help with ironing/pressing board
 

hi all,
I am new here and new to quilting so hopefully this question has not been asked too many times. I am setting up my quilting area and am wanting a large, oversized pressing area. I have been told that there are some that have a cutting surface as well that goes over the main area. I did an online search and can find nothing. please help?

I bought my cutting table at Joans and ordered the ironing pad for it online. I am enjoying it.

You can always make an ironing pad yourself, very easy and fairly inexpensive. Little Birdie Secrets has a great tutorial. In a nutshel you layer ironong board fabric (shiny side down), cotton batting, insul-bright, and fabric of your choice (right side up) - quilt - bind - enjoy. If you must baste, do not use pins since they would leave permanent holes in the ironong board material. For more detailed instructions go to http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot....-tutorial.html

Missouri Star Quilt Co has a tutorial on making your own pressing board: http://quiltingtutorials.com/all/iro...tricks-series/

I made one recently. It is a larger one (24 x 48 I think). I purchased 1/2 inch plywood, it already came cut in a size I wanted. Used a layer of Warm and Natural batting, a layer of insulbrite, and then covered with duck cloth. I used a staple gun on the back. Love it! If you do it the way they do in the Missouri Star Quilt Co tutorial, the cover isn't stapled on, it makes it easy to take it off and wash it.

Here's an interesting thread on big ironing boards. It's on my to do list.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...rd-t57168.html

If I were you I would avoid putting the pressing board over the cutting mat/cutting area.
You will ruin your cutting mat in no time. Also, unless you have a steel table, your cutting
area could get warped. Ask me how I know. :(

My friend and I made our pressing board like the one described above with the double layer of cotton batting and fabric over that. We each used out own ironing board to put the 1 x 4's on, so it fits our ironing boards. It is so nice to be able to pull out and iron the full width of fabric. By being able to put it away frees up a lot of space when I don't need it. It takes up very little space.