Caroline S

My DD and I went to the Nortwest Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival at Puyallup, WA yesterday. I had been needing a new rotary cutting mat and decided to purchase the Martelli mat and rotary cutter. Today I decided to give a test drive by trimming the quilt top I finished today. Both the mat and rotary cutter are awesome. Once I test drove the rotary cutter, I discovered that it cuts through fabric like butter. Actually I learned that it does take a whole lot less effort that using a regular rotary cutter.


I also purchased some Martelli templates. I noticed that the non-slip backing looked and felt familiar. I told DD that it looked like the laminate floor underlayment tht we had used when we put down the laminate floors in my house. Sure enough other than my left over underlayment scraps are green rather than blue, it appears to be the same. Anyway, I layed the mat on my dining room table and it sure slid around alot. Hmmm, I thought to myself, what if I lay out a piece of the underlayment on the table and put the mat on top of it? Well, it absolutely works! Once the mat is on the non-slip surface it does not move. I have attached a photo showing the mat on the underlayment on my table.

Not sure if this is the thread to post this on but the moderator will fix it if not.

Treasureit

Thanks for the great idea! Now to get that mat! Some day....I say

cmilton

is that underlayment expensive? could you put it on rulers to keep them from slipping?

Caroline S

As I remember it comes in a roll and the cost was about $30.00. My DD and I also had the same thought that you did about putting on the back of rulers or templates to prevent slipping. The only problem would be that you could not see through the ruler or template. We will be experimenting with that idea to determine what to use for an adhesive and if adhering small pieces of underlayment would work.

QuiltnNan

wow, that's a beautiful mat

amma

Thank you for the great tip

BellaBoo

I have a lot of that underlay stuff. We just had new floors put in and our closet floors are laminate wood. I kept a roll of it. I knew it would be good for something.

sewbeadit

Ah you lucky gal for getting to go, I was going to go and then we found out Thursday our house didn't sell after all, boo hoo. Hope it was a really good festival this year.

Caroline S

It was fun to go with my DD aka Great Enabler. The show was a lot smaller, thank goodness. Otherwise I would have spent too much money. I am looking forward to the bigger Sewing Expo this spring so I can test drive ALL of the long arm quilting machines. I really want one and be sure if I am going to spend a lot of money I want to be sure that I make the best purchase for me.

desertrose

Thank you for sharing the good tips about the laminate underlay. I'll definitely be putting it under my mat and maybe a light glue with small pieces of underlay for the templates would work?