Friday, October 21, 2011

Drunkard's Path QAL: Let's cut some fabric!


Time to slice up that fabric, folks! If you are cutting it using templates, go visit Kate at Needle and Spatula for the low down. If you are using the Accuquilt Go! baby cutter, read on!

Step 1: cut your fabric into 10 inch squares. If you are using a layer cake like I did, that part is done for you!

Step 2: Take those squares and iron them in half.

EFFICIENCY TIP: The Go! Baby works best cutting up to 6 layers of fabric. That is 3 folded pieced of layer cake. As you are ironing your stack, line them up in sets of 3 like so, so you can just grab and go for cutting!


Step 3: Get yourself comfortable and start cutting. I did this while watching Alice in Wonderland with Last But Not Least :) Take your stack of 3 layer cake slices and line them up to cover the cutting edges on the die. It should just cover it all with a bit to spare on each end (minimal waste!). Place the die on the machine, fabric on top and the cutting mat over the fabric as shown:

Step 4: Crank it out! Or enlist some child slave labour to do it for you ;)

Step 5: Peel the excess away to reveal your cut pieces

Step 6: Repeat until you have a big old container full!

Be sure to give us a peek at your pieces in our DP QAL Flickr group (er, how did that end up sounding x-rated??). And meet us back here next Thursday to start sewing 'em up!

Are you tired of hearing about block arrangement ideas yet? We got a great tip from "retired to Quilt" (love that name!) about a great site that shows a bunch or arrangements for the blocks. Here are a few images of the blocks found there:















Click on each image to go to the corresponding page- each page shows the blocks assembled together, which gives a whole new perspective compared to looking at each block separately- they take on a whole new life!

6 comments:

amylouwhosews said...

dang it. Now I think i need an accuquilt cutter...

How are you??

Patti said...

I ALMOST bought a DP die at our quilt show yesterday, but since I had already started using the template method, I spent my money on Aurifil instead!!! Happy to see you liked the website. I'm planning to use Devil's Puzzle.

Katie B said...

Aw, heck! I'm out of town this weekend. When I return home tomorrow, I'll get cranking. (Get it? Ha!)

bethanndodd said...

Got my 3.5" die today!!! Will be cutting tomorrow...whoo hoo! Smiles~Beth

Rebecca Grace said...

WHaaa??? I have never seen nor heard of this Go Baby cutter contraption! Can you tell me more about what it does, how much it costs and where I can get one? I especially like the idea of enlisting child slave labor. If I made my 8-year-old cut out Drunkard's Path blocks with a rotary cutter I'd have to deal with annoying trips to the emergency room to have his digits reattached...

Diane (djuseless) said...

Thanks for this great tutorial about making drunkard's path blocks using Accuquilt dies. I have been trying to decide what size DP die to buy until you mentioned using a layer cake folded in half. I have TONS of pre-cuts and I have been buying my dies so I can get the most use out of them. I am definitely getting the 3-1/2" finished one now! Thanks for the suggestion and inspiration!