Toy Boxes for Quilters

The shipping notification for my Accuquilt order indicated the box would arrive Wednesday afternoon, but FedEx was being extra efficient and delivered the box Tuesday afternoon.

What’s inside?

I ordered some storage boxes for my Go! cutter dies. I have lots of 6” x 6” dies:

As well as some 6” x 12” dies:

And some 10” x 10” dies:

I could have gone the cheap route and put them in standing file folder racks (Accuquilt also sells similar racks), but I prefer to have them in labeled boxes where they won’t get dusty.

I ordered a starter pack of polycarbonate sheets; these go on top of the fabric layered onto the die before the die is rolled through the cutter.

This is the die for cutting 5” squares of fabric. It is large and heavy:

I had to order the large tray to go with it:

I ordered a smaller die adapter for use with my existing dies:

The storage boxes are great:

I have several of the really large dies (12” x 24”) and I may need to get racks for those. They can warp if not stored properly.

The second half of my order has not yet shipped. That order contains a few more Studio-specific dies, but I have plenty of ways to cut fabric with my current set of Go! dies and adapters. I ran the 2-1/2” die through the Studio cutter last night to make more leader and ender squares.

I’m happy that I decided to upgrade to the bigger cutter. I’ve always said that I don’t mind cutting fabric as much as some quilters do, but this will make me even more efficient.

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The Framed quilt is done, or at least sewn together:

I may add a border. Forty-two squares make a quilt approximately 54” x 63”, and while that is a fine size for a lap quilt, something about this seems a bit unfinished.

I’m okay with the way this turned out. I’m glad I left that periwinkle blue in the mix. I probably could have toned down the amount of acid green, but that’s one of my favorite colors. This will get added to the pile of “things to be quilted and donated.” Some day when I feel like doing some free motion quilting, I’ll pull it out, baste it with batting and a backing, and practice my loops and swirls. For sheer speed of construction, though, it’s hard to beat this pattern. I felt like it didn’t take long at all, and sizing it up would be a breeze—just add more 10” squares. This is a nice way to use up remnants.

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The husband is still in the process of moving stuff from the old shop to the new shop and getting things set up the way he wants them. The air compressor has been moved over, which means I am no longer at risk of sudden cardiac arrest when it exhausts without warning as I am getting into my car. He also found a muffler for it, which cuts down on the noise considerably. As soon as the shelving in the back of the existing garage has been emptied, I am going to start moving some sewing machines over there.

The new shop really is quite the place. I am sure that for the husband, it feels like moving from a 750 square foot apartment into a mansion. Even with the lift in there, he will still have plenty of room to move around and work on projects and vehicles.