I had a lot of fabric yardage to press for a new quilt I am currently working on. Instead of cutting all of my pieces right off the bolt, I washed my fabric and after folding, this is what it looked like. I have several pressing areas in my studio but I thought why not create a larger one that would hopefully make it easier to wrangle all of this.
So here is my new pressing real estate. It looks like a runway doesn't it? My table top is a full sheet of plywood and I love having all of that area to work on. My new pad on the opposite end came together pretty quickly. I had everything I needed and after using it I think it is going to become a well loved tool. Now I can keep the fabric on this end and pull it toward the other end.
Here is a close up view. I worried that the quilted channels would be a problem but they compressed after using the pad. This photo was taken right after I finished installing it so after several passes with my iron and pressure, they flattened nicely.
I used a 24 x 48 piece of thin finished wood that was already sanded. This can be found in the finishing woodwork section of your hardware store. It is similar to wood used in cabinetry. In my stash, I had a yard of printed canvas fabric. I did have to do some cutting and seaming of the yard so it added length to one end. Elastic and batting were the final items I used. The batting is polyester and I did use a double layer just to help with the heat. I wanted to make sure it would not travel through the fabric and wood to my table top.
I layered the canvas, batting and a plain backing fabric and quilted lines one inch apart.
Then I trimmed around the edges of the perimeter and used my Serger with a four thread overlock to finish everything.
I did a dry fit on the piece of wood with the elastic and pinned everything to the tightness I wanted and sewed five pieces evenly spaced.
Here you can see that it just folds underneath and the ends extend. So it is very basic in the construction.
Once ready to install you just need to slip the elastic over the wood and pull into place. The whole thing is very light and you could put it behind a door in your studio.
I put mine behind my Serger on the table top and it isn't in the way at all. It also gives my studio some bright color to look at and a new place to pin things I am working on.
Here is my inspiration block for my next quilt project. I was able to get through all of the pressing and cutting my pieces.
Here is everything laid out and ready to piece. Doesn't that feel better when you get to this point?
I usually use an ironing board for my larger yardage and this is a great solution to lay out the fabric flat. I actually enjoyed pressing over an afternoon. Has this inspired you to make a larger pressing surface for your yardage? I am so glad I made mine. I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what your create. Someone will appreciate your hard work.
