Monday, January 16, 2017

Happy Place: The Cutting Table

Last week I showed you what was underneath my cutting table.  This week I tackled the top of the cutting table.

Here's the best I can do, so far:


I have two half-used cutting mats stacked on top of each other.  I will use the one on top until it dies, then use the one on the bottom, and then buy a glorious new cutting mat, whatever that might be.  I can't wait until show season starts to check out all of the cutting mats to see which I really want.

My sister gave me a Hello Kitty watering can and I keep my rotary cutters and scissors in there.  The packs of extra blades are in the bottom of the can so I always know where they are and when I need more.

My friend Dawn gave me a Hello Kitty sand pail that holds the pins for my longarm machine and a magnetic wrist pincushion sticks to the side so I never lose it.

One of my student's husbands made me my ruler holder.  Thanks Brenda!  I always know where my rulers are now!

As a rule, I don't drink bottled water but I was glad for one bottle -- it is perfect to refill my iron.  Yes, I'm a steam iron type of quilter.  Don't judge me.

I keep a basket on my table.  It holds my current project and is large enough to separately stack different cut pieces without jumbling them all together.

I love, Love, LOVE my Great Board!  I press my strips and blocks on it.  When I have a larger pressing job like yardage or a backing, I turn the board horizontally and my cutting table becomes an ironing station!

You know me as Debby Brown, but I am better known as
Debby Brown, Quilter of Quilts and Slayer of Irons.

Don't believe me?


As you can see, I go through a lot of irons (a LOT OF IRONS) so I don't buy expensive ones.  Expensive irons die as quickly as inexpensive irons.

I will eventually upgrade my cutting mat and replace my iron (many times), but I'm pleased with my cutting table.  It's easy to find everything I need and easy to keep clean.

What do you keep on your cutting table?  

3 comments:

FLR said...

What do I keep on my cutting table....at the moment a lot of everything, terrible mess....working on several cushions for several people at once.
You are a mechanic too!!! I always buy cheap irons, as you say: the more expensive die as fast as the cheaper! Just this moment my husband is on his bike on his way to buy a new cheap iron for me!
Have a nice day!
groet
Francisca

Vireya said...

Yesterday I was struggling to iron the top and backing of my En Provence on my ironing board, prior to basting it. I was inspired to take the cutting boards off my cutting table and use that as a pressing surface. The table has some sort of fibreboard top, which didn't seem to be damaged in any way by the small test-press I did. I wasn't using steam, that might have been a different story. But all was well, so I spread the quilt out over the table, and pressed it in large sections. So much easier than using the ironing board!

Once everything was pressed, I used my cutting table to baste the quilt in sections. It's a versatile piece of furniture!

Ann D said...

My cutting table is one where there are two sections which fold down. So, I can have a 12" by 36" surface when the sides are down. That's seldom the case when I have a project going but it's nice to prop up just one side when I put my cutting mat on it. I can use it too as a basting surface with both sides up. I clamp my sandwich to the table to pin and the table is high enough it doesn't bother my back to lean over. It's on wheels which makes it easy to move around too.

I like your setup. I delayed starting a project this year as I didn't want to make a mess with fabric everywhere. That's the challenge to keep things neat.