Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Time Versus Money

I did some more research into this cutter thing.  You know me..the conspiracy theorist when it comes to fancy quilting supplies.  Some YouTube vidoes had much better demonstrations that didn't use nearly as much waste as the vidoes at the website.  I feel a little better now.

It is tempting since I have a zillion 2 inch blocks to cut out for this quilt.  To be able to just cut them out would be totally awesome.  I didn't see a die cut for the quarter square size that I need.

The log cabin quilt I plan to do next is all 1.5 inch strips with 20 fat quarters.  That's a lot of rotary cutting and it would take forever.

I emailed the site about doing secondary cuts for strip sets.  If I'm doing 9-patch blocks and have a strip set with 3 fabrics, can I cut that set using the strip dies?  Will it work with seam allowances?  What would be sweet..and it would take some pretty precise layout skills, is to be able to square up that 9 patch with the 2 inch square die cut.  I cut my 9-patches bigger on the edges so I can trim them down to the right size.  That's really what's killing me time-wise.  I still can't piece the dang blocks and get a perfect 2 inch block without that extra fabric to trim off.

The price still kills me.  When I did some price checking at different sites I couldn't believe all the different prices..and I'm talking by A LOT.  Why would their website charge far more than a regular store for the dies and the cutter?  The carrier is way overpriced yet you'd almost need it.  I swear if you label quilting on it, you can charge 3 times as much for it.

I guess the big question is, "Can I justify the cost of the cutter/dies with the premise of less time to make cuts?" and I just don't know yet.

4 comments:

Crafty Maine Mom said...

My local Quilting Shop has a cutter and they let you come in and "rent" it. I went in and brought my scrap bucket. I got a lot of tumbler blocks cut and I am looking forward to sewing the quilt.

Other than that cutter I really like the process of cutting and piecing with out the cuter.

Anonymous said...

Step.Away.From.The.Cutter......

Just remind yourself it's just another gadget. Once you finish this quilt, will you really need it? Is it worth all that money for one quilt?

And of course you could go back two posts where you said you bought the 7700 on a manic high....could there be a pattern here?

(although personally, I think the 7700 purchase was a great purchase... I want one!.... not so much the Go Cutter...)

JuJu said...

I'm a proud owner of the Go-Cutter, after nearly cutting my left pointy finger off with a rotary cutter. Yes, the Go-Cutter is expensive, but worth the investment. Place fabric correctly on the die before cutting will actually SAVE fabric. The Go-Cutter is way more accurate than cutting with ruler and rotary blade. As for cutting threw seam allowances, I have cut scraps up which had seams, not a problem .... JoAnn's now carry the Go-Cutter, I'm not sure of the price, but I bet a JoAnn's coupon could be used. Watch for sales on the Accuquilt site, I just purchased 2 die racks, even with shipping it was less than local quilt shop.---A happy Go-Cutter owner!!

leeswa said...

I have a Go-cutter. I LOVE IT and there's hardly any waste...much less waste than me cutting it by hand. Lisa from GA