Maybe scan in the patterns, and just keep a binder for templates... You could copy them and that way you know they are the same size as the originals. Sometimes scanning and printing can distort the images :wink:

This is what I did:

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-35943-1.htm

I would prefer the scanning idea because I can't think of anyone who could get much use from a magazine that has its innards missing. ;-) If I did that, I would remove all the best stuff so no one could possibly want the rest! If you don't want to scan them, tear out what you want then take the magazines to one of those yellow and green paper recycling dumpsters that so many schools have. That way everybody wins!! :thumbup:

I used to tear up my old magazines but not any more. Over the years I've discovered that my likes and dislikes have changed. What I once threw away, I now want. Perfect example: redwork. I wasn't interested in embroidery before but here I am years later and I can't do enough redwork. I'm currently making an embroidered quilt for my daughter.

I have 2 plans for my books and magazines -- 1) scanning the patterns into my computer and 2) creating a database of the patterns. Very similar to what JanetM did only instead of being on a rolodex, it's in Microsoft Access so I can sort the information any way I want. I will add one other feature to my database - what the block used to be called before the modern designers changed the blocks' names.

I just bought a book at a thrift store - looked great - one page (pattern) has been cut out. Not a disaster, but not a day brightener, either.

If it's your own magazines, they are yours to do with as you wish. If you want to recycle them(give them to someone else) - I think it's fair/appropriate to state that pages are missing.

Hm. Good point! That would certainly make for less binder space! :)
You guys never cease to amaze me with your clever ideas I would never have thought of. So thankful for you all.

This all started when I was glancing through the magazines looking for something easy to practice my applique skills (or lack of). I noted that there were lots and lots of patterns for applique that could be interchanged or combined with other patterns in quilts. If you have a binder with templates only, you can label the template with the original quilting idea, and also use that template on another quilt or wall hanging or such. There are oodles of flower, animal, car, truck, etc. designs that can be interchanged.....

When I get a new magazine, I ALWAYS add the patterns I like to a master list... Name, Mag, date of Mag and what I think I'd use it for... Christmas, theme blocks, baby, etc.

I then leaf through the magazine once or twice more and then file it away by YEAR... Cross referencing like this makes it much easier for me to find a quilt pattern when I want it.

I have saved all my magazines, and when I want to find something I remember reading I can never find the right magazine. I'm beginning to think books are best investment.
So, what I've been doing now is going thru the magazines, and if I don't see anything interesting I put them in a stack and when I get quite a few I give them to another quilting friend.
Oh, and I am also letting a lot of my subscriptions lapse.

I used to have a huge stash of magazines and decided I wanted to cut back. So in order for me to keep a magazine it had to have at least 3 patterns I loved. I marked those with those narrow plastic sticky notes. If it's a bag pattern, I wrote that on the note. If there was only one pattern I wanted I photocopied it, in color, and placed it into a binder. My friends and I have a system -- once we've looked through a magazine, we cut off the tip of one cover corner. I cut the top right. This way I know when the magazine comes around again I've already seen it. Once all of us have gone through them we donate them to our guild's free table. My kept magazines are in a holder with the name on the label. I can only save as many as the holder can handle. I have a new rule in buying magazines-- it must have at least 3 patterns that I live or it stays in the store. The same goes with buying quilt books. I know I'm saving money that I can now spend on fabric.