cutter just causes me all kinds of problems. The light came on when I noticed my friend (who works with paper crafts) using a die cutter to create paper shapes and I had to wonder if something like that existed to cut shapes for quilts.

A lot of research later, I decided on an AccuQuilt Go! fabric cutter. The pros of the AccuQuilt is that it seems to be the most affordable fabric cutter out there, and the machine is small and portable for home hobbyists. The cons are that a new die has to be bought for each shape and dimension that you might want to use it's not like a paper cutter where you can adjust down from 3.5" to 2.5" on a whim. However, since I almost exclusively use 3.5" squares in my quilting, this wasn't a drawback for me I bought the 3.5" die to go along with the fabric cutter and anything else I need I will continue to hand-cut for as long as I can.

This machine is so easy to use. The quilt I'm working right now needs 60 squares of pink. The die I bought cuts two 3.5" squares per layer of fabric, and I can fit 8 layers of fabric in a single run through the machine. That's four runs through the machine for 64 squares and I accomplished all that, straight out of the box, without reading the user manual, in less than 30 minutes. That level of work would have taken me at least 3-4 hours by rotary cutter, and my back would be aching afterwards.

The two biggest complaints that I've seen for the AccuQuilt is that (a) the rotary mats have to be replaced periodically, and (b) there's some serious fabric waste to consider. For the first issue, the mats, I don't foresee a problem. The mats are much thicker than the rotary mats I've bought in the past, so they should last comparably long, and the mats are pretty cheap on the AccuQuilt site, especially compared to mat prices at my local fabric store. I have to cop to the second point, though the die could be laid out a lot more efficiently to prevent wastage and I'm surprised it's not. AccuQuilt does make and sell strip cut die, which will cut two clean 3.5" strips side-by-side (as opposed to two squares) and that looks a lot more efficient in terms of fabric use, but then of course you still have to whip out the rotary blade to cut the squares out of the strips. I'm going to try it and see how it goes, anyway.

I recommend the AccuQuilt fabric cutter system if (a) you use the same basic shapes frequently, and (b) you like to collect fabric scraps for scrap quilts. I'm so glad I bought one and only wish I'd found it years ago.

~ Ana Mardoll

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I bought myself an Accuquilt GO! cutter a couple of months ago. I had very high hopes for this product, and the short of it is, it has lived up to all those hopes.

The longer of it: I wanted to GO! for two reasons. First, I have carpal tunnel syndrome and using a rotary cutter is extremely painful for me. A few minutes of rotary cutting can result in several days of sore wrists and numb hands. Second, my cuts are never as accurate as I would like. I hoped the GO! would help in both areas.

I have not been disappointed. The crank handle on the cutter is large enough to comfortably hold on to, and easy to turn. It gets harder as you add more layers. I've put up to 8 layers through the cutter. 4 layers is probably best, 6 can be a chore to crank. At 8 layers I could barely force it through. With 8 layers, there were also some small places where the die did not cut completely through the top layer of fabric. I would probably not do that many layers again. But, even after manhandling the cutter this way, my wrists never cause me any discomfort after using the GO!

The accuracy has been very good. I recently finished the quilt top for a baby quilt for a soon-to-be-nephew, and the difference between this top and one that I hand-cut is noticeable. I did not have to square up the individual patches or the finished top. Best of all, the cutting was done in less than thirty minutes and I was on to piecing. The included value die has an assortment of sizes; I have been running all of my scrap fabric through on that die. Scrap fabric I would have considered too small to save before; now with one pass through here becomes usable pieces. In that respect, it has helped me be much more efficient, and MUCH less fabric gets tossed.

The cutter folds up for storage, so it doesn't take up valuable space in my sewing area. It comes in a heavy drawstring bag, so I can fold it and slide it in the bag and know that it won't get damaged. Last time I used the cutter, my usual table was occupied with another project, so I opened the cutter up on my ironing board, ran my fabric through, and put it away. Under five minutes and I had the binding strips cut and the GO! put away again.

For me, it's a win.

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I spent a great amount of time researching this gadget before I bought it here on Amazon. I read the reviews that said it was wasteful and inaccurate. And I watched several YouTube videos. And I bought it. I bought it because I have a shoulder that bothers me greatly if I use it too much, and a ankles that swell if I stand too long. And a back that also is persnickety. I had started making quilts to be sent to Japan (quilts4Japan.org) and I quickly found out that my body wasn't able to do what I wanted it to do without some dry spells to recuperate. But I was in a hurry to make quilts!

The day it arrived I got out some fabric I hated and ran it through. I was a bit nervous but I had watched the video that came with it and read the instructions. It was so easy I couldn't believe it. It was absolutely PERFECT. Five minutes total, including getting nervous!

Recently I cut out the pieces for the same quilt I had made initially to go to Japan. A combination of 6" squares and rectangles that are 3" wide. It took me 1.5 hours to cut them all out. By folding the material carefully as shown in one of the YouTube videos, I am able to cut the waste down to a few tiny slivers. So far I have only cut six layers.

Now I have finished assembling the blocks. Because I didn't have to recheck each piece as I worked with it to make sure it was cut accurately, it went together in record time. Yesterday in about an hour I sewed the rows together. Normally by now I would have laid pieces back down to recheck that they were square. Didn't have to do any of that! I could tell during the piecing and assembly that they were, because they matched each other so well. I am VERY careful to put the fabric on the die correctly, on grain. I check any scrap that I did not just cut from the whole piece with a selvedge.

The first time I made this pattern it took me almost two weeks of short afternoons cutting and trimming and sewing to get this far (plus arranging the pieces within the quilt to distribute the colors). I couldn't work long because I hurt! This time I started cutting three days ago. This morning I will have finished the assembly of the rows and be ready to add the border.

Normally I have to keep my cutting board table clear so I can keep trimming. But now I just need enough room to cut off strips to put on the dies. I made a couple of little cardboard rulers for the two dies I am using so I don't cut the raw strips off my fabric any wider than necessary.

In order to preserve the life of the mat, I rotate it just a smidgen before I put it on top of the die and fabric. It still goes through without a hitch, but the impression it cuts in the mat is in a slightly different place.

I do think that the instructions could be better. They are very scattered. The inside of the die packaging tells how many you can cut from a certain sized piece of fabric. And finally I found a similar but fairly confusing table for all the dies online.

Also I think the patterns that are shown on their site are terribly unimaginative. I have created two so far that are not boring. The strip dies seem terribly overpriced to me in comparison to the smaller dies.

I admit it is tempting to buy more and more dies. But each time I use the AccuQuilt GO! I am SO glad I have it and the dies I bought. I consider it the best quilting tool I own except for my beloved Bernina.

Right now you could not PRY this from my arms!

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After much research I found the "go cutter" on Amazon at an excellent price (currently $182.96, free shipping). It shipped promptly and works as advertised. It comes with one die which has a 4in square, 2in square and two 2in triangles (finished sizes, "dogears" not removed.) Your biggest expense will be the dies which range from about $15 to several hundred dollars, mats extra. In my opinion, if you already have a rotary cutter and mat, the "strip" dies are a waste of money. You can cut strips almost in the same time it takes to cut and fold the fabric to fit the strip dies. I would stick to the dies with curved or more complicated shapes. For example the stacked tumbler, drunkards path etc or patterns which demand total accuracy like the double wedding ring. My advice is to go to the Accuquilt website and make a note of the dies you want, with their model number and price, then search the web for the best prices. I found the "Eleanor Burns blazing star" ranging in price from $41 to $85. Of course consider the shipping and some sites charge tax.

My only quibble is the fabric waste. This can be overcome somewhat by carefully folding your fabric to cover only the cutters and not the whole die to the edges. It's excellent for scrappy quilts. Just iron your scraps and stack them over the portion of the die which fits the best. One tip which works for me is ,after you run the die through the cutter, flip the die over and lift it off the mat, leaving your cut-outs on the mat. They don't seem to pull apart and scatter so much this way. another thing to remember is if you "fanfold" your fabric ,with wrong sides together, with a complicated die you will get "mirror" cut-outs. I hope this review has helped with your decision.

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Squares and triangles do not cut accurate all the time. Look for you cuts being 1/8 off and it's a big deal when trying to put together quilt pieces! Eats through mats like crazy and once the mat is used up the cuts are crazy off, so be sure you stock up on plenty of mats! The strip dies and shape dies like the cat and dog one are the only ones that give you half-way decent cuts. Wastes a lot of fabric with inaccurate cuts. There is also a lot of prep work, for the fabric, before you can use it and it still doesn't cut accurate. I've joined groups, watched a bunch of videos and read almost every blog out there to try and make this thing do what it is suppose to do, which is give you accurate shapes, for making quilts, and even the "experts" on this say it isn't perfect every time! Waste of money! Save yourself some aggravation and just use a rotary cutter. You'll get better results and spend less time trying to match your pieces up.