A New Cutting Mat

On Day 11 of IGQuiltFest2026, we were asked to share about our studio cutting stations. I shared mine, and also a plea for recommendations for new cutting mats.

I currently had one from Quilter's Select, 24" x 36". It had served me well, but both sides had become quite worn. Luckily, I got several good recs, several of which I'd never heard of before:

• Martelli, - This brand got good reviews from several folks, and it even offers an extra-large (30" x 60") version that I might have been interested in. But it was out of stock everywhere I saw it. There was a 26" x 38", but is it terrible to say I just didn't like the colors?
• Havels - Which is pink and numerated both left and right handed on each corner (but apparently not confusing). Sounds like it makes it good if left-handers share the space with right-handers.
• Olfa - Comes in green or gray. Pretty sure this is what I had for my first many years of rotary-cutting.
• Alvin - Comes in several colors, including translucent. I noticed later that they offer a wider variety of the larger sized than most - good to know.

But what I ended up ordering was:

• From Riley Blake Designs designs, advertised by Christopher Thompson aka the tattooed quilter @thetattooedquilter. The person who recommended it said it was not as slick as others. I liked the black on one side; white on the other. One thing I noticed is that it only has 1/8" markings around the outer edges, where mine from Quilter's Select has them on every inch cutting line. I thought I could live with that, so I ordered from Fat Quarter Shop, and boy did they pack it well. It was shipped flat and taped to the side of the box. 

So it feels good to have that task taken care of for now. If you love/don't love your cutting mat, I'd love to hear about it, for future reference.