How many have their patterns printed out or do you keep them bookmarked on line?

I had a bunch bookmarked then power went out and I thought i better have a hard copy in case :shock:

How many patterns do you have?
I am thinking I have about 60 blocks and close to 75 patterns stored in a flex file.

I know not to ask if I am crazy since I already know I am LOL
just wondering what yall do with your patterns.

Some I print, some I just save on my computer. I hate to guess how many I have counting all the magazines!

Most of mine I have printed and 3-hole punched in a binder. I have a lot that have piled up all over the place that have not made it into the binder yet. I am not terribly computer savy so I like to have a "hard" copy. Especially if I am going to work on it.

I had a pattern saved and one day when I went to look for it gone. Some patterns only stay on for a certain time and they are gone. I say do what Jim gem does make your own pattern book.

I print most of mine out - go through so much color ink! I feel safer printing them. I also have binders, though right now there are quite a few loose ones!

When I first started quilting I saved patterns and templates. About 6 months ago i went through it all and elimitated 75% or more of it. I had a lot of patterns that were traditional, and others I liked then but not now. Now I only download those I will make right away. I have a lot of block patterns I use 2 or three times and then toss. This summer I will sort out some books and mags...need more room for the fabric :wink:

Same here, Ruth. That's why I just save the pattern as a pdf file on my computer. Even looking through those I sometimes wonder why I ever saved it. Also saves ink by just printing when I'm ready to actually make the pattern.

I have printed some off, I have a large notebook with plastic pages you can insert patterns and fabric[small amount] and notes for future reference. I also have many patterns and blocks saved on my favorites. Can't bring myself to pitch anything. I might need that! Ever hear that before??

I bought an external Hard Drive, and I save quilt patterns and embroidery designs to it. I usually download to my computer, and then back it up to the external once a week so I don't have to keep it plugged in all the time.

i have some printed off that i feel i might not be able to get again, with sites sometimes gone and all. for the most part tho, i bookmark 'quilting' and then under that i sub-divide into things like 'blocks' or 'resources' or 'websites' or 'entire quilts' (where it really has to be made as one like a bargello or like that), etc. it makes things easy to find and i print down from there. if i pull something up and don't like it anymore, then it's gone. if i see something with a new twist, it's easy to add.

i can't afford the space that hard filing takes up. lol :roll:

I have a binder or two around, but then I found a nifty free little program called Cute PDF Writer. It's free through http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
It shows up as a printer, and you can save web pages just as you see them. I'm a bug about file backups, but they would be east to burn to disks, too.

Sites change so often that bookmarks are too unreliable.

i save the patterns that i like to pdf and put them on cds. i now have four 'quilting' cds. :D it's fun, and if you save them in pdf format, you should always be able to open them.

but before i started doing this, i printed and put in a binder. i may take the time one day to scan them all, but it works like it is for now.

I print all of mine, but I also have a file on the computer that holds them too. All the printed ones are in binders so I can have them while sewing.

I just don't have space, so disks are the perfect long term storage solution for me.

I usually print mine out and put them in a 3-ring binder; however, I also have a separate folder just for quilting stuff so I save most of them on my PC. In addition, in order to free up space on my computer I also save them on their own CD or the new stick savers.

Ruth, I think you have the right idea and I, and I'm sure others, also hit overload sometimes. We want to make them all

Wow, you folks are so organized!! Things I find on the internet, I save to my computer in a quilting file but I'm having trouble with magazine patterns. One pattern per magazine, no problem, I cut it out. More than one and there's trouble and the added headache of how to store those magazines. I think I like looking at patterns almost as much as sewing them up.

Your best bet would be to put them on a dvd and store them in a fire safe. We do this with house hold items and records. That way you can store multiple items and have them at hand and safe

all of the above. :lol:

The magazines I get usually have photos of the quilts in that issue in the front and thats how I usually find them, if I haven't bookmarked them.

I think I am right up there with you as far as paper patterns. I don't have my own computer--use hubbys and when I find a pattern I like, I print up several copies. I may never get around to making it, but love to browse for patterns as much as browsing for fabric. I guess I am overly optomistic or just plain loony cause I should know I have more than I can ever make in a lifetime :!: :lol: I store mine in a small plastic 2 drawer chest but hope to find a file cabinet to store them in one of these days.

I do what BeachLady does...print, put in clear plastic sleeves and put in 4 inch 3 ring binders. I have things separated into Quilts and Crafts...over the years I haven't been realllllllllllllly precise in making sure Quilts/Crafts are in their right binder simply because I have about a million! Collecting patterns is like building up a "stash" of fabric........never enough! Nuts! Who said I am????? :lol:

My quilt magazines all have little colored tabs stuck here and there ...those tabs tell me there is a pattern there that I really want to try. I do the same with Taste of Home-type magazines. Tabs here, tabs there, everywhere a tab tab!

BZang: I, too love to look at patterns (and recipes) almost as much as making the blocks or cookies. Have either a quilt book/magazine or a cookbook/magazine in my lap, tote bag, car ALWAYS.

i don't trust the internet or my computer. when i see a pattern i like i save it on a cd......and on external hardrive

If there's something I want to keep, I save it to the computer in a file. The bookmarking isn't as reliable as some patterns get moved, removed, replaced....

I also have countless patterns . In folders , in my favorites , on cd's and on a flash drive . I think we all keep the ink companies in business lol . If I was to try and make all of them , it would truly be a nonstop sewing marathon ! Annie

For some reason, I have to print everything I see that I like, then I put them into a pile on my diningroom table ("in box") Then when I get tired of looking at the pile, I go through it and say oh yeah I really like that pattern, and then it goes on the steps for the next time I go upstairs to my sewing room, then I take it up there and I place it on one of about 1/2 dozen piles, and think, maybe I will spend some time organizing all of these piles of patterns I have printed. Then I sort them into one of 3 stationery boxes: QUILT BLOCKS, TIPS/TECHNIQUES, and SEWING/CRAFTS. That's as far as I've gotten. I then decide that I have had enough for one day, and turn on my sewing machine and put them out of my mind. I never even felt guilt about all of the piles of paper until I joined FlyLady last year.

The patterns I have made, am currently working on, or that I am collecting fabric for are in sheet protectors and will go into a 3 ring binder one day. Along with the journal pages I have typed for each of the quilts that I have made. Oh yeah, these are also in one of my piles. I always have these very elaborate organizational ideas, but the truth is, I'd rather be sewing.
Linda