AccuQuilt GO! Fabric Cutter With VIDEO
Love to quilt, but don’t like to cut?
Try the revolutionary, portable AccuQuilt GO! Fabric Cutter that allows you to cut an entire quilt in minutes.
Come try it out at Heirloom Creations!
This fabric cutter is fast, precise, affordable fabric cutting system that allows quilters to cut fabric as much as 90% faster than scissors or rotary cutting. You can cut an entire quilt in minutes! It’s patented, revolutionary, portable design allows you to carry and cut wherever you go–to classes, retreats, guild meetings and quilting bees.
Included with the AccuQuilt Go! Fabric Cutter is a great value die plus a cutting mat so you are ready to start quilting right out of the box. The die offers three shapes that work together for a multitude of projects:
- Square-4 1/2″
- Square-2 1/2″
- Half Square-2″ Finished Triangle (cuts four shapes).
- Die packaging includes directions for projects using the three die-cut shapes.
Click here to watch Sara using the new AccuQuilt Go! Fabric Cutter.
Click on the picture below to see a sampling of easy quilt blocks all made from the original die cutters.
Click on the picture below to see additional AccuQuilt Go! Fabric Cutter accessories.
Heirloom Creations is now an authorized AccuQuilt Go! Fabric Cutter retailer. We currently have the AccuQuilt GO! Fabric Cutters in stock, and ALL available AccuQuilt dies, and accessories.
For more information and pricing, click on the information page below.
Countdown: 91 days
To Salvage the Selvedge or Not
The weaving process begins by stringing long threads next to each other on a loom. These are the lengthwise threads or “grain” of the fabric. If you can imagine unrolling a bolt of fabric twenty yards long, each of those threads is twenty yards long. Then one very long thread is passed back and forth across, over and under each long lengthwise thread, alternating the under and over pass for each row. This is the crosswise thread or grain.
Since it is all one long thread, the crosswise thread doubles back, weaves the next row, and a finished edge is made that does not unravel. This is called the selvedge edge. Unfold the fabric from the bold and you will see there are two selvedge or finished edges. If you were to carefully pull a crosswise thread out of the weave, you would see how at the edge of the fabric it turns and unravels the next row. It is one VERY LONG continuous thread that makes that twenty yard bolt.
Today the selvedge edge is usually discarded in the sewing process as it looks different than the rest of the fabric. The weave of the selvedge is different and much tighter than the rest of the fabric and it will often pucker after washing. For best results be sure that no part of the selvedge is used in any garment or quilt.
It is, however, useful in that information is often printed on the selvedge edge which sometimes includes manufacture, designer, copyright, copyright date and those famous color dots. If needed, use the selvedge edge to write with a fabric marker any additional information such as where and when the fabric was purchased. This can save you time if in the near future you should need more fabric.
The color dots along the selvedge edge are the manufactures registration marks used to check that the fabric is properly printed and the pattern is not skewed. Use the individual color dots to help find coordinating fabrics and accent decorations.
To rotary cut perfectly straight strips from selvedge to selvedge, fold the fabric in half and align the selvedge edges. Smooth the fabric making sure that the fold runs along the lengthwise grain of the fabric. Use the markings on a ruler (not the rotary cutting mat), measure a true perpendicular edge from the folded edge, not the selvage edge. After cutting the strips, remove the selvedge edge.
A few selvedge edges can be saved and used for reinforcing, such as shoulder seams of knit fabrics that tend to stretch out of shape. Substitute a selvedge edge for patterns that call for twill tape as long as it does not show. But for the most part cut off the selvedge edges and THROW THEM AWAY…(or not)!
Want to REALLY save everything to turn into a fabulous string quilt? Check out this stringy delight by Donita Baritz!
Countdown: 98 days
Tension Revisited
The most common statement heard at our sewing machine service counter is: “I think the tension is off.” TENSION always gets a bum rap! Why do people think that tension is the only problem that a sewing machine can have? Is it a myth? Or is it from decades of statements from our mothers and grandmothers?
Before blaming tension as the culprit, check the following items:
1. Try to remember the last time your sewing machine was professionally cleaned. If it has been over a year, bring it in for its annual cleaning. We automatically check and adjust the tension too.
2. Remove the top and bottom thread and rethread the machine from the beginning.
3. Use the same thread for top and bobbin. If you need to use a different weight of thread in the needle and the bobbin, you will probably need to adjust tension. Use the chart below to determine if a higher or lower tension number is appropriate.
4. Check the needle size and be sure the needle eye is large enough to accommodate the selected thread. If you are unsure, select a Topstitch needle. It has a huge eye and will work with most threads!
Here is an illustrated concept of tension and how to adjust it. This is it the best picture I have found to help people understand how tension is adjusted if you have to adjust it for any reason. PRINT IT OFF and keep it in with your sewing machine accessories!
(Picture provided by Superior Threads)
For additional information read my sewing tip from June 25, 2007 – “When is Tension Really the Problem”?
And, to read a more technical version of tension, click here to visit Superior Thread’s website.
Countdown: 105 Days
Heirloom Creations debut in McCall’s Quilting Magazine!
In the April 2009 issue of McCall’s Quilting Magazine you will find Heirloom Creations of Sioux Falls, SD highlighted by Linda Turner Griepentrog’s article “Quilt Shops USA”.
Linda writes, “Is a quilt a quilt the country ‘round, or are there significant regional differences within our own nation? We asked 12 stores around the U.S. to share their most popular quilts with us. See what the shop owners say is a hit in their areas.”
As many of you know, articles written for magazines are finalized about 6 months prior to their publication. This can sometimes be difficult for fabric featured in a quilt on the front cover. By the time the magazine is published the fabric can be completely sold out!
We did not want that to happen to the pattern so we are happy to have selected a quilt for this article by local designer, Lynn Schiefelbein of Oak Street Quilts. We know we can still get patterns once the magazines was published!
Lynn’s “Stacked Cakes” pattern completely uses up one 40 strip Jelly Roll for the quilt and one set of borders. The only fabric to purchase is for 2 borders.
Lynn Schiefelbein has been creating unique patterns since 1991 for Oak Street. As a designer and artist, Lynn uses her sense of design and style to create easy to follow quilt patterns that enable you to use your own selection of fabrics to create something truly unique. Oak Street Quilts is a family run business. All of her patterns are printed in full, glorious color on glossy paper.The Stacked Cakes pattern is available at Heirloom Creations along with a wide selection of Jelly Roll collections. We are happy to mail out patterns and Jelly Rolls if you wish to purchase them with a credit card by calling the store at 605-332-4435.
Countdown: 112 Days