Cutting Mat
 

Hi.... I'm new to Quilting Board. This is Phyllis from Florida. Just wondering if any of you know of a good rotary cutting mat that has a slight textured top, rather than a smooth top. I need a new one that has a bit of a "grip" when I cut my fabric. Any suggestions?? :o

Hello and welcome. You will get lots of opinions here! LOL Mine is: Mats are suppose to be smooth so the cutter can cut smooth and straight. I have been quilting for decades and my favorite mat and rulers are Quilter's Select brand. The rulers have a all over non slip coating. Fabric does not slip using these rulers.

You might want to check out Cricut FabricGrip mats. Let us know what you decide!

I have both smooth and less smooth mats but that's not what really matters
IMHO. If you don't have a good grip on your ruler you will still have mis-cuts.
One of the best tools I bought was the Quilter's Slidelock ruler.

I agree about the Slidelock ruler. I bought it for safety reasons. I use it on top of my ruler, no use putting in an extra time wasting step to but it up to the ruler. The fabric isn't budging a smidge.

I have grid lines on the under side of my rulers to hold them in place.

Welcome to the board.

Welcome. I use a smooth mat (Omnigrid) and my personal opinion is that a textured mat would probably dull your blades more quickly. As someone else mentioned, if your ruler is not stable even with a textured mat you could still have mis-cuts. I have 4 rubber dots on the corner of my ruler. Works great for me. Ruler does not slip on the fabric at all. Also remember to keep one finger (I use my pinky finger) off the ruler and onto the fabric as you are 'walking' your hand up the ruler to do your cuts. Makes a big difference as well.

Welcome from western NY and happy quilting :)

Take a look at some of Donna Jordan's tutorials. She has an exercise weight on her cutting table that she puts on one end of the ruler so it doesn't slip when she's cutting. Good idea!

I use Omnigrid mats, I also have rubber dots on some of my rulers, on the big square rulers I have sandpaper dots. I use a 4 pound dumbbell to hold my ruler down.