Susan, thank you for sharing that you starch your fabric for die cutting...great idea! And, thank you to everyone else who has posted great info and creative ideas here.
I initially bought the Studio cutter after I saw Ricky demo it with his new Arabesque dies on TQS. I just bought the GO! cutter. They both have their advantages and disadvantages.
The dies for the Studio are a much better quality and will cut more multiple layers of ALL kinds of fabrics and craft materials than the GO!. I've cut everything from heavy plastic template sheets to adhesive Foamies with my Studio dies, and the designs are clearly visible on the dies (no marking on dies like with the older Go! dies), but they cost more. (If you sign up for Accuquilt's newsletter and make online purchases through their SPECIAL sales, you can collect points which gives you wonderful extra buying power on the Accuquilt website.)
The portability of the Go! was the big attraction for my purchase. The new dies are now clearly marked, but over time, depending on how often they are used, I don't believe they will hold up like the Studio dies. I can use all my Go! dies with my Studio cutter because Accuquilt heard all the requests to have them design adaptable cutting mats. I've found that the quality of the GO! cutting mats is not as good as the Studio mats, so you might need to purchase them more often. It all comes down to how much will you use each cutter and for what purpose, and how much do you want to invest in this wonderful quilting tool. The accurate cutting and time these cutters and dies will save is enormous!
Jo-Ann's is a great resource for buying the Go! cutter (I got mine after Xmas this year for $199.), and basic dies, mats, and some specialty dies. However, the Accuquilt website is wonderful for getting in on great deals, free shipping on orders over $99, purchasing specialty and new dies, and gift cards. They had a fabulous gift card offer a week ago! Right now Accuquilt is offering the Studio for the rock-bottom price of $399. It's not as big a monster size as you might think, but it does need a dedicated permanent location. I never buy any dies before reading all the online reviews from end-users! Accuquilt's website also has helpful tutorials, books, and free patterns.
I ordered the new GO! Log Cabin die and am looking forward to using it on my Studio so I can cut 10-12 layers at once, depending on the type of fabric used. And, Accuquilt just came out with new dies for cutting those delightful circles in tiny sizes that we all covet, but don't want to cut by hand. In addition to the #55079 Equilateral Triangles (which cuts one each 2 1/2", 1 1/2", and 1"), I found the #55320 Half Square 1" finished triangles GO! die (cuts eight 1" HSTs) to be great for cutting multiple, small triangles for miniature quilts.
After watching Patsy Thompson's creative tutorial on using the Big Shot die cutter, I decided it was a great addition to my Studio and GO! cutters because it would "fill in the little gaps" to all my dies. It was on sale at Amazon for $49.99 on Black Friday! I got mine later for $55 on Amazon because I took too much time to think about that purchase. I also found some beautiful scroll-type Sizzix dies for half price.
I only mentioned all the above pricing info because this can be a costly addendum to our expensive sewing/embroidering machines. And...the die cutting capability is totally addictive! Little by little, our rotary cutters might become obsolete.