Yesterday, I spent time cutting out all of the blocks for an upcoming quilt retreat. We’re making a variation of Pecan Blossoms from Fig Tree Quilts. The perfect opportunity to pull out my die-cut machine, strip and small square dies, right?
Not exactly. The pattern calls for strips and squares in less commonly used sizes. I own most sizes of strip dies and their corresponding square dies – just not in two of the sizes needed. AccuQuilt offers those sizes; however, I’m not spending $300.00 for two strip dies I doubt I’ll use again.
I thought about pulling everything out and cutting what parts I could with my die cutting system and then just rotary cutting the rest as usual. Nah. Instead, I reached for my trusty June Tailor Shape Cut ruler and handy conversion chart. I had all my fabric choices finalized, starched and pieces cut to size in an afternoon.
There’s no doubt a die-cutting system is much faster at cutting out fabric versus a traditional rotary cutter and ruler. This assumes you have all of the dies required, the room to store everything and/or you have the means to buy whatever might be missing.
Over the past three months, I’ve used my slit cut ruler (June Tailor Shape Cut) to cut strips, then subcut them into squares and rectangles rather than haul out the die-cutting machine. It’s more convenient. Any applique shapes have been cut using my Cricut Maker or traced/cut by hand. The nature of how I craft, quilt and sew has changed. This time last year, I used the die cut machine to make several cut-outs for Christmas craft activities while I was still teaching literacy enrichment classes.
Perhaps I should add a Stripology XL ruler from Creative Grids to my Christmas Wish List? And make a note to re-evaluate the need to keep my Sizzix Big Shot Plus and assorted dies.
Come Stitch With Me 