AccuQuilt Go Cutter Tutorial

I was drooling over over an AccuQuilt Go Cutter for a long time. Look what came to my front door late yesterday afternoon!
I have been eyeing quilts with rounded and curved edges since I made my first quilt at the age of 24, but I have never made one. It is time to give it a GO.

I have a project in mind to try out my new Go. My entry table is screaming for a new Fall table runner. I am going to give the Robbing Peter to Pay Paul Die a go. Picture taken form the AccuQuilt website.

Place the Go cutter on a sturdy table and open the Go cutter. The cutter is instantly ready to Go...no assembly of any sort needed. Isn't that nice?

Mark the shapes on the die with a permanent marker. This makes it easier to place the fabric directly over the shape.

Place the die with the foam side up on the Go Cutter. I have my Go instructions close by to make sure I am doing the right thing.

Place your fabric on the die.

Place the cutting mat on top of your fabric and push the die and mat against the roller.

Now the magic begins. Turn the handle in the direction you want the die to go (depending if you're left or right handed or just personal preference). The Go is so easy to use and it is for lefties too...Both my two daughters and I are lefties.
Remove the mat and die. Perfectly cut curved shapes ready for sewing. Leftover fabric is on the leftside of the Go.
These are the other cutout templates that go with the die.
There is not a lot of fabric waste. This is not really a waste for me, because I love to make string quilts.
Doesn't this look pretty...even if it is not sewn together yet. I am tracking time with the hourglass. As you can see there is not a lot of sand in the hour glass. The Go definitely makes cutting faster.
The notches match up for easy and acurate sewing...which I was terrified off!
I did put one pin in the middle of the block to help me with the sewing.
I sewed the first block...it turned out very nice. I finger pressed the seams and then took it to the ironing board to press the block. Snip off the little tails on the corners. It is a good idea to make a test block first before you Go crazy and cut the shapes for a whole quilt.
I made a mistake...I switched the colors. I am glad I took my own advice...this does not always happens.
I decided to go with a different color scheme so I made 4 blocks for a Fall table runner. I had so much fun and forgot to turn the hour glass. I just kept on going.

I sewed the four Go blocks together. I added a 2" light border, the same color as the background fabric.

A second 3" border in the leaves fabric frames the table topper nicely. If you have a smaller table, 3 blocks would look beautiful. Try 5 or 6 blocks for a longer runner for the dining room table.
I made the top and did the quilting yesterday. It took me longer to hand stich the binding down then to make the Go blocks. This is coming from somebody who had a fear for curved edges.
Remember your quilt is not done until the label is on, the part I usually forget.
My new Fall table runner is in my entryway. I made this table runner in less than a day. Not bad at all, I think.

This is the back of the table topper. I love to reverse my quilts.

The Go helped me spend less time cutting, so I can have more time to quilt which means more finished projects.
I am 100% happy with my Go. I love my new toy.
Next I am going to give the Winding Ways Die a go. Picture taken from the AccuQuilt website.
Happy Quilting until next time...I have to Go now.
~Millie~

Coming soon...Go Cutter and 3 dies as a give away

Two postings in one day...so you know it has to be great news.
Carolyn at AccuQuilt contacted me and said my blog was eligible for a Go and 3 dies and I can give away a GO and 3 dies too. I am so excited and will not be able to sleep for a few days.

The GO makes cutting so fast,
It is simple to use...and our lefties can use it too,
No more V's on strips and
Accurate cutting on curves and shapes with rounded edges!!!

I like to thank Mary which helped me win the GO.

Please stay in touch for my
GO give away!

Happy Quilting until next time!
~Millie~

Layer Cake Quilt

I had so much fun quilting my Layer Cake Quilt. Now I just have to make the binding and finish the quilt. I am very pleased at how the quilting turned out.
Matching borders.
I had this huge piece of cream grape fabric for almost five years. Finally, it's in this quilt for the backing.

Close up of grape fabric.

It was fun to make a quilt with a layer cake, jellyroll and coordinating fabrics. But I just couldn't go out and buy all new jelly rolls so I had to make my own from my stash. Most fabrics in this red, white and blue quilt top are very old. The quality on most of these fabrics weren't as good. I just need to add a border to finish it up.

I have plenty more red and blue strips but I'm a bit tired of them. I'm definitely going to wait awhile before I use them again. :)

I quilted this flower top for Christy in NV.

Here's a close up of the flower fabric which she used to design the quilt around.

Purple backing.

This last red and black quilt was made by Marty. This quilt has a black background and black backing so what other color batting could I use then... Black! It helps prevent the white batting from showing through the stitching holes on the back of the quilt.

Multiple borders.

Backing.

Happy quilting,

Millie

Cheerful Quilts

I hope you had a great weekend and had time to quilt.
The last 3 quilts I quilted are all so cheerful. This batik quilt was pieced by Ardy which I quilted with the "Meandering Daisies".

This is the center of the quilt.
Batik border.

Pink backing.
This is another one of Ardy's. It is a sampler quilt with teal, blue, and heart fabric(the lighter colored fabric). So I quilted it with "Hearts A Flutter" to tie that fabric in.

Vibrant striped backing.

Christy made this striking quilt out of her very last blue and white scraps. The quilting pattern was "Flower Swirls".

Close up of pieced border.

Scrappy blue and white blocks. I've always thought that blue and white color combos are so classically beautiful.

Blue flower backing.

Lake Jackson, TX just keeps getting hotter. But what's worse is the humidity! Our little Max can still barely stand a potty break outside. Some more news on Max: the vet recomended some special formula weight management food that he's now on.

Happy Quilting Until Next Time,

Millie :-}