I have so many quilting magazines it's ridiculous. I have been subscribed to American Patchwork and Quilting since 1998. Through the years I have been subscribed to McCall's Quilting (a hit and miss for me), McCall's Quick Quilts (in my early years) and Quilter's Newsletter Magazine (Not great for patterns but great to keep up with the Quilting world) and I don't get rid of any of them. I have quite a collection of old magazines that have one or two nice patterns and I refuse to throw them away. On top of that, many years ago I bought a batch of older 1990's QNM issues that had some series that I really wanted. I had decided that I would scan in those older titles so that I would not need to keep 8 magazines to make one quilt.
Yesterday I tackled that project and scanned several of patterns I was hoping to keep. QNM actually put out a CD several years ago with all the patterns from 1995-2000. Unfortunately they didn't continue to make their back issues available on CD and the CD they did release didn't have all the quilts I wanted to have, like the quilt on the left (Bear Hollow) which was a series in their 1994 issues. The quilt on the right is called Heritage Medallion and even though I don't like the center I love the layout.
The next two I scanned are from late 2000 (not on the CD though) and 2001. Fall Harvest (on the left) is very popular and just a peek will tell you why. It's gorgeous! The one on the right, Antique Rose Sampler is different enough to make it interesting.
So now I have these four quilts in PDF format (adobe reader) and can save them to a CD and keep safe until I'm ready to make them or until I die and Nyshma inherits all my quilty stuff (hey, you never know!).
I wish other magazines would publish their back issues on CD, on the same vein I wish QNM would continue to release their other issues in the same format. My next scanning project will be to create a pictorial index of my American Patchwork & Quilting magazines. I have so many back issues that it's a pain to look for the precise magazine that contains that special pattern. If I had a PDF per year that has the pictures of the projects I loved, it would be easier to find the issue I'm looking for. I know it seems like a lot of work but it's all up front and then after the scanning is done, I can really use the back issue without dreading having to go through them all.
But for now... I'm getting back to piecing since I got the fabric I was waiting for yesterday afternoon! Yeah Me!
Do you save your Quilting Magazines? What do you do to remember where you saw what? Maybe you'd have a less time consuming suggestion.
3 comments on "Technology is a wonderful thing"
I saw one of the Heritage Medallion quilts made up several years ago. It won a prize at a quilt show.
I tear out what I want to keep from magazines and place them in folders by style of quilt. Then I cull through them every so often and weed out ones I don't think I will ever do. I think your idea of scanning the patterns for storage is a very good idea.
OMG! I LOVE that Harvest Quilt!
You totally missed the mark by NOT showing your magazine covers...now c'mon, you have to post a picture to show how you know what's in there...let's see a show of Yellow Post It's. You must clarify the method behind your madness. I don't know of anyone who is more organized in their magazine archiving. You might actually help somone who is not quite over the OCD threshold, LOL. C'mon...let's see the covers! LOL!
Scanning them is actually a really good idea.
Now and then (OK only when I move lol!) I'll go through my mags, looking through each one, and be ruthless. If I see something that I just love I'll keep the mag. If not, I give it away. The only ones I have kept all of is my NZ Quilter magazines. For sentimental reasons of course! I can actually get them here in NH at B&N. Crazy!
Oh and I'm with Brenda - show us the covers lol!!
Post a Comment