Hello again every1,

I have a question to pose to you. When you buy all of quilting magazines, how do you organize and store the patterns?? (Quilts that you want to make). I have some patterns that I want to make, BUT NO CLUE HOW TO ORGANIZE AND STORE THEM. :thumbdown: I would love to hear any and all solutions. Thanks for your help in advance.

:-P :-P :-P Have a blessed day. :-P :-P :-P

:thumbup: :thumbup: debra :thumbup: :thumbup:

I had so many magazines saved from over the years that I finally downsized. I went through each mag and tore out ideas/patterns that I wanted to keep and put them in page protectors and then put them in binders. And then I label the binders as applique, quilting motifs, etc.

I carefully cut them out of the magazines slip them into sheet protectors and keep in a 3 ring binder. My binder has dividers for Baby, Child, Teen, Women, Men, Holiday, Special Occasion (weddings. graduations,ect.) It works for me.

I keep my magazines together. I put a post it note on the pages of quilts I want to make later. Then I take a copy of the picture of the quilt and put that in a binder. I mark the name of the magazine and the page # on the picture. When I am ready to make it, I can find the magazine quickly.

Others take out the pattern they want to make and store that in a binder. You can use page protectors to keep the pages nice. Then you can keep the magazine or toss it

Try scanning the patterns you want and storing them on the computer. No Paper to store and you can always print them when you are ready to use them

What I do is put a 3M sticker on the cover with the names and page of the pattern, if its a quilt thats all I write, if its anything else I describe it like, table runner, placemats etc. I then put the magazines, if they have more than 4 patterns I want to keep, in a magazine holder like at the library, usually holds 20 magazines. If there are less than 4 I carefully cut the pages out, put them in a plastic sheet protector in a 3 ring binder. This works for me. Then I pass the magazine to my sister or daughter, they check them out and take them to the doctors office.

I do this as well.

I do this too then at the end of the year I put them on CD or DVD & label it with the names of the patterns.

I'm a scanner also.

I scan patterns that have directions or use rulers. Not the ones with a pattern piece to follow. I find that they do not print at the right scale for me. I have downloaded e-patterns that turn out to be a waste of money because you can't enlarge them to print correctly.

I use sticky notes sticking out of the top of the magazine with the pattern written so I can see the name/category. Best way I found so far--though I still have STACKS to look through when I want one!

The scanning is in violation of copyright laws......

I tear out patterns and put them in page protectors in notebooks. If I have a really neat magazine that I don't want to tear up I turn the magazine pages to the pattern I like and then slip the whole magazine into a page protector. Then I can see every pattern just by browsing through my note books. I label each notebook according to categories.

I have a two drawer filing cabinet in my sewing area. I take the patterns out of the magazine and file them under
various headings; i.e., scrap, stars, baskets, baby, theme
(this would be sport, airplanes, boats, etc.) applique,
patriotic, crazy quilts, And, if it just doesn't fit into a category
there is always misc. right?
I also keep the patterns under a section "Already Made"
with the folder showing the quilt's name. So many times after people see a particular quilt, they ask you about the
pattern.

Even when you bought the magazine and it's for your own personal use???

I like your idea! I've got a stack of them and it would save space to save them this way! Thank you, jeaninmaine!

Page protectors and binders - best way to go. Sort in binders by type(lap quilts, baby quilts, table runners, etc) or topic (seasons, holidays, etc)

I bought a small portable scanner and scanned the picture and patterns into a dated file for each magazine when I finish I will burn them onto a disc for my personal use and then I can pass the magazines on to someone else undamaged

To get the proper size printout, you need to check you page setup on your printer and make sure it is not set to fit to page. There is a setting that will print to the correct size. Check the 1" square print out that comes on most patterns and if there is any difference you should be able to account for it.

I carry this one step farther and list the articles on a list in my computer. Only advise printing it out or saving to a disc occansionally as I didn't and when the computer died I lost my list. You can set up catagories on the list as well.

I cut the pattern from the magazine and put the pattern in a plastic sleeve. You can put 2 patterns per sleeve by putting the patterns back to back. I have a 3 ring binder for chilrens quilts and another binder for lap/bedsize quilts. Every year or so I go through the patterns and discard several. There seems to always be some patterns I saved and later decide I probably will never make the quilt. Tossing the magazines helps remove clutter from my sewing room, magazines contain so much advertising I don't feel I am loosing anything. But gaining space.

My magazines, I go throught each one and copy or tear out any project I truly love. The I put those page/pages in a three (3) ring binder in plastic cover pages. Lots of projects in a much smaller space. I get rid of the magazine itself.

I make copies on my printer of the quilts I have good intentions of making and insert them in plastic holders and keep in a loose leaf binder.

EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!

My friend and I each get a different quilt mag subscription to share. Any patterns we want to make we use the sheet protector - 3 ring binder method. When we are both done with the mags we check mark the cover and take those to our favorite LQS where they are put in a big basket to share with others. I do hang on to the magazines for a while to enjoy reading and looking, but they take up a lot of room to store.

This works good, I reorganized mine this year too! But when I first get the magazines I mark them with a yellow sticky if I'm interested in a pattern, then years later if I'm still interested in the pattern I'll tear it out and do as above, put in a page protector and file in a binder.

Mostly I just give mine away eventually. After they sit on the shelf for a year or so, I figure if I have not used them by now, it is safe to give them away. This board keeps me in more pattern ideas than I can ever get around to working on!!

Can't stand to ruin a quilting magazine. I always copy any pattern I think I want to make and organize them in a loose leaf binder. Then I share the magazine with someone else.

all my patterns are in sheet protectors, then in three ring binders....i hve the binders separated by type of quilt, then i would like to make a list of the quilt names, and in which binder it is in, then i can actually find the pattern after it goes into the binder......LOL!!!

I do this also. Sometimes it is fun to browse through the notebooks just to remember what I saved. I'm sure I will never have time to make them all but it's fun to look.

No it isn't. As long as it's for your own use it's okay to scan and store them in your own computer. It would likely come under the Fair Use Doctrine.

It is a violation of copyright law to distribute the scanned copies.

Technically, yes!
Likewise copying it--the "fair use" thing is kinda sticky and can spawn hours and pages of debate!
I think there is nothing wrong with copying to make templates( I do tracings for mine), but it is too easy for the copier to be off a smidge (and does THAT lead to problems!) or an easier way to keep track of the pattern layout while working on the quilt, but when you copy and share, that IS a violation of copyright law.

I have accumulated so many that I have started scanning them into the computer and recycling the paper.

I put a sticky note on the magazine and write what pattern it is on the note and put it in my magazine stack. If I actually use the pattern, then I copy it from the magazine so I don't tear up the original magazine.

I had tons of magazines (sometimes I think my hobby is buying magazines not quilting) and last year I went through all of them and removed all the patterns I liked. I put them into page protectors and into a 3 ring binder. Then I put a free add in the local newspaper. They were gone in a day. I also gave away a ton of fabric. You know the ones that made me say "what were you thinking?". That was also gone in a day.
Sue

When you scan, do the details of the pattern match exactly. A few years ago, we tried scanning blood bank records for digital storage at the hospital and found that small print and handwriting were impossible to read. Are the scanners better now? I have one with my Kodak ESP3250. Thanks for the info.

Any publication that prints patterns has to be aware that people are going to copy them in some manner. Often, there will be instructions to "enlarge 200%" or something similar, so how can that be done without scanning? Also, sometimes there is a statement requesting that if the pattern is copied and used for selling purposes, the originator of the pattern be "given credit".
Many of the patterns are not copyrighted at all. I think we are free to copy and scan for our own use, but as above, do not distribute.

i bought a box of clear plastic 3-ring plastic envelopes- i put the patterns into the sleeve and put the sleeves into 3-ring binders
i have separate binders for pieced patterns, applique patterns, table runners, ect; and foundation patterns. the sleeves were fairly inexpensive(i think under $10 for a case of 100. and i picked up (4) 1" 3-ring binders for 25cents each at a local thrift shop.

I don't think it is if you are just using it for yourself, is it?

I keep the mags for a year and then save only the quilt patterns I like. I staple the pages together and put them in a plastic sleeve and then into a binder. Patterns are filed alpha. by name of quilt. I can get a couple of year's worth of several mags into one binder. I also keep a binder of tip sheets.