Magazine Organization/Storage
 

I am also a magazine addict, but I have found that they can be a burden. several years ago a friends daughter came up with this idea... i keep the magazines in 3 baskets. the first basket is all new issues. i keep them there for 2 months. then I move them to basket #2. those magazines are 2 to 4 moths old. none newer and none older. once they are 4 months old, i move them to basket #3. that basket holds them until they are 6 months old. at that point i look through them again and cut loose any picture /patterns that i think i like or need for ideas and i put them in page protectors under a catagory that applies. the pages then go into a 3 ring binder. the rest of the magazine i toss. the 6 month rule gives me ample time to rethink any projects that i might have considered in the beginning, and a chance to add new ones. i have found that this system works quite well. after moving hundreds of magazines 3 times all over the country, i am thankful for the idea. wish i had thought of it myself.

Sounds like a system that could really be great. Just need to force myself to let them go after 6 months.

I love quilting magazines, too. Someone recently gifted me with a huge box of back issues and I was in heaven. I realized that I can't keep them all forever so I am taking my time to go through them, putting sticky tabs on ideas that I like and want to try, and then the others go into a pile to share with my QB friends in swaps, especially the secret pal swap.

I went thru my tons of them and cut out the quilt picture and directions that I truley thought I would make, and then stored them in a plastic sleeve and put in a 3 ring binder. That was three years ago, and I still have not made any of the quilts. It sure freed up room on my magazine shelfs.....

i keep mine for about 2 months then go through them, keep what i want and
pass them on to other people i know who quilt that enjoy them also.

I am in the process of going thru all of mine and cutting out what I think I will make and letting go of the others. I have them back to 1999!! I can't believe how much room they were taking up. I have decided this year I am going to do a complete over haul in my sewing room. I need to let some of it go out of my house!

I don't have much of a problem with the magazines, it's all the beautiful quilts you all show. What to do with all the computer print outs?

Page protectors and 3 ring binders are my best organizational tools. I to through my magazines and cut out my favorites and put them in page protectors. I have several binders going separated by categories..a binder for paper-piecing, applique, etc.

I get the inexpensive cardboard mag holders from staples. I label them by magazine and years. I can fit more than one year in a case. They fit fine on the bookcase. I just looked, and I have a LOT of magazines LOL

I love my magazines too, I hate to part with them, but honestly, I know that if I live to be 250 I can't make all of the quilts that I have bookmarked!

Organizing my quilt magazines
 

I bought some inexpensive (because I needed so many) white magazine holders from IKEA, cut some attractive paper fronts (found at JoAnn's in the Scrapbooking section) Printed some labels and voila'! Nice and neat.

I hope the pictures are in the right order, but, if not, I'm sure you can figure them out.

Don't print out anything. Copy and paste into a word document and save to a computer file. Then you only use paper if and when you decide to make something. I do this with all kinds of quilting, sewing, knitting and cooking projects I find online.

i scan them into computer then save to a blank dvd. just be careful to label it. then i give the magazines to my library.there are a lot of people interested that cant afford to buy them here. its a very depressed area. I live in a small trailer and just do not have room for me and my loom under construction,the sewing machines and fabric.

Wonderful organization, Corky! Is the rest of your sewing room this neat and organized?

I have just spent nearly 12hours sorting out my magazines some dating back to 1995:o!!!!! I have parcelled up over 100 mags to pass on to one of my quilt groups!!!! My sewing room is only 9'x7' and books/magazines take up so much space!!!!!! Now need to go through my fabrics.......or live to 150 to use them all!!!!!!!!!!!!! This hobby is SOOOO addictive!!!!!!!!:D

If you have a scanner, scan the pages that you like from the magazines and then save them as *.pdf file. That way they are stored on your computer and you can refer to them time and again.
I have scanned lots of quilting magazines that are no longer in publication (1970-1980), so I have the files to refer to whenever I need them.

As soon as I bring a new magazine into the house, I go thru it and tear out anything I want to keep and add it to my 3 inch binder in page protectors. The magazine gets donated to Big Brothers/Big Sisters local thrift store called 'Savers'......no clutter!

What a great idea!

I cut out the patterns that I really want to make and get rid of the rest. The patterns I keep I put in plastic sheet protecters and put them in a three ring binder..I have a binder for quilts, one for table runners , one for ideas..It makes it a lot easier to find a pattern when I want it....

You ladies sure have some good ideas!!

Another option is to sell them or donate them to the library.

Save them on your computer then just print out when you are going to make one.

I could never cut up a magazine. I can scan what I want save it then give the magazine away. I still have several hundred but hope to get rid of some at my Patchworkers/Quilters garage sale in a few months when the weather is cooler.

I am thinking about scanning the articles/pics from my mag. into a project folder/pic folder on my cpu. Thank way the mag. can ge gifted to someone else to use intact. Just have not started yet.

Years ago I bought the cheap peel back the page picture albums, and that's what I use to put my ideas into, ideas for decorating, to build things, gardening, etc -- which come from magazines, newspapers, pictures I've taken over the years. I use that same way to keep track of quilting ideas. I also have a 3" x 5" index card box with notes about quilt blocks, patterns, baby quilts, kids quilts, etc., and notated if its in a magazine (including name/date, pg #), book (with same details) or a pattern. So when I need ideas, I go to that box and look, and it cuts down the searching considerably. I get ideas everywhere - including model homes, quilt catalogs, decorating magazines, kids coloring books, architectural details on a building, tile designs, and it all applies to my quilting...I'm sure it works the same way with most folks here on this board, too.

Yep, this is how I do it. otherwise my little sewing area would be all magazines! and when I want to find a specific article or quilt idea, I don't waste time looking thru tons of stuff cause my binders are clearly labeled as to each's (?) content.

mighty: Sounds like a system that could really be great. Just need to force myself to let them go after 6 months.

amen to that!
I have passed on some patterns to only return later and go, "hey! I really like that! Just in different colors."
It's a busy little world when your a mercurial mousie. ;)

The quilt magazine has often been the media where I was first introduced to a specific designer. I, too, save patterns in plastic sleeves for the 3-ring binders. Even so, it is necessary to review the binders periodically and decide what is worth keeping. So much is available now on the internet, in books and magazines, and boards that I can research an item quickly. I am trying to downsize gradually. Time spent in sorting, arranging, cleaning is time away from the sewing machine. When I sort items when I take a break to watch TV with DH, I can tackle a small pile very quickly.

One thought, I group my books together by author using the expanding file holders and/or plastic magazine holders. My study of trying to follow the work of a designer helps me define what they are doing and what I would want to do with that info. Examples: Mary Ellen Hopkins, Barbara Brackman, Judy Martin, Terry Atkinson, etc. I have even had a local printing shop drill holes in some books so that they don't wander off. I can view the book in the 3-ring binder and know exactly where to find my entire collection. :-)

Please be aware of storage areas for magazines and books. A musty item is a liability and usually ends up as trash!

I have some of the cardboard holders that were going to get tossed when the school library was redone. I realized that the very deep shelves in my stash closet could hold mags in the back and fabric or baskets in front. Getting to the mags is, of course, a problem, but I don't get them down very often.

Second idea comes from my guild.....we all donated some mags and on the day of our quilt show sold them for 25 cents each. I bought about $5 worth so I didn't advance much in reducing the numbers, but the money went to the guild. Of course, other people did a good job of donating and reducing their piles. I question whether they are really quilters. lol

My LQS has an old Wash Tub at the entrance that contains old quilt magazine that shoppers drop off as a magazine trading service. I just dropped off all my mother's old quilt magazines there. I think I got rid of about 50 magazines and I only took one in trade, I still have probably 150-200 magazines, but those are my favorites! I have only actually used one pattern out of all my magazines but they are my inspiration for many. My favorites are my Quilting Arts magazines, which I store in the cheap magazine holders I usually just pick up from thrift shops.

This is what I do as well. Works great

Same here,
only now I have 3 binders full.

I have mine stacked in a bookcase, but would you believe, about 4 months ago, the bookcase fell apart from the weight of the magazines! I put it back together, but I think the computer/scanner idea might be a better idea for me. (I wish that would work for some of the OTHER clutter in my drawers and closets!! LOL!)

My dad used to store his magazines in the large corn flakes boxes, he would paint over the sides in blackboard paint, and mark what was in each box. One box stored one year, or so. He had a dot system for reference, from 1-5 red dots, with 5 dots being important. I think most of his boxes had 5 dots. I have the bookcase where he stored these boxes, he made it 50 years ago out of packing crates. The magazines are long gone, he would have been 98 years old this past Feb. 7.

Scan the pages you want onto your computer then give the mags to someone who would like them.

I also go thru mine take out or copy what I want to keep and pass them on to my Mom or others at our BOM classes.
I put what I wanted to keep in sheet protectors and place in a binder as well.
Penny

My quilt guild has a library the members donate all sorts of hand craft magazines and books to that are sold at our monthly meetings with the proceeds going back to the guild. If you don't have a guild that does this, I take my old magazines to the hospital (making sure my address is either cut out or illegible) and donate them. The volunteers are always glad to get them so people in the waiting room have something to read.

I bought some large index cards and started sorting my mags. I write one line of info on quilts Im interested in making someday. Each card is for a particular mag like Love of Quilting etc. Some I have more than one card for.
This also shows me which mags to keep suscriptions for. Ones with few quilts I am canceling.
I have alot more mags now than when this picture was taken but not out of room yet.
The cabinet was cheap so can always get another one.
The bookcase is for fats and I got the baskets at the Dollartree.
I have alot more fats now also.

I don't have too many. My cooking mags I went thru them and pulled out what I wanted and out the door they went. Once I get the rest of my house together the few quilting/embroidery ones that I have I'm scanning into my pc on digital format and out they go. I've started getting Emb mag but only online, this way I can put it on my pc or my color nook and no clutter. You wouldn't believe how many books I got rid of this yr. I had this great idea that one day I wanted to have an office with bookcases and all of my reading books in them. They collect so much dust and even though I have 4 bedrooms, I don't have room for an office. One room has my son, girlfriend and her daughter in it until they can afford it on their own. One (smallest one) I made into a spare room. It used to be my bedroom, then it was a sewing room. The bedroom next to it is a little bigger and also my old bedroom. I decided to make it my sewing room and get a few extra feet of space, very few. Then I have another big bedroom upstairs that was my daughters. When she moved out, I went on Craigslist and furnished it (everything except for the mattress) and it is now my room. Lots of space and event though it's all solid wood and came from several people it all goes together and I got great prices. Even on my new mattress, it was last yr model and then it was damage when they brought it into my house so my 1000 price tag went down to 200. I have a large sunroom that I was going to make into my sewing room but kind of like being able to close it off from the rest of house to minimize dust. So I'm having a small office area in my sunroom and a great relaxing area for when I do my hand embroidery or applique. Once you get into the mind set of de-cluttering it gets addicting too. There were a few mags that I wanted at the quilt show but since they weren't on digital format I didn't get them. I don't want to spend all of my time scanning things into my pc. Good luck and I hope you find something that works good for you. They say once you start getting rid of things it makes you feel good, it's true. Either getting rid of things or just finding a storage system that works for you has the same effect.