Using Accuquilt Strip Cutter for Squares Tutorial

Today while working on a quilt I came to the instructions that told me to take all the 2.5" pieces that I cut and to put them together alternating colors.  I don't want to take credit for this method.  I got the idea from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville blog.   I can't find her actual post, so here's how I did it.

First of all, when I saw the instruction to cut all of those 2.5" pieces I waited and only cut 2.5" strips.  I love strip piecing especially for four patches, nine patches and such.  I used the Accuquilt 2.5" strip cutter and my Accuquilt GO! Baby (love that thing!)  I took my 2.5" strips and sewed them right sides together.

 

I pressed the strip open.

 

 

Sew strips together to make sets of four.  Press again.

Using your rotary cutter, cut strips set of four into pieces at least 5.25" wide.  I cut mine about 5.5" wide.

 

Carefully line up the strip set pieces on the 2.5" strip die cutter.  I use the edge of the straight edge of the cut fabric and eyeball the edge of the dye to get them as straight as I can.  Make sure the whole cutting area of the die is covered.

 

Go ahead, layer on some more pieced, keeping in mind that there are seams and how many layers the Accuquilt die can cut.  I try to stagger the seams so that it does not get to thick in spots.

 

Find your favorite five-year-old helper to crank them through.  (Remember to put the mat on top of the fabric before running them through the GO! Baby).  It's very easy to crank.

 

 

 

Remove the happy, accurately cut pieces from the dies.

 





 

Look at them when they are stacked.  They are all so straight!  Think how great the accuracy of this strip set will make your quilt look.  For reference, one strip set (four pieces of WOF) cut using this method made 14 pieces like the one shown below.

 

 

Here's how much waste there was for eight WOF pieces which yielded 28 pieces like the one above.

To me the accuracy is worth just a little more waste.

 

This helped me make this awesomely straight strip, which was one of the steps in the Jack of Hearts Mystery Quilt by Heather Spence Designs.  The proceeds of this Mystery Quilt by e-mail go to a family affected by cancer.  Check it out!

 

 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog.  I hope you enjoyed my first tutorial and found it helpful.