Friday, August 17, 2012

Waste ?

 I was chatting with a gal at a shop about using my Accuquilt Go! Cutter to make some appliques for a project I am working on. She has decided she does not want one because there is so much waste with it.
Well I think 'waste' is what ya make it!
You can learn to use the cutter in less wasteful ways.
I do not use it for all my fabric cutting as I still use the rotary cutter and my rules too!
 
For this project I needed stars. So I pressed my Heat n Bond light on to strips of fabrics I planed to use.
Cut out the big stars I needed.

 Here are some leftovers.

  So with the left overs from those I cut the smaller ones too!


 So with more leftovers I pulled out the small flower dies to cut flower shapes and some centers that will be bittersweet berries on a border. The half flower parts work well behind  other parts so do not toss those either!


 As you can see I am well on my way to many other projects just from each star square scrap!

I did save some for using in other ways such as in windows in my houses or larger circles for flower centers.

As I said at the get go the amount of waste is of your own choosing. You can toss those bits or make them work for you. If you take the time to figure out the best placement of the fabric you will have much less waste. I enjoy using the Go! to my advantage for some things I have a tough time cutting out with my sick jointed fingers! So wherever I can get that extra helping hand I do it!

I will say that the only draw back on the Go!cuts is that I can not use the Pat Sloan Do-nut method with the Heat N Bond. Which keeps the applique soft in middle.

As with any tool we use as we go along we find better ways to use it.
So I hope this has helped some see you can make that fine inch sq. go a bit further that the one star!



7 comments:

  1. I'm with you on the scrap saving process. I keep a bag of the fabric scraps that have the fusible stuff on it, and that gives me a place to choose from flower centers, eyes, and other tiny parts. I still do not own the Accuquilt die cutter, but I hope to one day!
    :-}pokey

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  2. You're so resourceful Lola! I too keep a lot of my scraps. I don't have a cutter yet either, maybe in the future!

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  3. I love my Go cutter, even if she was to cut out each star, she would have waste regardless. I do the same ... I cut out other shapes but if I don't have time, the bonded fabric goes in a basket for future use.

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  4. Call me goofy, but I even save those little strings. I found that if I clip then into confetti, scatter them on base fabric topped with Misty Fuse, then randomly stitch over the top with multi-color threads, I can make my own fabric!

    Plus, it's close to getting in touch with my kindergarten cut and paste days...LOL!

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  5. I do not have a go either--thought about one last summer while I was 'rich'--but decided I had enough toys as it was to deal with!!!!
    but love what you are doing with yours--keep on cutting there gal!!!!
    Have a great week end--
    Hugs, Di and miss gracie

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  6. I see many projects in your future!!!! And confetti. Go party!!!

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  7. I recently got a GO!. I love it! Waste? Like you say it is what you make it! I am excited about getting more die to play with! Some friends were saying that there was too much waste. I showed them the stack of tumblers I had cut in a half hour! The look on their faces was priceless!!

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Luv hear'in from ya!!