fun fabric strips

I have had great fun in my studio – working with one of my favorite materials – fabric. By conservative estimate I would guess that I have a few lifetimes worth of fabric in my studio. Wonderful, beautiful, luxurious colorful fabric! However, the thought has occurred to me that if I don’t have enough time to sew it all, I’d like to make a good-sized dent in the inventory. I’m working towards my goal by piecing quilt blocks to make some colorful quilts for my family and friends. Wish me luck!

Recently I purchased a fabric die cut machine called “GO!” by Accuquilt. This portable hand-operated machine makes short work of cutting fabric. You purchase various dies to cut different shapes of fabric. I was most interested in cutting fabric into strips of various widths, so I purchased a few dies. The machine is wonderful, but I found it a bit difficult to use – it required too much physical effort to crank the fabric through the machine. Then, belatedly, I did some online research and discovered that there is a larger machine made by the same company in their studio line. Of course I had to have it. So, I purchased the bigger machine and it is heavenly. I’m still not a pro using it and sometimes it isn’t perfect, but it is a huge improvement over manually cutting the fabric strip by strip with a rotary cutter and quilter’s ruler. The accuracy of the cuts is incredible. Most importantly this machine saves wear and tear on my shoulders, arms and hands. This machine is a terrific investment in my future. Now if anyone is interested in buying a “GO” machine, just let me know. (It is best suited to cutting shapes, and there are many dies available.)

I’ve cut an assortment of fabrics into several different widths, and sorted them by value (light, medium and dark). I’ve started my blocks with black and white prints, and I’m building my blocks like log cabins – one strip at a time, choosing fabric by value and not strictly by color. I think the blocks will need to be larger before I can tell if I’m getting the result I’m after. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

As usual, I’m not working alone in the studio. Kush has found a new place to sleep. I left her buried in the next photo so you could see some of the chaos stimulation in my studio. While I was working, Kush moved back over to the sewing machine table to bask in the warmth of the overhead lights.

As soon as I have a chance I’ll shoot some video of the die cut machine in action. For a spell binder like that you’ll probably want to make some popcorn.