I have the largest Martelli cutting mat and love it. It is self healing. I bought it during their 50% off sale. I have other brands of smaller mats as well, but none compare to the Martelli mat.

I have the grey mat to take to classes and it's fine for that, however, I don't use it at home. I agree a new quilter shouldn't start with this mat because it's slick.
But for my home cutting mat I LOVE THE AMERICAN CRAFTERS PINK MAT. I saw it at a scrapbooking store and fell in love, the color is great as it shows up on all fabric colors and it's really thick (double sided with lines). My blade just slides along. Will never buy another green mat! Being truly double sided I'm sure it will be a long time before I buy another mat. It was also much less expensive. Can't say I love it too many times

I started out with a hard, rigid cutting mat, (they were cheaper) and that is what I used for 30 years (not the same one, just the same type). Last month I DH got me a"self healing" mat. Wow! What a difference it makes! I spent yesterday cutting a quilt out, and the mat made such a difference! The fabric did not try to shift, the rotary cutter was much easier to control, and I will never own a rigid (June Taylor, etc.) mat again! Buy the best you can afford. -Former "cheap is good enough" quilter!

I bought these about 10 years ago and they are still going strong!

The old Fiskars mats (I have one) were much better made than the new. The new ones have a LOT of complaints of the chemical odor than causes everything from nausea to migraines. Get a good quality self-healing mat and the largest that the quilter has space for. Don't buy any tool just because it's a good bargain ,because if it has to be replaced right away, it's no bargain.

LOL. I know so many quilters who still believe that.

I should have mentioned that the pink mat I love is made by American Crafts. If you google American Crafts self healing mats you will find they have their own website, however, the picture shows a light green color which I think would be good also. You will also see that you can get them on Amazon.

I picked this set up a couple weeks ago. The mat is very nice quality, thicker than most I've seen in the past. It's a great deal, especially using the coupon code to get $7 off, and I think it would make an excellent gift for a new quilter.

I retired my grey Fiskers mat.....my rotary blades seemed to dull when I used this mat. I switched to the Omnigrid one that I got at Hobby Lobby with my 40% off weekly coupon and my blades now last weeks instead of days...

I got my Havel's mat and cutter in the mail last week. I really like the size and quality of this set and they sent me a coupon for another $7 off my next order.