GO! Fun with the Critters Die

Let’s Get Started

I love raw edge appliqué because of the look and ease of creating projects with it. It holds up over time and can survive through many washes. I created an appliquéd Sunbonnet Sue quilt 11 years ago for myself, surprisingly my sons ended up falling in love with it as well! AccuQuilt now has a GO! Sunbonnet Sue die to make the cutting aspect so much easier with the many curves involved.

My sons found alternate uses for the quilt, including dragging, tugging, crushing and reinventing it as a tent. Through all of this, the quilt still looks amazing.

Today, I’d like to talk to you about one of my other favorite AccuQuilt dies, the GO! Critters, which includes a butterfly, bumblebee and a dragonfly on one die. If you have a Critters die without Two Tone foam, take a sharpie pen and outline the blades for easier fabric placement before you start.

Other than cutting the shapes on the GO! Critters die, you can also use these shapes in conjunction with one another to give your quilting project more versatility.

If you wish to cut out only certain shapes on the GO! Critters die, use the GO! reference chart below that shows you how much pre-cut fabric you need for the individual shapes.

Butterfly: 5" square
Bee body: 5" x 3" fabric scrap
Bee wings: 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" fabric scrap
Dragonfly and Butterfly body: 1 1/2" x 4 1/2" fabric scrap
Wing: 5" x 2 1/2" fabric scrap

Here’s a unique idea for the bumblebee body where you use 1/2" strips to make stripes. Cut out ten 1/2” strips where five are black and five are yellow. Then sew them with a 1/4" seam alternating the colored strips starting with the yellow strip. After sewing all the strips together, sew a 2 1/2" black strip to the last yellow strip. This will make the bumblebee 5” wide altogether. Then take the fabric and place it on the bumblebee die with the seam of the yellow and the 2 1/2" black strip at the neck of the bumblebee die and roll it through your GO! or GO! Baby Fabric Cutter. You can finish this look by cutting out the wings with white fabric.

Freezer paper appliqué makes easy work of cutting and turning under for appliqué.

It’s easy to take freezer paper and place it on the die and cut the shape out. Place the shiny side down and iron the appliqué shape to your fabric of choice, and then trim around the shape. Cut out several layers at one time if you choose. It’s easy to use the freezer paper repeatedly—more than 10 times.

Next, place the freezer paper on the wrong side of the fabric with the shiny side up.

Turn the edges under and iron on freezer paper. You will notice the fabric sticks easily to the freezer paper.

If you have problems where the fabric is not adhering to the paper, use starch in those areas.

You can leave the freezer paper in and cut it out later, or take it out before you sew down the butterfly.

Use the butterfly along with the GO! Rick Rack die inside of a large strip as a border or table runner..

The possibilities are endless with the GO! Critters die. No need for rotary cutters or scissors. The GO! Fabric Cutters save you time, provide you with accurate cuts, and are easy and safe to use.