Ohhhhh you are going to love my post today!! I’m usurping my What I’m Wearing on Wednesday post today to bring you a review of this fabulous machine!!
The New Cricut Maker
{Cricut has sponsored this review. They are awesome! All opinions and beliefs are my very own. Also, all Cricut links here are affiliate links: which means you don’t pay more when you buy this amazing machine, but I get a little something to help with my Dave Ramsey Baby Steps!}
This sweet machine is a MUST HAVE in your sewing arsenal!! Let me tell you why…
{Pin it!!}
First of all, let’s talk cutting machines. Right now, I own several different types of cutting machines. Some that cut paper exclusively, some that cut fabric and paper, and then there’s the Cricut Maker.
The Maker cuts hundreds of materials including paper, fabric, leather, felt, vinyl, even balsa wood!!! It cuts all materials quickly and accurately. Think about it: the perfectly cut project; the fast cut project; the duplicatable project!!
The key to the Maker‘s amazing cutting system is the Adaptive Tool System™. The original blades used with a Cricut machine are the Fine Point blade, the Deep Point Blade (for thicker materials) and the Bonded Fabric Blade. You have to use some type of interfacing on your fabric when using these blades because they drag over the fabric which can tear it to pieces. The Maker has introduced a new tool/blade called the Rotary Blade (shown above and below!). This is a bitty rotary blade that fits into theAdaptive Tool System™ and rolls on the fabric without pulling the fibers apart. This means no interfacing!! Also, Cricut is introducing their Knife Blade for deeper cuts on thicker non-interfaced materials. So fun!!!
Why does every crafter need a Cricut Maker?
Of course, Cricut is known for their amazing paper cutting. Did you know about the Cricut Design Space? It is a web-based spot for you to design your next Cricut project. It has tens of thousands of images, projects, and patterns for you to load. I’ll show you how easy that is in just a second. You can also design your very own projects with shapes and text or upload something you’ve designed in another photo editing program.
With the Maker, you can even use a Cricut marker in the Adaptive Tool System™ to write in a specific font onto a paper project. Ohhhh my brain is full from all of the options!! And that’s just for paper!
If you are a quilter, let’s talk!
The Cricut Maker was made for you specifically! It can cut out every piece for any quilt project. It can cut a half-square triangle square and mark it with the Cricut Washable Marker at the same time!! So with just a bit of work in your design space, loading your fabric on the amazing mats, and then sitting back while the Cricut does all of your work…you can get to sewing much faster than if you were cutting out each piece with your rotary cutter.
Don’t believe me? Let me show you an example of how I used my Cricut Maker to make a sweet mini quilt:
I put the pieces in Design Space using the measurements of the squares and rectangles with the coordinating fabric colors.
I placed the fabrics on the cutting mats and then I let the Maker do all of the work!
I love how his Tilda fabric matches the cutting mats! 🙂 Here’s a sample of the Maker cutting the white squares used in the mini quilt!
After everything was cut, I sewed it together, quilted and bound it. And on Valentine’s Day, I gave it to my momma!
This was super simple to put into Design Space, and it was super fast to sew, quilt, and bind.
Here’s the real reason I was ecstatic about receiving the Cricut Maker:
As a hand embroiderer, I am always drawing on fabric to embroider. Because this machine hooks up to my computer or my iPad or my iPhone, I can design projects for endless embroidery. With the washable marker that you place in the Adaptive Tool System™ I can draw out anything to embroider and then it just washes out! It’s AMAZING!!! (I’m not just saying this, friends…it really is!!)
Here’s a closeup:
I had a row to design and create for my friend Hilary’s round robin quilt. Her inspiration was text with boy colors and images. So I designed a row that used the text “Adventure is Out There” from the movie UP! and grabbed some plane images from the pattern library in the Cricut Design Space.
After designing the blocks that I wanted to cut and embroider, I placed fabric on the cutting mats, made sure I had the right tools in the Adaptive Tool System™ and started the Maker. In a few weeks, I’ll show you step by step exactly how the Maker works through a tutorial I will share for an awesome project!
This is what was cut out and drawn onto the fabric!! (Remember that washable marker? Amazing!!)
I zigzag-appliqued the planes, and I embroidered the text:
Here’s an up close shot of the block after the embroidery was finished. Cricut recommends you wash the washable marker out with a little soap (like laundry detergent when you wash your quilt!)…so I did just that…
And the closeup again without the marker (which came out instantly!)…
And with the rest of the row:
and the quilt as it is this month (there are two more months for this baby!)…
It took me probably an hour to put together this row + the time it took to embroider (a night of Olympics watching!!). Fast!!!
I know I haven’t really even scratched the surface of this magnificent machine!! And I know you will want to stick right here to check out many posts coming using the Cricut Maker. If you cannot wait to get your own, pop over HERE to CRICUT to get your very own MAKER. It’s worth every penny!!
When you get your Cricut Maker, this is what you will receive:
The Cricut Maker, Rotary Blade + Drive Housing, Premium Fine Point Blade + Housing, Fine Point Pen, FabricGrip™ Mat 12″ x 12″, LightGrip™ Mat 12″ x 12″, welcome book, USB cable, power adapter, Cricut Access™ free trial membership, 50 free ready-to-make projects, including 25 sewing patterns, materials for a first project.
You will LOVE it!! And that may be my very own opinion…but I’m betting it’s NOT wrong!
Blessings,
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.Comments submitted may be displayed on other websites owned by the sponsoring brand.
