296
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #87,173 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★★
Dream come true
I bought myself an Accuquilt GO! cutter a couple of months ago. I had very high hopes for this product, and the short of it is, it has lived up to all those hopes.
The longer of it: I wanted to GO! for two reasons. First, I have carpal tunnel syndrome and using a rotary cutter is extremely painful for me. A few minutes of rotary cutting can result in several days of sore wrists and numb hands. Second, my cuts are never as accurate as I would like. I hoped the GO! would help in both areas.
I have not been disappointed. The crank handle on the cutter is large enough to comfortably hold on to, and easy to turn. It gets harder as you add more layers. I've put up to 8 layers through the cutter. 4 layers is probably best, 6 can be a chore to crank. At 8 layers I could barely force it through. With 8 layers, there were also some small places where the die did not cut completely through the top layer of fabric. I would probably not do that many layers again. But, even after manhandling the cutter this way, my wrists never cause me any discomfort after using the GO!
The accuracy has been very good. I recently finished the quilt top for a baby quilt for a soon-to-be-nephew, and the difference between this top and one that I hand-cut is noticeable. I did not have to square up the individual patches or the finished top. Best of all, the cutting was done in less than thirty minutes and I was on to piecing. The included value die has an assortment of sizes; I have been running all of my scrap fabric through on that die. Scrap fabric I would have considered too small to save before; now with one pass through here becomes usable pieces. In that respect, it has helped me be much more efficient, and MUCH less fabric gets tossed.
The cutter folds up for storage, so it doesn't take up valuable space in my sewing area. It comes in a heavy drawstring bag, so I can fold it and slide it in the bag and know that it won't get damaged. Last time I used the cutter, my usual table was occupied with another project, so I opened the cutter up on my ironing board, ran my fabric through, and put it away. Under five minutes and I had the binding strips cut and the GO! put away again.
For me, it's a win.
January 2010 · Arts Crafts and Sewing