Love Quilter's Select mat! Wow what a difference from all the others I have used.

I use Olfa mats~

Olfa here. Sorry yours cracked. But at least it happened after your retreat, and not just before, right?

I have 2 Fiskars and a 6" x 15" Dritz. Clearly, I am mat slumming, lol. Gonna have to step up my game.

I purchased an Olfa approximately 7 years ago and it’s still in good condition...which reminds me, it’s time for a tubby cleaning.

I learned the hard way not to put a cutting mat in the car when moving. Moved to Iowa in December 2011 with my precious machine and cutting mat in my car. The extreme cold temperatures at night when we stopped overnight at a hotel cracked my mat in two. Wish I had know about using it for purse insert bottoms then!!

Another good use for broken mats is to turn them into an ironing board on one side and a cutting mat on the other side.

Take a piece of plywood whatever size you have left in your mat (mine ended up being 9" by 12") put some Insulbrite (sp?) or even some aluminum foil on one side of the board, cotton batting and some thick cotton fabric like Duck or denim and glue the over-lapping cotton piece to the other side of the board. Just cut your top cotton piece the size of the board +the thickness of the board + a 1/2 inch overlap. Make sure the fabric that is glued down is smooth. Then use some good glue and glue your piece of mat down on the other side. I don't recommend using staples as this will leave little bumps on the edge of the mat. Now you have a small travel mat that you can take with you and you won't have to worry about the mat ever warping and you have a small travel ironing board. You can keep this next to your sewing machine and use one side for cutting or turn it over and iron your small pieces without ever getting up. This is great for chain piecing.

I have had my mat for over 30 years and I can keep it in my sewing machine cart and it travels with me. It is making lemonade out of lemons. If you have enough for two of these mats, even better. One for your home and one for travel.

One more hint: I originally used a white cotton duck fabric and over the years it has gotten discolored from so much ironing. I would suggest that you use a darker color like denim so that is doesn't show scorches so much. LOL

By the way, I use Olfa mats. I ended up with my piece of mat because I didn't know you couldn't leave them in the car on a hot day. Live and learn.

I got an email from Martelli. They are having a 50% off everything sale.