Showing posts with label die cutting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label die cutting. Show all posts

Friday, March 25, 2022

Creative Cutting with Crafters Edge

Though I am no longer on the Crafters Edge design team, it doesn't mean I've stopped using the machine. It just means the pressure to produce a creative project each month is gone. I enjoyed being a member, but now with limited quilting time, I quilt when I can, and cut what I want!


If you've been following along lately, you would have noticed that I'm pretty excited that spring has arrived!


Isn't that a pretty picture? Beautiful pink blossoms and a pair of bluebirds - how I wish the bluebirds would nest in my yard again! We had such fun hearing the babies chirping outside our window in the spring of 2020, watching mom and dad bring them food, and finally having two fledge. Quite the essence of spring.

Yes, I'm excited about spring. And with all the hope and renewal that spring brings, I've got it in my head to start another flower project. This time I decided to enlist the help of my Crafters Edge Crossover II machine (affiliate link) and some circle dies.


Cutting no more than 6 fabrics at a time, several stacks of right-side-together fabric squares were run through the machine, creating ready to cut and stitch circles.


Then I continued to put the Crossover II through it's paces, cutting fusible rings to go onto those fabric circles.

To cut skinny rings like that, I used two different sized circle dies, centered with each other and held together with a bit of tape, as seen in the white circle.

That's a very useful, creative way to use those dies, right? Certainly that's an great idea for future reference!

But cutting fusible - that's requires a note of caution. I tried stacking several layers of fusible for super fast and easy cutting, just like with fabric, but ended up with a mess. Turns out that the pressure the machine exerts
 compressed all the fusible layers together, making them impossible to separate. A mess indeed!

So, back to square one, tediously cutting fusible rings one piece at a time. 


Not exactly efficient but I got what I wanted - narrow rings of fusible, saving my hands from lots of cutting! Overall, the Crossover II cutting machine did exactly what I needed, and now I can move on to making my flowers. More to come on that another day!

Happy Quilting!




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Friday, April 2, 2021

Crafters Edge Design Team

Woohoo! Exciting news to share - I, along with nine other fabulous quilters, are now members of the Crafters Edge Design Team!



 
What is Crafters Edge? It's a relatively new company that evolved from Dies Direct, and now makes the Crossover II fabric and paper die cutting machine, to go along with their innovative dies. I'm impressed with how thin, lightweight, and strong the dies are, along with no sharp edges - awesome! Head over to the Crafters Edge Getting Started page to see the machine and read more about how it works.

As a member of the Design Team for the next year, Crafters Edge graciously sent me the Crossover II machine, along with a few dies to get me up and running. Being a total newbie with this type of die cutting machine (I previously owned a Silhouette Cameo), I had to do some playing before I'll even consider cutting into project fabric. 

After just a few cuts, I can tell this is going to be a fun machine to play with! I love that the Crossover II has adjustable roller pressure, which means I can create the proper pressure no matter if I'm cutting paper, fabric, craft foam, cardboard, or anything else that can be cut.

I also like that the dies are open in the center and there's a clear top plate to see the exact die placement on the fabric, making fussy cutting easy. Plus, I found the circle dies have notches in the edge for lining up with seams for a perfect cut!

In the user manual, it says the Crossover II machine is compatible with Accuquilt GO! and Sizzix Bigz dies, so if there's a die from one of those companies that we just have to have, rest assured it will go through the Crafters Edge Crossover II machine.

If you're interested in a getting a die cutting machine, or maybe you're a newbie to die cutting like me, I made a video to document the package opening and my first cutting attempts. It's funny hearing me exclaim over a simple cut - I do tend to get excited over the little things in life!



Can you tell I'm super excited about being on the Design Team? I've already got several projects in mind, so expect more die cut quilts coming in the next few months. And be sure to follow the rest of the Design Team - I can't wait to see what they dream up!

Anorina at Samelia's Mum
Daisi at daisitoegel
Julia at Inflorescence

Now I'm off to plan a project using the triangle dies - can't wait to get cutting!

Happy Quilting!




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