Extra Large cutting Mats???
 

Hello, I'm in the market for a new cutting mat. Thought I had one picked out that could be custom cut to fit my cutting table but when I called them to order, the lady stated that the rhino mat may not work for what I want...........cutting fabric as it might snag the fabrics later on down the road. The rhino mat is self healing so why would it snag but I figured the lady should know what she's talking about. Though she did say some quilters love the mat but I guess she just wanted me to know all the possibilities. Their magic mat, green and also self healing did not come in the size I needed and could not be custom cut so off I went to look online for more possibilities. I put the question about mats on the Quiltville digest and most of the replies seemed to be toward the Martelli mats.............green/black with grid and............expensive but worth it.

Well I kept checking online and finally came to the conclusion that finding a mat the size I needed was not possible so I'm making a new cutting table top to fit the mat.........4' x 8'.....just 22" longer but the same width. Found this mat at Cutting-Mats.com so if anyone has purchased this mat, I'd love to know your opinion. Its the green on one side and black on the other side with grid on both sides. Sure hope I'm paying for what I want. It looks to be similar if not the same as the Martelli mats.

Your opinions will be greatly appreciated.

I went to the site - it looks like you got the Alvin 4x8 mat?

If so - Alvin mats are great. I bought one, then got a bigger table and bought another larger one. I'm very happy with it!

I've never used a Martelli mat, but I own Olfa, Fiskar, Dritz, Omingrid, and Alvin brand mats and I like my Alvins the best.

That is going to be one awesomely large cutting space! I hope you'll post pics when it's done!

I'm curious as to what the advantages are of such a large mat. Eight feet is a long distance and I don't know what I would use it for.

I had the big triple one made by Olfa sold at JAF. The only use for that large of a mat is to be able to trim quilts when finished with the quilting. It is worth it if you are doing a lot of quilting.

check out Beba mats. They come in a lot of different sizes (mine is roughly 3' X 5') and I think they do custom sizes as well. I love my Beba mat! It's not the green "self healing", it's the clear type mat. I've had it 4 years now and its as smooth as the day I bought it.
http://www.shop.bebasboutique.com/Cu...3.htm?page=all

use a hot glue gun to heal the edges, that should give it a nice rounded edge and also cut it from the other side away from your cutting side ...good luck..

Both my LQSs use Alvin mats. I would steer clear of the white ones as they are not self healing.

My friend and blog partner Cindi ordered a mat from a company called SpeedPress about 3 years ago. She's been pretty happy with it. They make cutting mats for framers and artists, and the mats are designed for heavy-duty blade and cutter abuse.

I think my whole sewing area is 4 X 8 Lucky you! My cutting mat is 2' X 3'

Thought this might be of some good

http://www.dickblick.com/products/alvin-cutting-mats/

For those who ask why such a large mat, the reason is its always moving on me when I'm trying to trim my quilts as well as when I'm working with large pieces of fabric. Originally I wanted a mat cut down to 48 x 74 but couldn't get a self healing custom cut. The company I talked to said I might not be happy with their rhino mat which I thought was very honest to let me know even though that meant they would lose a sale. Finally came to the conclusion that I wasn't going to find the size I needed so decided to build a new cutting table top to fit the size mat I could find.

My rotating self healing mat is only 13" x 13" (I think) by Fiskar and I love it as so does my blades. The mat I have now is from JoAnne's, 36 x 59 so constantly moving on me.

I checked the sites given by a few of you and find that the price I paid is less than those sites so I'm still happy with my purchase so far. Can't wait to get it all put together hopefully this week as I'll need help getting the 4 x 8 plywood down the basement stairs by myself. Have already found some to take this old table top/mat off my hands. He's not a sewer but he does do woodworking so even though the mat might not last long for him depending on what he does on it, its off my hands.

Will show pics before and after I get the new table top/mat installed.

I can relate to your size sewing area as I used to have a 10 x 18 room down in Florida. This housed a 10' quilt frame in the middle, 6 bookcases along the sides, cutting table from JoAnne's, 2 embroidery machines along the windows and a serger. Plus I had a large PC armoire at one end so I sported bruises on my hips at all times. Very difficult to move around. I swore to myself when I moved to Iowa that my next house would have a large room(s) for my sewing. I now have most of the basement as my sewing room, small kitchenette with sink, full bathroom and laundry room nearby for washing my quilts when done. Still not large enough in my opinion but much better than what I had before. I have 2 sergers and now both are out for use plus upgraded my quilt system to a 12 foot frame 26" machine from an 18", most all my threads are now on the wall above the machines, pegboard for my rulers and a self-made design wall. So even though I have a larger area I've added stuff to fill in the extra space.

Speedpress was who I called to order as they have both the rhino which is what I was going to order and the Magic self healing mat in green but only certain sizes so didn't work for me. I appreciated their honesty in telling me I might not be happy with the rhino mat so I'll be back someday.

I ordered the mat/rotary cutter combo from Havel's. Love them both! Of course, what I ordered isn't in the size you want, nor is it custom fitted, but you might think about asking them if it is possible to order it in that size.
http://search.store.yahoo.net/yhst-1...r/mat&x=49&y=9

I have the mat from cutting-mats.com. I have had it for 2 years and so far it is great. Mine is 3x4. I haven't had any problems with it. I used to have the clear one from JoAnns. After 2 years it was shot. The area on it where i used it the most got all messed up and I couldn't cut in some spots any more. Sounds like an awesome cutting table. My table is 4x4 and it would be a lot nicer if I would clean all of the junk off of it.

I have used many of the Bebe mats where I work, and we trim them to fit the size we need. Just use a razor blade type of cutting knife and a straight edge. Put it on a piece of scrap wood. Run the blade a few times where you want to cut it, and it will trim it nicely.

Meanmom, did you get the self healing green/black mat? If so have you ever used the other side to cut on as it states it has the grid on both sides.

I also tend to use my cutting table as a catch-all. When working on a project, after cutting the fabrics I need, I put the remainder of the fabric in a pile to one side in case I need more. Sometimes I'll have a couple projects sitting on the side lines on the cutting table so that's another reason why such a large table. I'm organized in a cluttered way....LOL

I got the largest mat that Martelli has when they had a half-price sale. That's the best time to buy. I really like it!!

You sound like me, only I have to put things away when we have pups because that is my sewing space. And have two litters coming in next 3-4 weeks. Wouldn't know what to do with a whole room.

I can relate to your old sewing room, as mine currently is 7'x13', but I'm working on emptying a spare bedroom into my sewing/craft room.

Raspberryparade09, the only problem with cutting the larger mat down to the size I need is that I would also be cutting off the grid too. True I usually only work from 2 sides mostly but there's always that one time you'll be on the opposite side and need those markings.

Also found their mats to be even more pricey than what I found at Cutting-mats.com