Pressing Boards

I was happy to get these pressing boards completed today!  I've been wanting to make some ever since reading about them here.  

I had been using this table top ironing board set up next to my sewing machine, but it had seen better days, and the shape wasn't ideal for quilting.

There was just enough usable canvas from the end of my old ironing board cover for covering these two boards, 10x13" and 14x19" (the same sizes as recommended in the tutorial).  My local lumber yard was kind enough to give me some lumber scraps for free; they even cut them cut them to size for me!  (I'm not even sure what kind of board it is - I hated to ask questions or sound ungrateful when it was free!)  

I had planned to use sound board as recommended in the tutorial, but my local lumber yard didn't carry it, and it only came in 4x8' sheets at Home Depot, way more than I needed for this project!  

I basically followed the directions on the blog I referenced above, only I used 2 layers of  Warm and Natural batting instead of one.  I rounded the corners with #60 grit sandpaper so that the corners won't wear out too quickly.

Here's a view of the back.  I figure I can easily recover them from time to time, or cover them with a decorator fabric when I feel inspired.  I went ahead and made both sizes; I figured it would be nice to have a small one to take along to my quilt guild's all-day sew; I plan to use the larger one on top of my "big board" pressing surface (when I get it done!) - that way the pressing board will get the bulk of the wear and tear, and I can recover it easily vs. an entire big board.