use pencil and sissors and save for cutting mat --do not use glass for all the reasons mentioned most of all you only get 2 hands there are no spares

When I first started a friend gave me a piece of plexiglass to use with my rotary cutter - it did dull the blades and I was concerned about tiny slivers of glass, so found a kit that included a new rotary cutter and a mat. They go on sale from time to time. At the time it was a store called, Fedco, they had all sorts of quilting supplies.

Newark sewing supply has cutter, mat and ruler for $18. It may not be the best but, I have found my daughter takes better care of things if she puts the effort out to buy it herself.

The fact is, quilting is not an inexpensive hobby. Yes, you can keep certain costs (fabric, patterns, thread, etc.) under control, but the basic tools are necessary. If she can't afford to purchase a mat, then she needs to wait until she can. Rotary cutters and self healing mats are relatively new tools for quilting. If she really wants to get started without those, then I would suggest she use good old fashioned scissors to cut her pieces.

Glass is great if you need a palette for acrylics or if you're cutting out a paper pattern with an exacto knife but a rotary cutter is just too dangerous to take a chance of having it slip and give her a very serious injury. Just think of how many people cut themselves using a rotary mat and imagine how much worse it could have been if the cutter had been sliding on glass. I wouldn't even take a guess how fast it would dull the blade.

Why would you do that? You have to put pressure on the cutting mat to cut the fabric, when you put pressure on the glass, what will happen? The glass will break and their will be slivers everywhere. So dangerous. Don't use glass for a cutting mat!!!! If your granddaughter can't afford a cutting mat, why don't you buy her one as a early Christmas gift or a birthday gift? I'm sure she will appreciate it. There are places where we quilters can cut corners, but using a sheet of glass as a cutting surface is NOT one of them.

Many LQS have old mats that are usually cut down the middle when they have to replace them. Perhaps she could use one of their discarded "halfs".

Totally agree with this. Think the fabric would slide all over the place, and she could end up getting a serious cut.
Pat

This sounds like the perfect situation for a 50% off coupon, maybe for one of the smaller mats to start with. I used scissors and templates before I bought my first mat. Granted that was eons ago but I would be worried about safety with the glass.

Birthday or Christmas gift card at her Joann's.