News Articles
The following excerpts are from reviews of the QuiltCut2 in various magazines and newspapers.
The Quilter Magazine
“What is your time worth and how much of it do you spend cutting fabric? Visit Alto’s website and you’ll read numerous testimonials about their easy to use QuiltCut fabric cutting system. We could describe it in detail, but the demo on the website tells the story better. Suffice it to say that as many as eight to ten layers of fabric can be layered on the QuiltCut worktable, securely clamped down, and quickly cut into strips using a rotary cutter and the sliding cutting guide. It’s fast, fun, and takes the drudgery out of cutting a large quantity of strips and pieces! The cutting guide pivots so that you can cut squares and triangles in to time at all. If you layer your fabric, you can cut hundreds of pieces in just minutes!”
Traditional Quiltworks
” …Simply aligning the fabric with the mat’s grid and clamping it in place allows you to slide an acrylic ruler along a side of the system and cut accurate, straight strips. In addition, the ruler can be locked at 45°, 60°, or 90° angles, enabling you to cut triangles and diamonds from strips.”
Miniature Quilts
“Rotary cutting revolutionized the quilting world. Now, Alto’s has taken it a step further with a new Fabric Cutting System. With it you can cut any number of strips, squares, rectangles, and any kind of triangle with amazing speed and accuracy….”
The Virtual Quilt Company
“At the end of one aisle near the front of the hall at the Fall 2000 Quilt Market in Houston, there was a small booth set up with a table in the front to demonstrate one of the multitude of new products introduced at Market. Almost every time we passed this booth, there was a crowd of people around it, watching enthusiastic company representatives cut squares and triangles out of fabric. Various famous quilters, including Carol Doak, could be seen oohing and aahing along with the rest of the crowd.
What was being demonstrated was a new rotary cutting system invented and manufactured by a small Washington state company called Alto’s. Alto’s has traditionally been in the business of making machines which assist picture framers in cutting photo and poster mats very precisely. The leap to a quilt fabric cutting device thus was not a large one, as it requires the same stability and precision to cut the tiny pieces of fabric quilters use.
The demonstration we watched was quite intriguing, with the demonstrator slicing and dicing fabric into all sorts of shapes with great speed and precision. Impressed, we purchased one to test it out for ourselves.
Anyone who has ever cut fabric using a rotary cutter and mat knows that although this method of cutting fabric is vastly superior to scissors, it does have its problems. Rulers and straight-edges have a tendency to slip on the fabric, even as you are cutting, and the fabric itself can easily slide sideways, or even pull entirely off the cutting table and onto the floor. The QuiltCut very effectively deals with both of those problems. Because of its attachment to a rail, the straight-edge does not slip out of place as you cut. The need to walk your fingers along the ruler and hold it hard against the mat is eliminated, replaced by a moderate degree of pressure you exert on the anchored straight-edge to hold it down. The QuiltCut demonstrator at Houston told a story about a one-armed woman who was able to use a the Quiltcut by putting a small weight on the end of the straight-edge.
Basically, the QuiltCut supplies you with an extra set of hands with which to manage the multiple challenges of slipping fabric, slipping rulers, and tired fingers. You don’t need to worry any longer about the straight-edge not being straight or the fabric holding steady. Moreover, since you can concentrate more fully on manipulating the rotary cutter, cutting with the QuiltCut is likely a good bit safer than older methods. Visits to the emergency room should be less frequent with this wonderful invention!
Probably the most useful part of this apparatus, though, is the Speed Gauge. This little right angle of plastic, once set properly in its place, eliminates the need for repeated measuring to cut exact strips. Just move the speed gauge to the point of the last cut, and begin the next one. At this rate, you could cut a whole bolt’s worth of 3-inch strips in no time!
In very short order, QuiltCut has joined the elite group of indispensable devices in our quilting repertoire. It is brilliantly designed and sturdily built, and enjoys a place of honor on the table next to Lynn’s old beat-up Bernina, on top of the rotary mat that used to be the center of cutting activity.
…After all, you’re worth it!”
The Creative Machine
“If your ruler tends to slip just a bit when using the rotary cutter, then you are going to love this new cutting system….
The instructions are clear and easy to read, with pictures for every step, including how to approach each cut from both a right- and left-hand perspective. I carefully checked with another ruler to confirm that the measurements were exact. One edge has a clamping system that holds your fabric. You can cut up to 10 layers of fabric, creating squares, strips, or triangles, without moving the fabric; you merely reposition the cutting guide….
I really like this cutting system and easily cut pieces for a quilt that were the most accurate I have ever done….”
Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine
Strips, squares, triangles – you name it and, with a little practice, you can cut multiples of whatever shape you need, quickly and accurately. Just clamp in your fabric and you are ready to cut without worrying about your fabric shifting and sliding….”
EditorsChoice Web site EditorsChoice.com
“Every now and then someone comes up with a really fantastic device to save us time and Alto’s QuiltCut Fabric Cutting System is one of those great time saving devices. This incredible fabric cutting system is a must have for every quilter from the hobby quilter to the professional. It is designed to make quick work of cutting out all of the squares, rectangles and triangles needed for any quilt project.
… will easily pay for itself in the time and effort it saves you over the conventional rotary cutting systems.”
Taunton’s Threads Magazine
“New or old, I like gadgets – as long as they work as claimed. When it comes to quilting tools, I’m a stickler for accuracy. If a tool is off even 1/32 in., you and I both know what that fraction means when it’s multiplied across the dozens of seam lines in a typical quilt top! So, when I’m testing a new tool, I check all measurements against a U.S. Bureau of Standards ruler. I recently inspected a lot of new gadgets and found quite a few worthy of further investigation.
Imagine cutting layers of fabric into strips, slicing those strips into squares, and then cutting the squares into triangles, all without moving the fabric or putting your fingers in jeopardy. No problem with QuiltCut…”
Star-Telegram Newspaper
“… When you add the quality of this product with its sturdy carrying box and instructions manual (photos with clear, concise directions) that other companies should emulate, then it’s worth the price….”