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

I live in Georgia. The Dollar General Stores has a full stock of coloring books.
Good Luck

I found one that is Mickey Mouse from the Dollar Tree. Simple for applique.

type up a name of what you're looking for like www.moose.com. Then there is "clip art"

I have gotten some good coloring book at walmart. I think they were 97 cents.

When I have looked for coloring books for my grandchildren, I just don't seem to find the easy pictures that were available when my children were young. Most seem to be to advanced for the beginners. Oh, longer for the good old days once again.

this is a great website thanks for posting it!

I, too, have looked for coloring books, like from the 50's and 60's, but have not been successful. I will have to try the website.

Go to Wendy's and get the kids meal. They have a game called Pictureka,as a kids toy,you can request one of those. They have so many patterns on them and they need to be enlarged with a projecter but they are simple lines with a great effect. I would probably go soon they have had the toys for a while. I got one for my granddaughter and they gave me one for quilting. the kids love them also.

I have seen nice ones at our Dollar genral here too, and they are only a buck!

You can google coloring pages and get lots of free pages to print out or I have found them at the Dollar Stores.

Dollar tree has tons of coloring books. :)

Maybe try googling Preschool coloring pages. I usually google for a specific item and then I get a variety of pages to choose from. Some of the more complex ones I have removed lines to simplify them. :D:D:D

Also try http://www.crayola.com/

They also have great projects for kids and many ideas for quilt inspirations.

Amazon Marketplace?

I have found the Sprout Channel has coloring pages,,Elmo,Barney,ect.They can be printed .

If any of you are near Amish communities, I wonder if you might find more of the old style coloring books in the Amish type stores.

I always check out the coloring books when I'm shopping. It gets harder to find them with simple pics. I've lucked out a few times tho. I look for the ones made for smaller kids.

Found a really nice coloring book today at Dollar Tree. It was described as having larger pictures for smaller hands.
Lots of bugs, animals and flowers. Send me your address and I will mail it to you.

go online for free coloring pages. you can get them for small children and they come in the basic pictures. I have used these many times

i wanted to find some of the simpler pictures too like the ones my kids brought home from school when they were in the early grades. i did find an easy coloring book at Michaels that had the big easy pictures in it. do you know any preschool or kindergarten teachers?

I have found some vintage ones on ebay. They were pretty reasonable and had good pictures that could be used over and over.
Virginia

I've used online and any cheapo discount store, junk store, etc. where the toy cars aren't hotwheels and the underwear shrink. They work nicely on grid paper for cross stitch patterns as well.

my mom used to hold new coloring books until she copied all the patterns she liked out of them..... then we could have them to color in

she had everything she traced in 3" binders, by category.. i should be so organized!

There are also a few educational and teacher sites on the internet. They have lots there for different ages.

Look online. Just google "coloring books" you can even put in a subject search like birds or flowers. great fun.

dollar stores that have the "cheaper" books usually have the simple drawings in them

for $1, bigger 1s are $2-$3 but they are usually good for quite a few applique pieces :D lol
I go to the dollar store, buy a bunch of the easy ones for my youngest 2 DDs.... then i borrow each of them for a couple hours. lol

Look at Goodwill and Salvation Army stores and church thrift outlets. They just don't make the simple color books now-a-days.

some times at the dollar store. God bless. Penny

I purchased a design source book for crafters at Barn's and Nobels and it is fantastic with hundreds of images and the book is over an inch thick. It only cost me $9.99. It is a book that is really, really good to use for applique. Might be able to find it on amazon.com or just search for design source books, there are many out there. I also have iron on transfer books that I use for designing.