i got 2 of the big binders for free. they are either 3 or 4 inch ones. they were originally for paint samples. maybe if you check at the paint and wallpaper stores, you can get the outdated binders for free.

I kept all my mags but then found one day that the styles and colours change so much over here that I would never want to quilt most the patterns now. Sad really but I still keep doing it. I am going to try scanning them into my laptop now that we have a new printer.

I don't have too much room. Also, too many binders would be too much for me.

I scan in the patterns and instructions I want to keep and put them in my quilts scanned files. These are backed up without my trouble.

This saves me a lot of space. I can pass on the magazines without having them mutilated.

When I want to look all I have to do is turn on my computer and go through my files. Much easier to do that trying to sort through big heavy binders.

If you really want to go OCD you can put just the complete quilt pictures in one file with proper labeling and then put the quilt picture and directions in other files ... like a file for curved seam quilts, a file for applique, a file for fusible, etc.

This way I also have more room for - gasp - fabric!

ali

What a great idea. I will have to try it sometime.


debra.

I have thought about doing this with all my magazines but I tend to change my mind about patterns as I learn new skills. Some of the patterns I would never have looked at because I thought they would be too difficult, I am re-looking at now.

I love my magazines and books. They are like old friends that do not wear out their welcome.

Give me a rainy Sunday afternoon and a couple of glasses of red wine, my magazines, and I usually find something new in each one. As my tastes and skills change, a pattern I did not like in 2008, might be one I really want to try now. I tried tearing the pages out and keeping them, I found I had missed the last page occasionally of the recipe/directions. Now I keep the old magazines.

I can always sell them on ebay or donate them when I am totally finished with them.

I only had a few mags but decided to solve the problem of running out of space before it got to that point. I already put the patterns I wanted into a binder. I had maybe 3 or 4 magazines when I started it. Once that binder is full I will go to the next binder but by the time I fill that binder I would hate to think how many mags I would have accumulated.

QB members...please do not say 'throw out'......Please Recycle!!!!!

Been there, done that buuuut, somehow, they accumulate much faster than I can sort, tear, insert and save. I think that there is a multiplier that invades my hoard and causes it to expand when I am not looking. I am always piles behind.

I do the same thing but sometimes there are magazines that I want to keep the whole thing. After using the magazine container like pictured and a few other things, I found a great way to store them. At the thrift store I bought 4 small containers for hanging file folders. They are open on the top and have handles cut out on each side. Then I got some handing file folders from work, since we have a load of extras that came with the file cabinets boss bought second hand. I hang the file folder, then open the magazine to the very center and place it over the folder (with file folder closed, not in the middle) I have all one brand in each container and it is so easy to find what I am looking for---I slide them one at a time and do not have to remove all of them to find the one I want and the containers are not so heavy that I cannot move one.