Plastic sleeves in a decorated box and I also recycle plastic zipper bags for pattern with fabric that project is going to be made from.

Most of my patterns are still in the magazines filed in magazine holders by publication, but with tabs on the pages (quilt design, tuts, etc), and an abundance of quilting books-all are on the shelves lined up neatly. This includes individual patterns sold in clear zip bags. The patterns I download from the computer are printed off and filed in binders in sections like baby quilts, table runners, craft projects, etc. I have a separate binder for just Xmas quilts and crafts that I downloaded this year (I'm finally getting the hang of this computer!). I enjoy thumbing thru old magazines looking for a project-though everytime another magazine comes, I find one I MUST make!

Ditto! :thumbup:

I have notebookS too, one for appliques, on for tabletops/handbags, one for pieced patterns and one for embroidery. I just got a new machine so I'm sure I'll be adding a book or two more :roll:

I use a small rectangle basket and keep all my purchased patterns in there standing up. I made a list of the patterns (names, company/designer, description) and add to it whenever I purchase another pattern. Likewise scratch off list if I get rid of a pattern. I keep the list in the front of the basket, and make sure the patterns are in the same order as the list. Of course, I do have to reorganize at times. I keep my clothing/home dec patterns in one basket and quilting in another (guess which one has the most patterns!).

Unfortunately, for patterns and ideas that are out of magazines or that I print from the computer, there is not much organization. Everything gets put in a drawer of a small plastic 3-drawer storage unit. The drawers are divided into a drawer each for 1) machine embroidery, 2) quilting and 3) misc. That's p'bly the best I'm going to do for now.

Coleen

I'm still trying to figure that one out too.

i have mine in a notebook

I use a 3 ring binder. Any patterns I download, I use the 3 hole punch & add to my collection

I wish I were half as organized as you all. When do you have time to do all this?

I use 3 ring binders & plastic sleeves with 3 rings & use school binder dividers to catorgorize.

I have a set of old office shelves or "pigeon holes" that would have once been in a 1930's office or bank. Found them in a junk shop - $26 for 30 shelves that are big enough to hold a ream of paper in half of them and two reams in the other half. I consider it a lucky find.

You are indeed very lucky to have found that. There are any number of ways to use shelves like that and pattern filing is great! Good for you.

I have a 3-ring binder, very full now, and organized as to type---Christmas, baby, kitchen, paper-piecing, bed-size quilts, lap quilts, etc. Topics work for me though maybe not for everyone else. Within those categories, I have not organized things so it is an enjoyable search as I look at things I may want to do one day on my way to the thing I am looking for.

When I find something I like on line I print it out and lay it inside the cover of the notebook until I have a few and take the time to punch the sheets. (You can also buy pre-punched paper at office supply stores so then printouts would be ready for immediate filing.) I keep that notebook and my quilting books in a bookcase near my work area. In 2011, I will need to start a new notebook!

DITTO

I put my patterns in plastic sleeves and store them in 3 ring binders, sorting them in binders according to what they are, bindings and borders instructions or patterns in a binder, label it on the end, applique patterns in a binder, etc. I have a lot of binders. I did this with all of my educational instructions when I was teaching. Worked out great for me. I have my binders on a shelf above some of my stash. I have just magazines with patterns on a separate shelf. They are protected by the sleeves and binders and don't get bent or wrinkled. Hope this helps you out some.

A ring binder with A4 plastic sleeves sounds good, that is how I store all my knitting patterns and it works well.

:oops: Becuse I don't know how to do this, I have tons of ring binders, which currently need reorganizing into better categories.

I also use a 3-ring binder with plastic sleeves. I'm new to this, so haven't accumulated too many yet, but it keeps mine handy & together. I have some original patterns I didn't want to lose & this method has kept them safe.

OMGosh ---- Kudos for being so neat and orderly! I need to take lessons from all of you! My patterns are at least all in the same room ---- most of them are on a bookshelf ---- many books and magazines have little yellow post it note stickers poking out to mark the pages of a quilt I like. My loose hardcopy patterns are just in a pile on a shelf. I actually love browsing thru all my patterns when I want to start a new project --- it stimulates my creativity.

I have used the plastic sleeves in 3-ring binders for years. Some binders are per artist so I group the binder next to the books I have from that artist. This worked great until I began to run out of shelf space! LOL

DH sees new books coming in the mail and I must now clear out the other things from my shelving area. Honestly, I don't need all those cookbooks, specialty pans, gardening books, etc. I quilt, knit and do some family research. I'll tell DH that I am downsizing and he will be pleased --- until he opens the doors which cover the shelving...hehehe

do this also

I also have plastic sleeves in a 3 ring binder. I recently decided to give away all my magazines (about 10 years worth) to make more room on my shelves in my sewing room. I spent probably a week going through all of them and tearing out the patterns that I liked. Then I put a free ad in the local newspaper and gave them all away. Some of them were all the years of that particular magazine. Sometimes I think my hobby is buying books and magazines instead of making quilts!!! Just kidding--I do plenty of both. I gave several bags of magazines to 2 different new quilters, and they called a couple of days later to thank me. I tried to give them to the senior center, and they were "too busy" to take them. I couldn't believe my ears.
Sue

Currently, I have two large 3-ring binders. One for patterns and one for instructions for all of my tools; i.e., rulers, templates, etc. All are kept in sleeves. I have a box of binders ready to fill.

Midwestqltr

Now I know you are brilliant! Thank you for sharing as this will be my next notebook. It should also be an easy reference so I don't purchase duplicates and/or keep track of items I have loaned to friends. Yahoo!

I took 2 full levels on my bookshelf with bookends on each sides and organized my store purchased patterns that way. They fit on 2 shelves each 21" wide. Organized by crafts and holiday creations, then by adult or childrens sizes. I have McCalls, Butterick, Simplicity patterns among others. This works very well as the bookshelf also has my sewing and quilting books on it, in addition to all my cookbooks and other books, fiction and non fiction. from, Debbie, Phoenix, AZ

I, too, have mine in 3-ring binders. I staple the RIGHT side of the diretions for easy ID, holes on the left side. Company was going out of business and I got all the HUGE sale notebooks (front look odd, but VERY USABLE). This way I have MANY binders.

On thhe magazines, I use the unusable address labels I am forever getting to mark a page in a magazine (stick label partly on the page heading to the outside of page, bend label, and then fold down on itself)...this identifies a page I need.I do not do dog-ears.

3 ring binder with plastic sleeves, the oldest in the back and the newest on top. Just startin a second book as the first is FULL!:)

Ditto here! Those plastic sleeves are wonderful, as you can write on them, or mark note and not ruin the original pattern.

Now as to if I ever make all these.......

:lol:

I use a 2 drawer file cabinet with pendaflex files and they are titled by the type of patterns they are, ie: Applique, BOM, Pieced patterns, etc. It seems to work for me. It is also where I can store the manuals for my machines, helpful hints, etc.

I keep mine in 2 lever arch files. one for quilts and one for small projects. I am also really strict about putting the patterns back when I am finished. Shame I am not so strict about the rest of my sewing stuff!

Me, too. The others are in a notebook with plastic sleeves. I need more notebooks! Love this method.

I have separate notebooks, and pattern storage boxes! They are sorted by category!

BUT, here lately I have decided that I will NEVER live long enough to use all the patterns and books that I have, and I am making photo copies of the patterns I really want to do, and then selling them off!

Books are next...but I am not copying any patterns out of them,..they are just going in to EQ if I REALLY< REALLY like them....

Wait. You are copying your patterns, keeping the copies, and selling the originals? Isn't that against the copyright laws or something?

Sue, if I had only a fraction of the number of quilts made as I have books and magazines, I would feel so proud! I have slowed down on buying books as the prices keep increasing, and really, I have most of what I would ever need. But it is very hard for me to pass up a quilt magazine if I see a quilt in it I like. I'm traditional and not into the artsy quilts, so I pass those by. I've become quite clever in finding places to store all those magazines. This year one of my goals is to go through them and pare them down to a more manageable size.

Wait. You are copying your patterns, keeping the copies, and selling the originals? Isn't that against the copyright laws or something?[/quote]

NO, you can actually make and keep "1" copy for personal use! This is your "working" copy. I can not sell the printed copy, or burn it to a disc if I scan it into my computer though. It is no different than copying them out of a magazine and then selling the magazine! As long as you do not sell the copy (and it can only be 1 copy), you are not violating © issues! I learned this as a shop owner who found out the hard way never to sell a pattern you did not keep a copy of for references!

NO, you can actually make and keep "1" copy for personal use! This is your "working" copy. I can not sell the printed copy, or burn it to a disc if I scan it into my computer though. It is no different than copying them out of a magazine and then selling the magazine! As long as you do not sell the copy (and it can only be 1 copy), you are not violating © issues! I learned this as a shop owner who found out the hard way never to sell a pattern you did not keep a copy of for references![/quote]

Am I a dunce or what? I don't understand. You make the copy and keep if for personal use. You can't sell the printed copy. Can you actually sell anything?

If I download a pattern, can I sell it. I have always thought that I COULD NOT. I'll have to sleep on that one and then read it again.

Am I a dunce or what? I don't understand. You make the copy and keep if for personal use. You can't sell the printed copy. Can you actually sell anything?

If I download a pattern, can I sell it. I have always thought that I COULD NOT. I'll have to sleep on that one and then read it again.[/quote]

NO you can not Sell a photocopied, scanned & printed, or Downloaded pattern!

You can photo copy a pattern for my personal use, but can not sell it! This is called a "working" pattern. Especially for patterns like Makenna Ryan, so you have a reference should you lose a piece or mess it up! I NEVER cut up the original patterns!

When I finish using my "working" copy, it gets shredded! I will never make 2 of the same quilt!

Now if it is a quilt I give as a gift, I will use the photocopy FRONT of the pattern(the picture page) to give the new owner so if anyone wants to know what pattern was used, they will know! BUT the rest of the pattern gets shredded!

I give a lot of talks to guilds and EXT office clubs about Copyright..here in Rural OK..it usually falls on deaf ears! BUT, as a pattern designer myself and being friends with many in the industry, I do know where they are coming from.

Having said that, I still will not buy any pattern from a designer who claims that I can not sell the item I made using that pattern!

I do that too. After I've looked at a new magazine, I pull out patterns I llike and patterns that I may like later and put them in the sleeve protectors in a binder........then I throw out the mag.....I was getting buried from hoarding mags from the 1990s...LOL

Thanks jaciqltznok. I am not into selling or anything like that, but I just wanted to know what it was all about.

I had no idea. I thought it was a big no-no to copy patterns unless you retain the original. So in theory, someone could buy a bunch of patterns, copy them all for their personal "working copy" and sell the still-brand-new patterns? Seems off to me.