Well, DH went to town and trimmed a piece of 1/4" Plywood to 18x12. Then he glued the non-warped piece of my warped mat and routered the whole thing. Smoothed the edges - not a splinter in sight. I have not decided yet if I will actually make a pillow bottom for it or simply lay it on a pillow. (Tried that yesterday and it worked like a charm.)

The reason I may not add the pillow bottom is: It is soooo much easier to store as a board.

I use a lap desk too, got them at Staples. They are handy for eating in the livingroom too. :thumbup:

One of the first notions I bought years ago was the June Taylor rotary cutting board and on the flip side there is a pressing station. Has measurements on both sides, a handle for carrying and is perfict to place on your lap for all kinds of projects. Good investment.

I love my June Taylor lap board! We had to get one for the applique class I'm taking and I was too lazy to try to make one. They are expensive but well worth it. I bought a large one, later on bought a smaller square one to take places in my sewing bag.

They are great. I like to sew in bed before I go to sleep and it's ideal. The applique background can be pinned to it so it stays flat without crimping. You can use the rotary cutting surface as a hard surface for tracing. You can stick your needle into the padded surface if you want to take a break. Best of all, you can clip a small ott-lite or LED clip on craft light to the edge.

One of the best notions I ever bought!

I have a lap board, the kind with the bean bag bottom and plastic top. Love it for any kind of craft I'm working on and it stays put. Have a lap frame for working on small quilt projects and a lap frame for my cross stitch projects. Egads, I could live in my chair with a lap board for everything. Love that your husbands are interested enough to make things, mine protests when I take up a new project but he is always there with support and ideas to make it easier. Love that man!

when I want to work on my lap, either doing hand stitching or on my mini puter, what I use is the lift out tray from a silverwear box, then top it off with a fabric covered and batt piece of masonite. the box/tray holds every thing I need, real handy, the flannel top (like a lid) holds my pieces in place. and my work surface is at a perfect hieght.

Try looking up a June Tailor,Quilters Cut and Press II. Overall 20 x 13, one side a lined cutting mat the other a padded / lined pressing pad. one end has a cut out handle for carrying. I watched, waited and stalked sales and finally got one with a 50% off coupon before our Jo Anns went out of business. LOVE it, works great for your lap, classes and small projects. I have tried the lap desks and wasn't enough room other than you can keep your project in the desk portion for safe keeping.

My husband made one for me when I was taking a applique class. It is a 12" x 18" piece of finished plywood. I took a pillow and put it on the bottom side and took a piece of fabric large enough to staple to all sides of the plywood. It worked wonderful for me. I would not cover the plywood though, defeats the purpose.

I've seen them mostly kids items, but makes me think I would have to have a lap for it. hmmmmmmm just saying.lol

I have one I made. It's 12" x 16". I used several layers of batting and then a top layer of Warm and Natural. The final layer was a top grade of muslin. I pulled the muslin very tight over the batting and stapled it to a 1/4" piece of plywood. Then I glued a piece of cutting mat to the back. I use it for making battenburg lace and can stick pins into the batting.

Also have a bed breakfast tray that just fits over my lap and between the arms of my recliner. It has legs, a formica surface and a half inch lip to keep things from falling off. Great for beading. Can also use them with my electric wheelchair.