I had a de clutter before Xmas - took everything out of the swing room so I could paint. Put boxes in the family room, and things I knew I'd never use again in there - including cross stitch and lace making materials. Then spent a few nights going through magazines. Ended up keeping about a dozen, the rest went in the boxes.

My sister does volunteer work at 'The Olds' as she calls them, so when I went down there for Xmas I loaded up the car and took them down to her. When she took them over they thought all their Xmas' had come at once.

Maybe you could look at donating them to one of those places. Most of them are on pensions and can't afford to buy them. I know the lady who took the lace making materials was in seventh heaven. She could make lace, but couldn't afford to buy the pillows and bobbins.

I love the idea of using a file cabinet. I have a short (2 drawer) one I was about to ditch since I had pared down all my old paperwork. Have binders and binders of needlecraft and quilting patterns (as well as recipes); couldn't fit them on the shelves anymore. Now I have a home for them and will donate the binders to the local school. Thank you so much.

Donate them to a quilt guild. I know that some of our guild members are on a fixed income and can't always buy the ones they want. The guild can either put them out as "freebies", or they can sell them for a minimal amount. Or maybe a local senior center.

Try a site called freecycle.com - check your city/area on there if you are looking to give them away. I gave a bunch away on this site and asked for postage only. I keep 1 or 2 year's worth of only 2 magazines and because of expense I am letting my subscriptions run out.

When I get toooo many quiltnig magazines or books, I will go thru them and copy the ones that I really think I will make and then donate them to the quilt group at the local Senoir Center. These groups always do so much for our military men and women, hospitalized children and community that it is just a little treat for them as a giving back gesture.

My mom, sister, and I all share magazines (not just quilt mags either!).

When I buy one, I tell them not to buy that one. Then I look through it a couple of times. If there's something I want to make, I scan it in my color scanner and keep it in a file on the computer and then pass it on to my mom. My sis lives with her and they have a sewing room. The magazines get stored there.

I don't like clutter at all!

If there are any that we don't want, we donate them.
Also, if you have newer issues, Half Price Books might give you a few cents. They sell them (even old ones) for $1. I just bought a bunch that are a couple of years old from there.

I rip out the patterns I want and pass them to my DD, but then she sends them back LOL, I would gladly mail copies to anyone willing to pay postage...they do pile up...

Donate to a friend who is new at quilting and know she doesn't buy magazines or place on the freebe table at quilt guild.

A thought just occured to me reading all the posts here..

Has anyone on the board ever had a Quilt Magazine Swap? That might be fun.. Perhaps 6 issues of Simply Quilting for 6 issues of something else?

I've only been involved in 2 swaps, so I'm not sure how it would work.. but those of you who know how to run a swap might give it some thought.

I like ripping them out and putting them in plastic page protectors and keeping them in loose leaf binders. If I want to make one, I first copy it so that I can write on it while keeping the original pristeen.