GO! Fun with the Chisel Die
By SewCalGal
First, I’d like to introduce myself as “SewCalGal”. I’m a quilting, embroidery and sewing enthusiast that loves to research and share insights. As a blogger, I also enjoy how the world of quilting has allowed me to meet quilters from all over the world. I especially enjoy sharing insights with new and experienced quilters that also enjoy using modern quilting tools such as the AccuQuilt products.
Let’s Get Started
I have an AccuQuilt GO! Fabric Cutter, which I find to be a perfect size for me. Although, I must admit I’m hoping to get a GO! Baby Fabric Cutter soon, hopefully for my upcoming birthday!
AccuQuilt has invited me to share insights with you on the GO! Chisel die (#55039), which works on the GO!, as well as the GO! Baby. For the Studio owners, there are also three chisel dies available and many of the insights I’m sharing will apply to you too!
For those of you that are new to AccuQuilt or may be receiving this email and not yet have an AccuQuilt Fabric Cutter, I want to emphasize an AccuQuilt Fabric Cutter enables accurate and efficient cutting, but there are some tricks that a quilter with modern tools needs to learn. Fortunately, AccuQuilt has a great collection of videos that help. But a key to remember is that when cutting with an AccuQuilt Fabric Cutter, you need to pay attention to the straight of grain and fabric placement to achieve perfect cuts which results in perfect quilts. Watch straight of grain video demo.
Points to consider when using the Chisel die:
The chisel design is not a symmetrical design. Placing one piece of your fabric face down and the other face up will produce different shapes. While many chisel designs will work best on this die with the print side of fabric facing up, I recommend before you cut any fabric to do a test cut using paper.
Simply take two sheets of paper and mark one side of each with “fabric front” and the other side “fabric back”. Place one of these sheets of paper on your die with the fabric front side facing upwards and the other sheet with the fabric front side facing down. After you cut these pieces of papers, take time to play with the cuts to see how they result in different angles where the highest point may be on the left or right side depending on fabric placement. Again, this shape is not symmetrical. This isn’t a die issue, but part of the chisel design and if you manually cut this shape you’d still need to understand the difference between symmetrical and non-symmetrical designs.
The Chisel die is an easy die to use. And, makes for an excellent die to also gain quilting expertise with mastering symmetrical versus non-symmetrical designs.
Personally, I like quilting tools that are versatile. I like how the Chisel can be used to make 6”, 12”, 18” blocks, row quilts, sashing, borders, and much, much more! This die works well to make quilts that can be made using only this die. It also makes beautiful quilts when combined with other AccuQuilt GO! dies, such as the 3” Half Square Triangle (#55009), the GO! Rectangle (#55005 6”x3” aka Candy Bar die), the GO! Square 3 ½” (# 55006), the GO! Square 6 ½” (55000), and just about any of the strip dies.
Here is an example of a quilt completely made using this die for the main part of the quilt. For borders you could use any of the strip dies to create an appropriate border size that you want.
While there are number of different blocks you can create using just the Chisel die, I also love using this die to frame any 12” block, thus creating an 18” block. Here is a sample layout with a solid 12” block that is framed with the chisel design. This center block could be beautiful with an applique design, or a 12” pieced block that you want to show off in a frame. This make for a stunning quilt based on two different 18” blocks too!
Like other AccuQuilt dies, I love the accuracy of the cuts and the ease of cutting. I definitely love that these pre-cuts do an automatic “dog ear” cutting of the corners. I also love the versatility of this particular die.
Using the Chisel die to create 6”, 12” or 18” blocks combined with other cuts, the possibilities are endless. It is very easy to make versions of trees, pinwheels, squares and stars using this die. But I’m a bit partial to Star designs that are easy and fun to create:
I hope I’ve been able to inspire you with the endless possibilities of the GO! Chisel die. And, if you haven’t already created a Facebook account and “liked” AccuQuilt on Facebook, I hope the gallery of photos I’ve shared will inspire you on the inspiration and fun you can have by being a fan of AccuQuilt on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/accuquilt
For further inspiration on using this die, here is a gallery of photos that I found on AccuQuilt’s Facebook page:
Whirling Chisels (Stars), by Gene Black |
Chiseled in Fabric - A quilt I designed using the chisel and 6.5” triangle dies for the Go! cutter |
French Braid Quilt, made by Judy Danz using the 2 ½” strip die, but the Chisel die would also work great for French Braid quilts too! |
Helpful Tip
I hope I’ve been able to inspire you with the endless possibilities of the GO! Chisel die. And, if you haven’t already created a Facebook account and “liked” AccuQuilt on Facebook, I hope the gallery of photos I’ve shared will inspire you on the inspiration and fun you can have by being a fan of AccuQuilt on Facebook.
Want more inspiration and insights for using the chisel die?
Tutorials from Star Quilts:
Marjorie’s Quilting Bee
Tutorials for making Braid Quilts:
Canton Village Quilt Works
As The Quilt Turns
GO! Dies:
Studio Dies:
GO! Project:
About this BloggerSewCal Gal is passionate about quilting, embroidery & sewing. She loves to research, learn and share insights that are posted on her blog. SewCalGal |
*Sale ends Sunday 9/11/2011.