I am confused and frustrated by pinterest! I see so much I like but can hardly ever find the pattern or where to get a pattern. I come from the old school of the 60's and don't think I could make it thru school today! Dee

I keep my boards private. The only thing I don't like is there seems to be a lot of "non-relevant", aka ads, in what I choose to follow. "Red quilts" will show ads for shampoo, clothing, skin lotions, etc, but it a free site so I guess that's how they pay for it. Still, I love looking at what others do & it has some great ideas. Kathy

Pinterest is just a big bulletin board. I don't care who is 'following' me or not. I'm there for my own convenience. "Following" just means someone likes your taste and wants to see what else you might find. It's such a great resource and you don't have to chat with anyone! The notifications are annoying, but I think you can turn them off.

Be aware tho, it's not a pattern supermarket. Some of the pins will link to patterns, either free or to purchase, but many do not. Some link to blog posts, some are dead links, and some link to only a photo in a Flickr group. It just depends where the pin originated and how long ago. I can 'knock off' most anything I want to make, so patterns aren't critical to me. I just need to see the idea and Pinterest is a great place to keep those ideas rounded up, without filling up my hard drive with things I might never use.

Many times there is no pattern. Just ideas.

I totally agree with Jane. I don't do facebook or any social media either but I do Pinterest. When I need an idea on something I just go there and type in what I am looking for and get tons of ideas. I get an e-mail everyday and some I don't even save as it does not pertain to quilting or sewing. Good luck and I think you would love Pinterest.

You can always set up a new email (free using hotmail or gmail) and use this email for things like pinterest or any other thing that you don't want to clutter up your inbox. Because I had a brick and mortar business and an online business and kids, I have several email accounts and can keep private things private. In the same vein, I have a seperate credit card that I use for online payments and online ordering (with a self imposed credit limit). This way if anyone hacks into any of these companies, it doesn't hurt much until I can get it straightened out. And NEVER have your info saved in the account. It is not that difficult to type in your username and password to access the account. Identity theft can not be stopped, but we don't need to make it easier for them.

I only logged in to be able to see quilts without a huge ad in the center of the screen. I've not been bothered since. I don't save pics to their site though.

No Fee just sign up and their is short interest page, they try to match your interest and if you want to look for something just type it in the search box and away you go.

Pinterest is the most fun ever, and I have made many things shown there, some quilted, some not. If you really don't want some one to see what you pinned, then make your boards private.