The Best AccuQuilt Go Dies for Fabric Cutting Machines
This article is all about which AccuQuilt dies are the best for AccuQuilt fabric cutting machine beginners. If you don’t already use an AccuQuilt fabric cutting machine to cut your quilting fabric pieces, I’d like to also draw your attention to a couple other resources that will help you learn about AccuQuilt and the basics of how the machines work.
First off, this article: Everything You Need to Know about AccuQuilt goes over some Frequently Asked Questions about the AccuQuilt fabric cutting machine, will help you decide which model machine is best for you, and lots more.
Next, this article: How to use the AccuQuilt GO! teaches exactly how to use the fabric cutting machine once you have it. I personally have the “GO!” model, but the other models do work similarly.
AccuQuilt beginners often ask these questions:
- Which fabric cutting dies should I get first?
- What are the best AccuQuilt dies for cutting quilt pieces?
- Which AccuQuilt die do you use the most often?
Get the answers to these AccuQuilt Die questions in this video, or you can just keep reading below!
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My answer to anyone wondering which AccuQuilt dies they should get for cutting their quilt fabric pieces is always that it depends on what types of projects and what kind of sewing they enjoy! It’s important to know what YOU enjoy making before dishing out lots of money on AccuQuilt dies. For instance, if you enjoy hand piecing, you might really really love the English Paper Piecing Qube set. I love mine and you can learn about it here. If you love appliqué, there are TONS of die choices for appliqué shapes too, like this star die!
Now I will share which dies I think are the BEST for patchwork and beginners who are new to AccuQuilt.
The Best AccuQuilt Dies for Patchwork
As I mentioned earlier, I personally have the AccuQuilt GO! Machine. If you have a Studio machine, your favorite dies might be different than mine, because those dies are designed differently and can cut more layers of fabric. You *can* use these GO! dies on the Studio with the proper adapters. I’ve organized my favorites into categories below:
Mix & Match Qubes
My all-time favorite AccuQuilt dies for the GO! model machines are the Mix & Match Qube sets. A Mix & Match Qube is an AccuQuilt set of 8 dies that all come together to make hundreds (maybe even thousands) of different quilt block designs. If you love traditional patchwork and piecing in your quilts, then starting off with a Qube or two would be perfect! I currently have the 8″ and 12″ Mix and Match Qubes – and next on my wish list is the 6″ Qube too. It’s also neat to play around with the shapes within the Qubes. You can use the 8″ Qube to make an 8″ 4-patch block OR a 12″ 9-patch block. Similarly, you can use the 12″ Qube to make a 12″ 4-patch quilt block OR 18″ 9-patch quilt blocks. (see video above for a visual!)
The shapes of pieces in each Qube are the same, but the sizes of each shape change depending on which Qube you get. These are the basic shapes included in each Qube: (2) Square sizes, (2) Half Square Triangle sizes, Quarter Square Triangle, Square on Point, Parallelogram, and Rectangle.
Qube Companions Sets
In case the classic 8 dies in the original wasn’t enough for you, AccuQuilt also makes Companion sets too! The companion sets come in two options: Angles and Corners. The additional shapes in the companion die sets expand the options even more and give you lots more of funky designs to work with! Here’s a fun way to use the Qube and Angles Companion: String Quilt Block Tutorial using AccuQuilt
Block-on-Board AccuQuilt Dies
Many of the Block on Board dies (aka BOBs) are shapes and sizes that are already found in the Qubes, so if you have a Qube or might get one, take that into consideration before purchasing a Block on Board.
The BOB dies are really great when they are specialty shapes that would be really difficult to cut by hand. I personally have a few that feature curves, which I wouldn’t do without the AccuQuilt. My favorites are the Mariner’s Compass, Double Wedding Ring, and Drunkard’s Path.
Strip Dies
Some of the best and most versatile AccuQuilt dies are the strip cutters! You can use them to cut long strips and then sub-cut those strips into squares, rectangles, or parallelograms! The strip cutter dies are particularly useful if you enjoy making designer quilt patterns. Many designer patterns can be made easier by using strip dies. My personal favorites are 2.5″ and 3″ strip cutter dies.
My most used AccuQuilt Go! Die
I sure do love a wide variety of dies for patchwork and piecing. But, the AccuQuilt die I use the most is the Half Square Triangle shape. My favorite HST die is the one that makes 2″ finished HSTs. This specific HST die is die #5 included in the 8″ Mix and Match Qube. I ended up getting the multiples 2″ Half Square triangle die because of how often I use that shape!
The HST die that came with the 8″ Qube is wonderful, but it only cuts 2 triangles at a time. The multiples version of this same shape cuts 12!! If you use one particular shape often, you might try to find a multiples version of that die!
