Am I the only one?
 

Am I the only one that prints off free quilt patterns and such from the computer and have it in stacks in my sewing room? I bought some hanging file totes to put them in. There is so much information out there it is keeping my ink supplier in business!

LOL, you are NOT alone!!! I have many printed out and some saved in my computer. The sad thing is that I have only used a couple to make a quilt. I now have to REALLY "talk to myself" as to whether or not I really would make the quilt.

I store them online. No need to print them until I need them.

After , discovering , and yes printing off lot of patterns .. that sat or got filed . I have stopped printing and saving them . Now I search around closer to the time of construction. I may bookmark the page , so I can find one .. but even then I rarely go there .

i generally just save it in a folder on the computer-instead of printing them off-until i am ready to make them- once in a while though i feel the need to print off-even if i believe i will never actually get around to making it- just for inspiration, or for a future idea...if i printed off every free pattern that caught my eye we would loose a whole rainforest!...and i would probably need a bigger house. :)

I have tons of them stored on line as well as several file folders of print outs for quilts, applique patterns, tote/purse patterns, and other sewing projects I planned to do. Someday. Yeah, right!! And let's don't mention the quilt books I've purchased this year alone. It'd take me several lifetimes and a few million dollars in fabric to do all the projects I would like to do.

I bookmark the site now for the free patterns that I like, I think it is like our stash of fabric and books, so many great ideas, so few time. I have so many quilt books, and have made so few quilts from them. But, I look through them to get ideas for colors and patterns. They are old friends.

I don't print them off anymore as ink is toooooo expensive! I do still store them but I have a flash drive specifically for quilting patterns. I use the flash drive so the zillions of patterns don't clog up my hard drive! I will never get throuogh all the patterns but that doesn't stop me from saving them!

I think it shows how optimistic we are. We really think it is possible to make all those quilts. That's why we have a stash.

I used to print off free quilt and free cross stitch patterns. I had a ton of them.

I've become more realistic and have developed my own "style" which a lot of what I had printed didn't fit. So off they went into the woodstove.

I now only print what I need and only save those that fit me.

I confess!! I have tons of patterns. I use the clear sleeves and have them in binders.

I download and save online and when I want them I send the file to my Kindle Fire. The Kindle is the same as having a book in my sewing room. I rarely print out patterns since I got the Kindle Fire. No paper to keep up with and lots less ink to buy. I love the technology we have now. It saves time and money when used right.

i used to do that as well. then i decided i didn't want to have all that paper sitting around, so i store them all on the computer now.

I print the off. That way I have them to drool over and be inspired!

Same here.:thumbup: It's my computer that's about to explode. LOL

no you are not alone i have binders full of them its keeping the ink supplier in business the page protector and binder companies too. lol im having to get choosier as well as i havent won the lotto yet.
carla

I used to print them out but was using way too much ink and then not making the quilts. Now I just save them on the computer and look through them when I want a pattern. Of course it's not easy to find the one I want, have to open each one to see what it is.

You are not alone! :)

I knew there was a good reason we invested in a laser printer; less cost per page. Now I can print off even more patterns.

I print them out, save the links on the computer, have them saved on pinterest, and cut out pics from catalogs. Do they make a drug for this?

I print patterns when I start a project.

I am a pattern collector as well, however, I too save to my computer ( as a PDF file) and only print when I need a hard copy to work from. I love it.....

I dont have a printer and have to go a few towns away to get copies. When i get ther, i print all afternoon long. Hey you never know

I save them to my computer and print them out when I want to try one. I have quite a few printed off, but not nearly all of them.

I, too, save them to my computer in folders by quilt type - ie: jelly rolls, table runners, misc quilts, etc. That way I have less files to search through when I'm looking for a particular style.

I have 5 notebook type binders full of quilt patterns which include some I have printed off and some I have torn from magazines. But now, I am becoming more selective and just save them on my computer when I can. Then if I really want to make them, then I can print one off. Takes up less space, too.

i rarely print out a pattern. i usually save a site to my favorites list or save patterns and their directions on a separate sd card.

Save them to a document file on your computer. Then, transfer to a disk or external drive via flash drive or USB cable. No more paper clutter, and you can label the files any way you need to for future reference. Create and save the files to sub folders; cut and paste and add to a larger folder that has 'like' files.

I have them saved all over my desktop and a billion bookmarks of specific projects - I had to take my computer in to a repairman - it had a virus and wasn't working right. He called and asked me - Do you have just quilting patterns on your computer - Yep- I said - I really only check a few sites a day - and several quilting sites and blogs.

When I get too many on the desktop then I make a folder and save them some where else. I think I am addicted to free patterns/tutorials as I am to fabric.

I hope there is a 12 step program for this, too. I'm in need of it. I'm guilty of this. I'm a what if type of person. What if I want to do that quilt & I can't find it. I should know better because all I would have to do is ask on the QB. You people on here can find anything. One of my problems is that I'm not very computer savvy. I wish I knew as much as BellaBoo. I would love to save them then send them to my Nook when I wanted one. It would make my life so much easier & a whole lot less cluttered. When I'm gone they can have one great bonfire. But, until then I will still be printing off a few patterns now and then. :)

I now have more blocks printed that I will never get done and plan so many projects don't know how it all will be accomplished I know this but I still keep adding to the piles

I do some of them, if they somehow aren't in a PDF file or the picture alone isn't self-explanatory. Otherwise, I have a file on my computer called quilt ideas. I save pictures and pdf files to it. I also have book marks and put them in a folder called quilting and sewing ideas.

But I find that sometimes blogs quit being on line or those links get old and expired. So, actually printing them out or saving a pdf or jpg file to your own computer or your cloud would be the best way to keep them, if you want them for sure.

Most of my quilty friends do this. I did, but now I turn those patterns into QuiltPro files on my computer. It's much easier to find what I want.

My trusty flashdrive goes everywhere with me :p

I have done the same thing, can't pass up downloading a pattern that I hope to some day make. I bought a binder and page protectors, I got 125 at Staples for about twelve dollars. I put my downloaded patterns in the sheet protectors along with the patterns I tear out of magazines. I found I had a huge stack of quilting magazines so I tear out what I want to keep, including a section in my binder for single blocks and tips, and toss the adds and rest of the magazine in the recycling bin. I love sitting down every so often and paging through my pattern binder and wishing I had more time to make my favorites.

Absolutely, not alone! I do the same thing..have my own file drawer for printouts...lol

Mine too! And the paper supplier as well.

I have a huge binder that holds the ones I printed off. I put threm in the clear plastic pages. I'm not printing anymore off unless it's something small I just can't resist. I'll never live long enough to get all I have done.

I save them on a USB, takes up no space to speak of to store the USB and can view whenever I need a pattern. I used to print out everything and became so over run with paper, files, etc and found I never read them. I have stasrted scanning magazines for what I want in them and saving on USB and passing the magazines along to outhers. If I never read what I sacnned it does nto matter, UBS only takes up a couple inches of space compared to space magazines take up.