Mat Maintenance & More!

Yesterday I received a much awaited delivery.

Things just take longer to arrive here. Even something sent specially “Overnight” or “Next Day” may not actually make it until a couple of days later.

We are just that far out…

So the mats I had ordered last Wednesday didn’t arrive until yesterday Wednesday – even though they were slated to arrive last Friday.

It is what it is.

And while I was unpacking these to replace the old ones, I realized that I had an opportunity to get back to basics for those newer quilters among us who never learned what they should be doing with their mats.

Old mat.

Not only bad news, but bad USAGE!

Did you know that if you are continually using the lines on your mat to measure and cut by that you are not only ruining your mats before their time, but you are likely killing the life of your rotary blades?

And yes, I know there are designers out there with videos showing that they count the inches out on their mat and continually are cutting using the lines on their mat instead of the lines on the ruler.

Every time I see it I want to apologize both to the mat, and to the rotary blade!

Grooves in the mat from cutting in the same place all of the time not only ruins the mat, but ruins your blade and gives you inaccurate cuts because the fabric is pushed down into the groove, changing the measurement you are shooting for.

Click to Play:

Use the lines on your rulers to measure and cut.

Change your rotary blade when it gets dull or nicked to preserve your mat!

No mat is truly “Self healing” if you cut again and again and agarin in the same place, and do it with a dull rotary blade.

A dull blade is really hard on your mat.

Try to cut all over your mat at different angles to preserve your mat.

It may feel weird if you have been a mat-line-cutter, but with a little practice you’ll see the difference and your mat and blade will thank you.

If you have a mat with lines on one side only – you can turn your mat over to train yourself to only use the lines on your ruler. Your piecing will become more accurate.

These Fiskars mats have lines both sides, so turning them over wouldn’t help.

Honestly, the only time I am forced to measure by the mat lines are when I don’t have a ruler that allows me to cut the size I need.

And I have rulers all the way up to a 24” square.

I was asked by someone who is a “ruler minimalist” what sizes of rulers I keep because they didn’t want “ruler clutter.”

My response was that I need the tools that I need to get the job done.

My go-to is the 6 X 12 Olfa Frosted that you see here, but I also use a 6 1/2” square quite a bit along with a 9 1/2” square, a 12 1/2” square, a 16 1/2” square.

Were I a golfer – would I minimize my number of golf clubs and try to do all the things with one club?

Or would I increase my number of clubs to play the game I wanted to play with the best tools possible?

Just things to think about.