 Hi you guys Lindsay here welcome back to my channel inside the hem. I am so excited to show you guys my new Quilt that I made I Actually used my Cricut maker to cut out all of the squares for this project So in addition to telling you all about the quills I also thought I would address some frequently asked questions that I get about my maker All the time I picked the top five questions and I'm going to go through them here But first let's take a look at this beauty, right? The pattern is called the double sash throw. It's by Riley Blake Very reputable pattern designer fabric designer Lovely lovely stuff. They do over there at Riley Blake And Riley Blake has actually partnered with Cricut maker So there's like a whole bunch of quilt designs already uploaded into design space So literally you click like four buttons and on your computer and you are off to the races cutting out all those tedious little squares for the fabric. I went to Hawthorne threads or I'm sorry. They've rebranded Hawthorne supply company and I picked so the main squares with all of the like Santas in swimsuits. That's what I fell in love with that guy right there I use the deer Stella Waiting for Santa collection that they have at Hawthorne supply company and then for all the squares Surrounding the deer Stella ones. I used Hawthorne supplies company Hawthorne supply companies own Designs this comes from their oh, what fun collection. There's two different colorways And I just kind of picked and chose from those colorways To fill out the rest of the quilt So like I said the Cricut maker cut out absolutely everything for me except for I will say the binding I had to cut myself, which was just long rectangles Easy enough, and I think that they were the width of the fabric too So it was just one cut and then the border. This is actually one fabric. It's not actually piece together I had to cut the border pieces myself too, but everything else that is on here the Maker cut for me, which made it super super simple super easy to do Sewing a bunch of squares in a row and then rows on top of rows Couldn't get much easier even if you've never ever ever sewn a quilt before So all in all making the quilt was great. I love that I have like a modern Christmas quilt now and It actually matches my decor, which is gold and navy Pretty well. So even if I left it out year round You wouldn't really know that it was a Christmas quilt. I will say the background Is the little town village from dear Stella So cute. So I guess if that were turned around you'd see the Christmas trees and um the Santa Claus, right? There's a Santa Claus in there somewhere, isn't there reindeer? Okay, no Santa, but reindeer there's a car with a Christmas tree on top. It's just really too cute Um, so I guess that's like the most Christmassy part and I did send this off to get quilted I didn't quilt this myself. Um, there's a local woman here who does all my quilting for me and She used like I guess it's like snowflakes ornaments and snowflakes something like that. Um, so If that side were out, maybe it would be a little bit overtly Christmas But the other way it just looks like, you know, cute colors and cute designs But having Christmas quilt is so cozy. I don't know. It's cozier than all the other quilts that I've made so I really love it and um, the dear Stella fabric is To die for as I've been over. Okay, so regarding the questions referring to some notes that I have here The first question is What kind of diy projects can I make? So the maker is kind of revolutionary regarding cutting machines because you can cut so many different things obviously like with all cutting machines You can cut paper and iron on vinyl and things like that But the maker has a rotary blade so similar to our rotary cutters that we use to cut out our sewing patterns It has a rotary blade that you pop in and it can cut Um, gosh, I wanted to say like hundreds of fabrics You can cut balsa wood because they have a knife blade So imagine if your cutting machine had an exacto knife in it. That is what the Knife blade is like so you can cut through super thick things like balsa wood. You can cut leather that way Um, anything that you would really like cardboard super thick cardstock things like that that you would want to cut with An exacto knife your knife blade will cover it So as you can imagine with all those different possibilities of materials I mean you can make so many different DIY projects. So obviously I've sewn quilts Um, I'm going to put a link up here where you can see the cute little doggy shirt that I made for sunny for father's day The cricket maker cut out that pattern I sewed it together and then I used iron on to put the little father's day handsome like daddy message On the shirt itself So from start to finish I didn't pick up a pair of scissors The cricket maker did that a whole project for me. Super cute. Um, you can do a ton of different like iron on t-shirts So if you're not feeling like sewing you can just pick up an inexpensive t-shirt And then use the iron on to put a saying on there Or you can do some fabric applique if you wanted to do something like that Um, I'm also like in decor. Um in my sewing room. I think I pulled one down. Yeah So like all of my bins are labeled With what is inside and all of that gold foil writing I cut out on my maker as well. Um, so You really can make just about anything your heart desires. I'm not super personally I'm not super into paper crafts, but you can make adorable Cards thank you notes. You can make gift tags. You can make ornaments. I mean The the possibilities really are endless. You can make a ton of different DIY projects with the maker. I would say it's pretty much limitless Um, I will say the only limitation to it is women's garments So the largest mat cutting mat that they have that fits into the maker machine is 12 by 24 inches And as you can imagine not very many women's patterns Fit into those parameters So they don't have many women's patterns on there in regards to sewing sewing wise though They do have children's clothes. They have doll clothes. They have tons of women's accessories like handbags headbands Earrings So for those of us women who so far ourselves there are options just not a ton of clothing options But still a lot of fun stuff to make for gifts and things for other people in your life sewing or otherwise So that's question one Question number two is what fabrics can I cut without a backer? So all of the other sewing all the other cutting machines require you to use some kind of backing on your fabric I'm assuming that's because their blades Kind of like an exacto knife scrape through the fabric rather than rolling over it like a rotary blade does Um And so they need that backer to give it some two things something to hold on to The Cricut Maker doesn't need that because it has that rotary blade and cuts your fabric You know like a rotary blade Like a rotary cutter wood that you have on your sewing table. I did that Little test where I tested out 16 different fabrics um It cut everything from Shally, which is like super thin and lightweight It cut lace Which as you know has like holes and like, you know variation to it texture wise It cut linen and cotton. Um, I even put some Like heavier weight home deck fabric in there. Um, I put Uh, gosh, I can't remember all the different fabrics. I really did try and pick a variety Um, I tried to pick things that were varying in thickness Varying and weight Varying and drape um, all of those things that we pay attention to whenever we are Sewing and cutting so I really do feel like I picked, you know, a wide variety of fabrics and it handled most of them pretty well Um, obviously the more stable the fabric the better it did Um, like for example on the lace, I actually chose a like corded lace And the cord was a little bit too much. Um, and the rotary blade didn't handle that perfectly But the thinner like more, um, even Uh textured lace it did handle that Very well. So again, um that link for that video where you can watch the maker Cut out all of those things is um here in this video. So you can Check that out if you want I feel like I have not I've never tried to make a project That the maker couldn't handle the fabric for does that make sense? Um, I'm not trying to make things that are like super avant garde or like crazy and really wild out there So so far it's handled everything that I have thrown at it, which says a lot Okay, the next question I hear a lot about is the software So there is a software element to this it's called design space and it is the place where you go to Tell the machine what you want it to cut You actually connect your computer your laptop or your ipad or even your iphone it has they have a mobile app um to the Cricut maker From here you can do a couple different things one you can Um design your own design. I like to do that a lot I find that to be like part of my creative process I like to design my own designs But if you're not into that and you're not comfortable with that that's perfectly fine You can either you can like purchase designs from etsy So long as it's an svg or png any of those kind of design files You can upload those into design space and cut them out just as they are Or there are thousands of different projects and different designs already loaded into the design space software so literally you if you can search pinterest and find an image that you like You can use the Cricut design space to make a project. I promise you um if Computers and that kind of stuff isn't super intuitive to you. They make it really easy You just click a couple buttons. You search for what you're looking for and Up pops a variety of images for you to choose from and you can either use those to kind of Make your own design but using their icons and whatnot Or they have lots and lots and lots of projects where everything's already done for you All you do is click the buttons and click cut and it cuts out that exact thing for you Where you don't have to mess with the design at all. You just have to resize it and that is it So I feel like the design space software is Very very easy to use I also feel like I'm very um knowledgeable with the computer though So if you're not it might be a little bit more challenging But I still don't think that it is going to be a deal breaker I don't think that it's going to be hard for you to learn it They have lots of videos lots of tutorials lots of things to help you if you feel like you need That help not to mention there are a ton of us out there like myself who are making videos with Cricut maker Um tutorials and whatnot so you could watch some of those and learn that way so If the software is kind of what is holding you back I would really Reconsider and giving the software a try because they have dumbed it down as much as they possibly can while still making The designs super cool and the machine as advanced as it is so Hope that helps if you're struggling with the software part Okay question number four Will I use the machine enough to justify the price? Okay, so the Cricut maker is not cheap I think it's like $400 retail Sometimes there are some sales you can find them on sale at all the craft stores Joanne Michaels and even cricket calm has sales. I'm sure for black friday There will be some kind of sale on the maker, but still they're pricey They're in the hundreds of dollars for some of us. That's more than we've spent on our sewing machine So I get why Price is something you guys are concerned about but I'm telling you once you have this machine You start to rethink The kind of projects that you want to make I never would have made a shirt for sunny If I had to seek out that simplicity pattern Cut out all the pieces and do all of that all by myself But because it was right there in the design space And that was one of the projects that I just click click click click and it started cutting for me I didn't have to do anything to it at all Um because it was all right there. I thought well, this will be a super fun Gift for father's day. It would just made it seem so much more simple to me not to mention Most of us that are watching this video are sewists um, and the maker does have capabilities to cut all kinds of things not just um fabric So you can expand your creative process a little bit You can expand on the kind of crafts that you do like maybe you would get into paper crafts Maybe you would get into wood crafts Um, maybe you would start putting decals on every single fabric that you can possibly get your hands on because it's that addictive Um, I love coming up with cute sayings and putting them on shirts. It's a little nice Um, but you know what I mean? So you start to look at it as another tool in your arsenal of craft supplies and you find yourself kind of craving Making something using the maker like if you're really wanting to get to sew something But you're just not feeling like cutting. I don't know the maker is there and it can do it for you. Um, there are a lot of Different companies and different brands that work with Cricut maker That have created some really really cute designs that you might not have thought of yourself or that you might not be able to design yourself and so I don't know. It just you you've still made it yourself, but it looks Very professional and looks like something you would find in the store and doesn't look like a DIY project You know, I'm saying, um, it's it's very elevated in terms of design some of these projects simplicity Certainly with their sewing patterns mostly accessories Uh, dog clothes and costumes um, doll clothes Children's clothes And there's like some plush toys. I think in the simplicity arsenal Same thing with riley blake like would I have made two quilts this year if it weren't for Cricut maker? Probably not But the maker just makes that part of quilting so easy and a lot of fun that I cranked out two quilts this year So, you know, there's that aspect of it as well Then they also have some bloggers like the mask love. You might recognize her from that tv show making it um There's a few other bloggers that have contributed their designs to the design space catalog. So Um, I find that I go to it a lot. I make a project using the Cricut maker At least once a month um, maybe more depending on the season um And you know clearly like with the quilting especially I feel like the projects turn out better because the Cricut maker handled that tedious part for me so If you're asking me, I'm a little bit biased but I'm going to tell you that Yes, you will justify your $400 especially the more comfortable you get with the design space The more comfortable you get with the machine You're going to start pulling it out for all kinds of different projects in Different areas of your life if you're a mother if you have children in grade school If you're making teachers gifts or if you have a large family and you need to get gifts for everyone in your family I mean the the maker is going to be a powerhouse tool for you because it just Makes cutting everything out that you need for whatever kind of craft project you're working on that much easier Okay, the last question is what materials can I cut? So again, we went over this and bits and pieces throughout the other questions but the maker can cut everything that your traditional cutting machine can cut like paper and cardstock and iron-on vinyl and stuff like that That what makes the maker different though is that it has two Additional blades One is the rotary blade allowing you to cut fabrics and you can cut a variety of fabrics The second one is the knife blade, which allows you to cut thicker materials like balsa wood and leather so Really runs the gamut there in terms of the types of materials that you can cut. I mean I don't know that I can think of a craft project. Maybe like jewelry Like beaded jewelry Is the only thing that the Cricut maker can't cut But why would you want to cut beads to begin with makes no sense? I think any craft project that requires cutting where cutting is a major part of it The maker can handle I mean, I can't think of anything. I'm going through like the departments and michaels I'm trying to think Does that need scissors and if so can the maker handle it? Does that need an exacto knife? And if so, can the maker handle it? Does that need a rotary blade? And if so, can the maker handle it? And I really do think it can handle all of those materials What's also really cool and interesting that I've seen a lot since I got my maker so the maker just came out Like a year or so ago. Maybe almost exactly a year ago And since then they've already released two different Tools for you to use and they keep teasing us about additional tools that are coming So what's really cool about the maker is that you can pop in one blade Pop out one blade and pop in another one if I want to go from cutting like vinyl which uses a point blade a fine point blade You pop out the fine point blade when you're ready to cut your fabric and you pop in a rotary blade And so you can switch in and out of projects like that by popping in and out these little blade cartridges So as they come out with more blades Your library and The things that you will have the ability to cut and the things you'll have the ability to make Keeps growing so it seems like they're investing a lot in that kind of technology They're investing a lot in kind of those ideas like what other blades can we put in this machine that would make it? Um easy and fun for people to make a variety of projects and I've already seen that two times with the knife blade and this scoring wheel the scoring wheel is like If you needed to score your paper so that it folded To help with your paper crafts and origami and things like that So I've already seen it twice. Um, and like I said, they keep teasing us about new and exciting things that are coming out Um that you can attach to the machine that you already have so it's not like one of those like, you know how they had the Explorer and then they explore air and then explore air too And there's all these different versions and every year you felt like oh now I have the old machine like this newer better thing is out I feel like the maker is not going to be like that It's going to be like the one machine that you always have And then you're just going to invest in the different parts to make it work better For you so that makes sense. You're not reinvesting in the machine a lot Which is great. Okay, so I feel like I've rambled on and on about the maker now But I had to get in those five questions. Let me know if you have any other additional questions about the Cricut maker Um, leave them in the comments below. You can also check the description box below It'll have some links for some different resources where you can learn more about the Cricut maker It'll kind of elaborate on some of the points that I made today Also have a link in the description box for where you can purchase one So I guess that'll do it for me today. I will see you all very soon. Bye