Cricut Maker: The New Dream Machine

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I’m not even going to tiptoe around it – Cricut released their newest machine – the Cricut Maker – and it is AWESOME!!  I’ve been a Cricut fan for a long long time.  YEARS! Ever since my husband bought me the very first machine that Cricut released 12 or so years ago, I’ve been hooked.  With each new version, the options and ease for creating become greater!  And this time, friends, the MAKER machine is beyond impressive.  In fact, attending the Cricut Mountain Maker event and seeing this new machine launched into action re-sparked my passion to create all the things! I have been so busy MAKING that I haven’t even had time to stop and post about all the fun.  So, today, I’m going to introduce you to the MAKER and show you just a bit of what has me so excited! I usually save the best for last, but I just can’t this time – the most exciting feature for this seamstress?? – THIS MACHINE CUTS FABRIC!!  All the kinds of fabric! Leather, chiffon, quilting cotton, felt, lace, ruffles, minky, EVERYTHING!  Do you know what that means?  I can cut out sewing patterns!!  I’ve done a lot of experimenting over the years – trying to cut fabric with my various cutting machines – and I have had some success by backing the fabric with heat’n’bond, or something like that.  But what about when you want to cut fabric and NOT have an adhesive on the back of it?  The new rotary blade system in this machine makes it so that I can just lay my fabric right onto the fabric cutting mat and cut it out.  The genius engineers re-designed this machine from the ground up to create a true dream machine.  Cricut Design Space already has tons of patterns built right into it – doll clothes, purses, handbags, hats, cosmetic totes, quilt patterns, etc.  And, of course, you can upload your own designs, shapes, patterns, whatever! I get so excited by all the options, I have a hard time narrowing down what I want to create.

I have started in on a quilt pattern that was available in Design Space – having this machine cut out all the intricate pieces and telling me exactly which pieces of fabric to lay down and cut when – it makes the tedious task of piecing a quilt seem much more attainable!  After printing out the project instructions straight from Design Space, I simply put each piece of fabric onto the mat, hit Go, and walked away while Cricut cut out every piece for my quilt top! An hour later, amongst running kids to and from soccer practice and making dinner and my pieces are ready to sew!

SO perfect and SO easy!!

Another neat thing about the Maker machine is that Cricut built the housing unit so that it would be compatible with future awesome tools.  The knife blade is coming soon – it cuts leather and balsa wood!!  My brain is exploding with ideas!  There are two ports to hold the tools – the regular blade, the deep cut bade, the rotary blade, all your markers, the knife blade, AND EVEN A WASHABLE FABRIC MARKER! That’s right – it doesn’t just cut out your pattern pieces, it also marks them with all the necessary annoying marks we usually have to transfer from inconvenient paper patterns. Heavenly!!

The design is sleek and the white/silver unit coordinates with any decor.  Bluetooth is built in so it communicates with my telephone, the iPad, my kids’ devices, or my computer, and I don’t have to hook up any cords or set up right next to a particular computer.  My daughter is starting to use it and she can design projects right from her own phone, too.  

Look at some of the idea boxes from the Cricut Maker release event! How do you not feel inspired to CREATE when you look at these projects?  In the last couple weeks alone, I’ve used my Maker machine to cut out tried and true iron-on projects and vinyl projects, and I’ve decorated canvas art, new throw pillows, a t-shirt, and the list goes on and on.  This machine is equipped to do all of the amazing craft tricks that my Explore is equipped to do, but the new capabilities to design sewing projects and leather projects and WOOD projects is just so freaking fantastic, I just keep this baby set up and ready to play all the time.  I’ll be sharing more projects in the near future, but be sure to click over to the Cricut website to read MORE and watch the coolest videos showcasing the new Cricut MAKER!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.