Originally Posted by Terryl
what's the big board?
go to bigboardenterprises.com and you can see one; also google bigboard for quilting and ironing and you will see several sites that talk about the board.
I got mine when I went to Road2CAlifornia several years ago and it is the best quilting accessory I have. Wouldn't, couldn't, be without it. 21 x almost 60 inches. The cutting mat goes on top, take it off for ironing on the rectangular surface (think it came with the ironing pad), and fits on top of a regular ironing board. My ironing board was old, so I got a new one with four legs for better stability.
Just don't put anything hot on the mat! I had the mat on my kitchen table and put a paper plate with hot food on it. It grew a bubble immediately. Fortunately I grabbed several large phone books to put on top of the mound and weighted them down. Thank goodness the bubble went away. Close call, that.
I also have one of those small (12 x 18?) cutting mat and ironing pad combinations which I put at one end of the bigboard so I can press a block or whatever in stead of taking the mat off. The combo thing is thick enough that the heat doesn't go through to mess up the big mat.
Mine is in NM right now and I am in CA, but my friend has one too so I can use hers while I am here. We sew together all the time anyway!