Thought I was losing my mind
 

For the last month I have had all kinds of problems with my quilt tops trying to match up & square. Thought for a while I was losing my mind , old age or just plan lost my flare for quilting. Then today I am working on a valances for my DD. Cut one out on my new cutting board tried to put it together off almost a whole inch when I measure it with my big ruler. I thinking boy what is going on?? I lay the big ruler down on the NEW cutting board its way off by the time you get to 72 inches its off 1" 1/16 . So I get two more out measure my NEW CUTTING BOARD is screwed up.. So a word to the wise don't buy a new cutting board from Hancocks .... I will be driving 23 miles to take it back. But not today I got my old board back out (Measures it good to go) glad I didn't cut it up. Sewed all afternoon...............At least I haven't gone to crazy, or gotten to OLD for my quilting.

Thats horrible that a new cutting board is off!

I can't believe a cutting mat would be that far off!!! Wow!!! Is there no quality control anywhere anymore?????

I am so glad you found what the problem was.....

Omg, That is terrible. Workmanship does not seem to be a high priority anymore. I will bear that in mind. Thank goodness it finally came to you that the cutting board might be off. Nice to have your mind back. (lol) Good thing it really wasn't lost. (lol)

way back when i first started taking quilting classes at lqs' i was told to never use the cutting mat to measure your fabric- to use it to line up straight lines but to always use your ruler or a tape measure to measure- that seldom are mats actually correct- so i've never used it for that- guess they were right- they are not always correct- but the lines should be straight on it.

I've got a couple questions....
What brand cutting mat do you use?
Has anyone ever told you that MOST mats aren't that accurate and the lines are really meant for the most basic lining up, not accurate measuring?

I've taught for years and urge my students to use the Olfa brand green cutting mats -- widely used by engineers for years before quilters discovered them "way back when". The material they are made from is so much better than the Fiskars gray ones, white/opaque ones, and the green ones from other makers.

The Olfa cutting mats were originally made with no markings on the reverse side and I taught my students to use that side so they did not become dependent to the lines on the mat. Use two rulers, which are designed for measuring, to square up and cut your fabric.

Jan in VA

I ran across a site the other day that sold these long mats as seconds, said they worked well as cutting mats but the marks were off and they were still expensive to my notion. Maybe Hancocks sells seconds. Who knows, I don't have one to shop at so I don't know.

I only use the lines on my Olfa to straighten fabric out...never to measure. I have certain rulers that I use because I KNOW they're accurate.

If it was that far out of true measurement, I wonder if they were "seconds." In that case the store should have clearly marked them as such. There is no excuse for a "first" quality board to be that off. If it was not a second item, I'd be writing the maker as well as taking it back to the store.