I remember the coloring books from the 1940s through the 1960s - where the drawings were relatively simple and could be copied for applique very easily.

When I looked for "easy" coloring books recently, I didn't see any that were like that. I found "Barbie," and some other character ones with many lines on the page - and the "lesson" type things for elementary grades.

Where should I be looking?

I really like the Dover books, beautiful,(they are online) most are not simple. Occasionally I run across one at Dollar General, I look everytime I go in there. Happy hunting.

Try googling color pages. I remember finding some that were pretty simple and were free to print off.

I found a wonderful book at a garage sale for a dollar and it has full page pictures of anything to do with cartoon characters, like tweety, sylvester, etc. can make copies if anyone needs some. I have a new printer. yahoo. I cannot remember what all is in there but lots of characters. I bought it to use to embroider some on a denim shirt for my mom. I have one and she loved it. Happy quilting.

The Target dollar deals usually has simple coloring pages, garage sales, flea markets and the dollar stores have been my best places to look!

I haven't looked in a long time because I have a small stack of coloring books so don't need any + all the small children I knew aren't small any more. But, way back when ... there were books made for little children, kind of "starter" coloring books, simple designs of toys for example. I wonder if they are still around. I'll ask my daughter who works at Borders Books if the little kids' book section has coloring books.

The children's section of Borders or Barnes and Noble should have a good selection. The dollar stores are a great place to look. Check out the "Aunt Marthas" iron on patterns, too. I have found those at Hobby Lobby, Joann Fabrics, Michaels, Hancock Fabrics and Wal-Mart. There is a great school supply store called The School Box - maybe a little pricey, but worth checking if there is one in your area.

try this site:
http://coloringbookfun.com
Simple patterns, great for applique.

or use www.dogpile.com to search for "print coloring book" to find other sites.

yes, coloring books makes great patterns

I have my old coloring book from I think 1948, nice big pictures and cute. If you are looking for something in particular, PM me and I'll see if I have and can scan for you. Carol