I've been thinking for a few day's now.I think i'm going to start going into my sewing room closet and get my old quilt magazines that i no longer look at, out and do something with them.My American Patchwork& Quilting magazines.It's a hard choice to make,but i have to do it.But i could change my mind.

Good Luck, Still find inspiration from some published in the 80's , but glad I don't have all of the collections:)

I have tried and tried-but just can't part with mine-I have well over 300 magazines and still subscribe to most publications! The longest has been Quiltmaker-since I started quilting in 2000! I still go through them and find new inspiration and patterns that I really love! Some of my Xmas projects this year were from old mags. Good luck-

I made the decision to cut back on my magazine collection earlier this year. I collect several different ones and although I have my favorites but still had way too many magazines. So I started going through them and copying my favorite ones for my personal use. I didn't want to tear out pages and ruin the magazine for someone else. I have 3 quilting friends who are part of my mini group and so we passed them around. The idea was that after all of us went through all the magazines they were then donated to our guild's free table. If you don't belong to a guild why not consider taking them to your senior center if there is a group of quilters that meet there. If no group there, take them to your thrift store. I still look for magazines there.
Think of it as making space for more fabric. Good luck.

They are not any good in the closet,and i don't have room anywhere else.

I have more newer ones to put in their place.

I have started going though my magazines. I pull out the patterns that are easy and that I like and really may someday make and put them in one binder. I also pull out good helpful hints. I then bring them to work and the woman there do the same. I feel bad for the one that get it last...all very hard patterns left. It easier to give things away then to throw them out.

Yea, Hoarders LOL. That show finally made me clean out my magazine stash. I sent out 6 boxes (about 30 mags each) through the Pay It Forward section here. A flat-rate box holds 30 mags nicely and costs $10.70 to mail. It was worth it to me: I got extra space and everyone who rec'd the mags enjoyed them. Even old mags are new to someone.

I can't seem to part with mine, but that show did inspire me to organize them in 3 ring binders. :-D

Funny how that show has an effect on us huh ? DH teased me about it, even though my "mess" was just in one room ...
I went through lots of stuff when I converted DD's room to a sewing room this year. I've put mag. patterns in binders before, problem is, I still have TOO many after 20+ yrs of quilting ! It really did help to reorganize and refresh. I gave away a lot of fabric for linus quilts and to GS troops.

I love watching hoarders. From the looks of my sewing room you would think sometimes I'm a hoarder. Thats it I'm a fabric hoarder. DH says the sewing room don't even look like it belongs with the rest of the house. LMBO :)

Every time I watch that show it makes me want to throw something out.... just to reassure myself I can really get rid of some things. It just makes me want to go and clean out a closest, cupboard, ..... sewing room.
It has indeed given me the motivation to post some things in pay if forward and to make some quilts out of my ever growing scrap pile.

I go through my magazines (not as often as I should) & burn a dvd of the patterns I want to do, then I donate the magazines to the library book sale. The discs are easy to store.

I do the same. Copy what I like and then donate the mags to our guild free table. There are a few that have so much I like I keep them.
I have 3-ring binders for different types: applique, patchwork, paper piecing. I love irises so one notebook is for just that.

I no longer subscribe to new mags, but can't part with the old either. Over time I've learned that what does not appeal to me today may be exactly what I want a few months or years from now.

A few of our customers have brought their old magizines in and we put them near the front so anyone who wants some can take them. I think this is a great way to help other quilters.

Lanny

I watch "Hoarders" when I'm cleaning. Encourages me to give things away before they make a TV show about me!! And for those of you with old quilting magazines that you have a hard time releasing, just know that those of us who are relatively new to quilting LOVE to find the magazines at Goodwill and other thrift stores. Otherwise, the cost of books and magazine subscriptions can really add up. I stopped subscribing to all my magazines except O and Better Homes & Gardens. It just gets to be a problem with "I'm going to read them SOMEDAY... I mean, REALLY--are we going to go back through hundreds of magazines in this lifetime??!!

If you feel the need to thin out your stash of magzines quilt books or fabric, try to get ahold of your local quilt quild and find out if they have a freebies table at their meetings and pass the stuff on! I just joined a lovely guild here in Lakeport Ca and they have a free table at each meeting! Spread the wealth!

[quote=Lori S]Every time I watch that show it makes me want to throw something out....

Watching it when they show the food and kitchen mess makes me want to throw UP.

OK,i guess i won't part with them either.Connie in CO

When I watched Hoarders, I felt like I was gawking at an accident scene - it was terrible.

I think I'm learning that all those lovely patterns from magazines are not the ones I'm making..........but I sure like to look at them!

Oh my God, isn't that gross??? I feel for them but I could not do the cleaning. I can tackle a lot of things but I would have to draw thw line there. I know I have a lot of stuff but I also know that there is nothing included in my stashes that used to be food or a pet!!!!! Yuck!

On a lighter note, Happy Holidays everyone!

Earlier this spring, I went thru my mags and kept the past 5 years. I took the rest of them to the thrift shop. They go quickly there as a lot of the volunteers are quilters.

And they are really difficult to sell! I have 400 and sold about 8!

I too have a lot of magazines and should part with some before running out of room. If I ever get finished what I have started I know I will go through them. Could be fun to trade with someone that has mags different from mine.After the new year begins I know I will need a break from just sewing.

[quote=Deb watkins]Me too, I think some people on that show really have a hoarding problem and don't want to get rid of stuff, but some of them are just lazy, and should be ashamed. The ones with more trash (pop bottles, and empty food boxes laying everywhere) than stuff. I can tell ya... my sewing room gets in pretty bad shape every once in a while, but there are NO BUGS. lol

In looking at all the posts and seeing how many of us collect magazines I was just wondering....how many of you have noticed that many of the patterns in todays magazines are simply repeats of previous patterns using more current fabrics? I started going through my binders of magazine patterns and have noticed a lot of similarities. Do you see it too?

I have a bunch that my Grandma gave me,(from the 70's) and I have found that most of the same patterns are on Quilters Cache :)

I, too, was swamped with mags......so I leafed through them (took a long time!) and ripped out patterns or ideas I thought I might like to try in the future and then put them in folders and tossed out the magazines.

Yes, Hoarders has the same effect on me. I look at my stash the same way they look at their acquisitions--as a thing of beauty and as a burden. It is wonderful to have things you need, and burdensome to have too much.

So I'm making a concerted effort not to buy more than I need. I need backings and border fabrics, but I could sew from stash for 50 more years.

[quote=Lori S]Every time I watch that show it makes me want to throw something out....

This is why I quit watching this show! Now it just irritates me that people let themselves get so out of control. At least we quilters make an effort to keep things somewhat organized!

My problem with getting rid of magazines is what I thought I liked (and tagged with small colored Post-It's) years ago, I no longer want to make and discover another pattern that I passed up before that I now want to make. As my skills evolve and I try different styles, my tastes change and I feel I can tackle harder patterns. If I put all that effort into putting fav's onto discs (not that I even would know how to do that!) or cutting them and filing them in notebooks, I would have the same problem. So, I keep them organized on shelving, by publication and in date order. What ever works for you! I moved across the world earlier this year and did a MASSIVE clean out so I didn't have to ship much back, so if I am a horder, it can only be quilt-related-every scrap was shipped back! I will, however, clean out fabrics after the holidays and participate in the pay-it-forward and hopefully, someone will enjoy using them! Tastes in fabric changes too!

I see exactly what you are saying. That's one of the reasons I stopped my subscriptions.

Thank you, thought I was crazy! I have found so many repeats ! That has actually been going on for some time! Also found the same with my crafting magazines. I use the internet to find ideas and patterns quite a bit.

Do you think it is because there are only so many actual blocks, but so many ways to put them together-then, so many ways to arrange the blocks-plus add in the factor color plays-we all know how changing just one of those factors can make a quilt look so different. To most except very experienced quilters, maybe, they all look different. I know if I see a quilt made in certain colors I may not like, or darks/lights reversed, or in flowers instead of batiks (for example,) I may not like it-but seeing in changed, it just jumps out at me saying "You must make me!". Just look what you can do with a simple Log Cabin block!

I go through my quilt magazines and take out the patterns.On the ones the are back to back I copy one side on the printer.Then I put them in a clear sheet protectors and in notebooks. It makes it a lot easier when I'm looking for a quilt pattern to make.

You are so right! Recently saw a quilted table topper made up at the local quilt shop and loved it! Found out I had looked a the pattern several times but it did not jump out at me until I saw the shop owners color choices! What a difference!

WELL - I am way past one binder but this method helped to bring my magazine pile from tower to manageable. Any magazine that stayed intact, I passed on to the gals at work.

I got rid of all my old ones at a garage sale. $3.00 for a huge box. Now I could kick myself, because I remember some of the quilts in them, that I might want to try today. So before you get rid of them, at least look through them once again.

I am constantly printing free patterns from the internet (just got done with 6 patterns from Connecting Threads)-those I put in binders, but to tell the truth, I have so many "must makes", that I would need to live 400 years to get thru them! I think I love looking at patterns and all the different color choices they are made in as much as fondling fabrics!!! Everytime a new mag comes in the mail, I get so excited-my DH just laughs at me!