Jury's Still Out

I finally had a chance to break out my new "toy" - the AccuQuilt Go! cutter I purchased in Paducah this year.  Luckily the die that came with the cuttter is exactly what I needed for the project I hope to start at a retreat later this week, so I set up the cutter, read the instructions, and gathered up my fabric. I couldn't wait to give it a try! 

I started by pre-cutting my fabrics - the die I am using has multiple shapes on it and not all will be cut from the same fabric.  The instructions recommend that you cut the fabric about an inch larger than the shape.  That bugged me a bit from the start - seems like a lot of waste - but I figured I would try it that way first before trying to cut back a little on the excess.  I loaded up the die with two layers of fabric (it says you can do up to six, but I thought I should start off with less) and ran it through.  Hmmm.  I had to use my scissors to cut the pieces loose in several spots.  I then repeated the exercise with various numbers of layers, from one to six, and had about the same results for each.  Perhaps it is the fabric I am using (Kaffe Fasset), but so far I can't say that I am exactly thrilled with the cutter's performance.  I suppose the real test will come in the sewing - if the precision of the pieces makes accurate sewing easier, maybe it's worth it. So far, however, I am thinking that it would be easier and less wasteful to just cut the pieces the "old-fashioned" way!