Disposing old quilting magazines
 

I have piles of quilting magazines from years of subscribing to them. My question is....is it okay to donate the magazines if I have taken pages out of them for quilts I want to make someday? Only one or two from each magazine. It seems criminal to me to just throw them away even though I don't know who would want them. Before moving to our new house I had them all in cabinets in the sewing/laundry room but in my new sewing room there is no space for them.

Personally, I hate looking through someone's discarded quilt magazines and finding that the pattern I like is not in there :(
But others may not feel that way. If you bring them to your guild meeting or your group of quilting friends, let them know that patterns might be missing.

I am considering donating mine to the local senior center and drop off at Dr. Office.

I would give them to a thrift shop or the Goodwill. People know when they are buying things from there that it isn't all there or in perfect condition. There might be something someone could use for inspiration. I don't like throwing things like that away either.

If there is something you want to keep, then find a friend with a scanner and print what you want. Quilter's are always leaving fabric and magazine at our senior center.

If I tore pages out I'd just put them in my recycle bin.

I donate mine to the Friends of the Library and they sell them in their little store that benefits the local library. I've never removed pages and can't recall if I've purchased any with pages removed, but you could always notify the recipient and see what they think.

I just donated a BUNCH of older quilting magazines (I kept all that were in the 2000 years) to a church in Paducah, KY that has a little thrift store - they make money to repair low income people's cars. But, I don't think that I had taken any pages out of the magazines.

I would donate them some place - the local Senior Center if there is one is a great place. I know my mom picks them up from there and she loves looking through them and finds things she wants to do or truthfully just the pleasure of looking through them. If you aren't paying for it no biggie if what you want is missing - if you find something really great you have the magazine name and date and can search for it.

I remove the pages I want, then put them in recycle. I purchased several quilt magazines at a guilds recycle room that they run during their quilt show and was extremely disappointed to find that patterns I liked were no longer there. Granted I only paid 25 cents but I think it is something they should have just given away.

My vote is that it is definitely OK. If you are giving someone something free I think it is perfectly fine to give them a magazine that you have used and taken things out of. The receiver is getting what ever is still in the magazine free. I would imagine anyone on a limited budget would be grateful too for whatever would be there. And if there is something listed that isn't in it the person could check out local library to see if they have past copies that they could make a copy from. My suggestion would be local guilds where members could help themselves as well as Senior centers, they could also be a free giveaway at a quilt show.

There have been a couple of board members who were helping some quilters that lost everything in Hurricane Sandy get some supplies, fabric etc. One was in the Carolina's and one was in the Long Island area-these were the 2 I knew about, there may have been others. But passing onto someone that lost everything might be another good home for them.
And we have a monthly Secret Pal swap here on the board and often magazines are past on through those exchanges too.

I've purchased magazines at guild quilt shows for a quarter too. If there is something I especially want I look through it to see if it is there. And some times at guild shows they are $.25 but then you can get 6 for $1. And if there are still useful patterns etc. someone can still get use from them. The reuse before recycle step.

I guess you could put a post it note on the cover stating "this pattern is no longer in the mag"

I quit subscribing to magazines. There are so many quilting newsletters, blogs and websites that have tutorials and offer free patterns, including Moda Bake Shop and Craftsy, that I decided to save my money for fabrics.

Personally, I'd be very unhappy to buy a magazine and find that several pages are missing, regardless of what I spent. I always photocopied the pages I needed before I gave the magazines away. Now, I am in the process of scanning all of the patterns I just had to have for my bucket list and I'm saving them on discs. Someday, I'll go through the discs and delete what I will never have time to make.

I think it's fine to donate them, even if there's a page or two missing. A local quilt store, a guild or the library might be good places to consider.

You could print up some labels that say "A few pages missing," put one on each magazine, and take them anywhere you want! There are still lots of good patterns in them, and people can look ahead of time to see whether the ones missing are what they wanted. I personally would buy them - for a quarter or two!

My friends and I go though those that are put out on a table at one of our quilt group meetings.

Personally, I scan in what I want to my computer files. That way I don't have paper clutter, insect attractive though it is, and no binders full of things I probably forgot I had. And others get the magazines without any missing parts.

The nice thing about the scans is that I can do a slide show and browse so much easier that looking through binders.

My sister picked up a couple magazines at an estate sale. She sent them to me. I was shocked when she let me know the patterns and templates were still in a couple of them. I may not get around to using them but darned if I let loose of them. The templates have to be enlarged but have already scanned them and put into my computer for later reference.

I'm not sure if Goodwill or the Salvation Army take magazines.

My guild has a give and take table and magazines are snatched off the table very quickly. If there is a guild in your area I'm sure they would take the magazines. Some of the magazines I get are all there, others are not. Doesn't bother me however because they were free to begin with. I usually look at them and then take them back for others to see too. If I had purchased the magazine and it was not all there I'd be disappointed however.

I would much prefer to leaf through a quilting magazine with a few pages torn out than some of those sports or medical magazines....anyday!

A few years ago, when I stopped doing garment sewing, I brought all of my collections of Thread and other sewing magazines to the local library fund raiser which was an annual book sale. She said people go wild over those. This year, I brought my bound books (even still had some of my college technique books) to Goodwill.

I would donate them to salvation army, goodwill, etc. Someone can buy them there for a few coins and be thrilled with them. The patterns left in them may just be what someone else is looking for. If the magazines are fully intact, I list them for sale on ebay and have gotten rid of many of mine that way.

I donate only magazines that have all the pages intact. If I have removed one or more pages for patterns, I recycle those. Most people who buy an old magazine, even at a garage sale, assume it is the whole magazine. It is very disappointing to find that the recipe or pattern that interested you most is missing.

If you're placing magazines for free in a senior center of doctor's office, then it's not a problem if a page or two is missing. I would just encourage people NOT to donate these to resale organizations such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, or Friends of the Library unless you want to clearly mark on the front cover that one or more pages are missing. And, if you do that, most people will not want to buy the magazine in that condition.

If I know pages are missing - I may or may not buy the magazine. I can look through it and see if there is enough left for me to want to take it home.

However, if I find that a magazine or book that I expected to have ALL the pages in has missing pages - I am disappointed (I don't think QB will let me say what I am really feeling!)

I think if you donate with a sticker on the cover saying "some pages missing" - then the buyer or taker will be aware.

There is a free table at my guild meeting and magazines are always scooped up quickly. I sometimes have torn patterns out. If it is only 1 or 2 pages missing then I think it is okay to donate them. After all they are FREE! Today I taught a beginning quilt class and brought about 25 old magazines and they were all taken. I was glad to not have to carry them back home!

Our Guild has a free table also. Often pages are torn out it's sort of a guarantee, that the original owner took out the pattern(s) that they liked best. There is all sorts of knowledge left in those magazines, pass it on to fellow quilters, tastes are different.

please do donate your "used" magazines. I think there's a commandment against just getting rid of them.

I like your idea of adding a note to the front. Certainly good info left inside even with some pages missing.

Nothing is more aggravating than purchasing a used magazine and finding that a pattern you would like to make has a page of instructions missing because they were on the back of a page someone else removed. I hate buying books and/or magazines that have been defaced by others -- this includes highlighted passages, hand written notes, and pages missing or with cutouts.

When I find a pattern I want to make in a magazine, I copy it and put it in page protectors so I can keep it with the project until completion. But then I frequently get a stack of quilt magazines out to look at again and again -- I frequently find patterns I never noticed before or my tastes have changed and now the pattern appeals to me. Books and magazines are like old friends I can visit from time to time.

I have given some of mine to the local public library and they sell them for $.25. Funding for the library has been drastically reduced so this little bit helps.

The same thing happened to me this year when I bought magazines at a quilt show. Several of the magazines had half the pages missing. Grrr! I've been going to that quilt show and buying used magazines there for years and this is the first time that has happened. I need to say something to a member, before the next show.

Give them away. Lots of eye candy to enjoy, not all readers need patterns.

I was completely taken by surprise by some of the reactions to taking patterns out of magazines that you purchased. New magazines are pricey, and I'm thrilled to pay a minimal amount at a flea market for used magazines.....with or without patterns. They are an invaluable source of information: tips & tricks & ideas in each of them. I then share the magazines with my quilting friends. We all enjoy looking through them. Please donate and share them.

I work at the book sale at the library in our town. We get donations of magazines, I especially love the quilting ones. Truthfully if pages are removed from any of the magazines, they go right into trash or recycle. If you remove patterns, you should just recycle!! Although quiltstringz has a good idea about donating to a senior center.

I agree.....I bought a stack of gardening magazines the other day and someone had gone crazy with the scissors.....most were rendered useless. Silly me for not checking, but I have never had this problem before.

It's like clothing, if it is damaged or unwearable/worn....I wouldn't donate...just cut it for quilts or rags/recycle.

Nothing is more irritating than to pay even a dime, now a quarter in most of the consignment shops I frequent, and find patterns, recipes torn out. Donate them to a school. They use them for pictures and colors in art classes. Otherwise, recycle them.

I donate used quilting magazines to members of my quilt guild. We nave a free table at each meeting and someone always takes them.

If I buy anything in the form of a magazine, even if it's from Goodwill or other thrift stores I expect it to be intact. If it's a gift or free in a store, maybe not. But if money is exchanged the buyer has a right to expect it will be complete.

I like this idea as well....it's easy to print labels up on the computer and stick one on the outside of each magazine.
I bought some at a Goodwill and was disappointed it had a missing a pattern I wanted. But as others have said there is so much still intact, I would still donate...and I would prefer to look at a quilting book at the hair-dressers or doctors office even with patterns gone.

Why not donate them to the thrift shop? After removing the pattern you want, just highlight the index with a yellow marker and write pattern removed. Then they know it is gone when they buy it. There are often really nice ones left in the magazine, so why waste those? Especially when individual patterns are so expensive.

I don't mind if someone gave the magazine to me. I wouldn't buy one with patterns missing unless it was for .75 -.50 cents.