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.