AccuQuilt Go! // Precise Fabric Cutting Made Easy

Recently AccuQuilt has invited me into their influencer program in order to increase the precision and speed for cutting fabrics for my quilts. They sent me the Ready. Set. GO! which included the 8” GO! Qube and GO! Strip Cutter-2½” (2″ Finished), which are both incredible with So. Many. Possibilities!

I’ll be honest, I was a little intimidated at first! To help me take the dive into learning how to use the new machine, I invited my mom over to help (that’s what moms are for, right?!). My mom has had the AccuQuilt GO! Baby for a while so I knew she’d be super helpful, and as always, we had a ton of fun together. Now, I know not everyone has someone to ask for help, so I’m writing this post to share my learning experience with all of you!

When I first got the AccuQuilt Go in the mail, my first thought was: “Wow, this box is huge” but when I opened it up I noticed just how carefully the parcel had been packed. Included in the box I found the AccuQuilt GO! cutter (obviously), an 8” GO! Qube set of dies, a 2.5” strip die which cuts 3 strips at a time, and a book by Eleanor Burns with hundreds of patterns. The machine itself was heavier and smaller than I expected, it is super heavy duty which is why it weighs more than I expected, but the design makes it easy to store and wonderful to use.

The handle is easy to grab onto, and the machine folds down/out for when you need to use it. As far as learning how to use the machine, I am a very visual learner, so it was incredibly helpful that both the book and the dies themselves have TONS of photos to help me see exactly what to do. There are word instructions too, of course, but honestly I didn’t even read them because the photos were enough for me!

After perusing through the book and opening each die, I finally settled on the pattern that I knew I had to try first – the Diamond Star! This block called for 3 different fabrics, and used 4 different dies, so it’s just complicated enough to challenge me on my first time and still be super fun. I decided to make 4 blocks so I could turn it into a mini quilt/wall handing/pillow cover, which meant each pass through the machine was 4 layers thick. They say the machine can cut up to 6 layers of fabric with total perfection every time. Can you just take a moment to think about how much time it would take to cut 6 layers of perfect little half square triangles with the dog ears already trimmed for you? This machine does it lickity split and amazingly precise – way more accurate than I could ever get with a ruler and rotary cutter.

The basic steps you’ll need to do to make your first project:

Pick your fabrics and stack them all on top of each other (I used a Rollakan fat quarter bundle by @figofabrics)
Trim fabrics to size. My dies were all 6” square, so I cut my fabrics into (roughly) 6” strips to feed through the machine.
Put your die on the table, black side up, and then place your fabric stack (up to 6 layers) and then put the plastic cover on top.
Glide the positioned unit through the machine, using the crank handle
Slide the plastic cover off the fabric and VOILA! you’ve got lots of little, perfectly precise fabrics ready to sew together!

It really IS that easy! When you are done with each of your dies – mine used 4 different dies to make my Diamond Star – you can pack them up and store them away until it’s time to store your next project.

To recap my thoughts on this machine: It is super heavy duty, can do just about any design, and is super easy to use and to store. If you’ve been thinking about getting one, now is the time to do it because your wrist will really thank you and you’ll have so much for time for quilting since you’ll be saving so much time on your cutting. Many people ask, “Is a cutting machine really worth the money?” and my answer is a resounding “YES!” If you are price-conscious, feel free to also check out the smaller model AccuQuilt GO! Baby which also works for the 8” GO! Qube and many of the other dies.

If you want to learn how to make the mini quilt that I made out of my four Diamond Star blocks, stay tuned for my next post! Follow me to find out when it’s available!