I only keep the magazines that have something in it that makes me go 'WOW'! The rest I give away to quilting friends. I'll do a more serious cull after I retire in 2014. I have a shockingly bad memory, so I love to go back and read old magazines again. They seem new to me every time.

Ha! This one I did back in November so I can mark that off. I went thru the ones I know I will never use and gave away to a friend and the local library. The rest are in binders.

Great one Margo!!! When our post in India was over, many years ago, I donated ALL my Quilter's Newsletter magazines (15 years worth?) to a local guild in New Delhi who are still using them. From then on about once a year I go through my mags and tear out anything I want to save. These then get transfered to a binder where the articles and cut outs are kept in plastic sleeves for easy access. The only mags that I do keep tidy in appropriate boxes are the Quilting Arts and Piecemaker ones. However, currently I have a few quilting mags by my bedside and several here in the living room and one or two in my classroom!!!

I just love these challenges Margo, but I now have to confess that I am going to be very much behind until I get several projects done and out of my way. My magazines are neatly stacked, but need to be gone through ...I have gotten the holders for them to keep then tamed down and neat, but they are having to wait in the queue for a while yet....my heart and head are in the right place....my physical being is hurrying with other things to be done first.

Jan, I love the idea of donating them to the library! Great tip!

Well, Margo, so far all I've done about your sewing-room challenges is read them & think, Uh-Huh, I really OUGHTA do THAT...but this one, I'm on top of already. A few months back, I decided the teetering piles needed to go. They were stacked in, and above, cardboard boxes in a spare bedroom.

I've gradually been reading thru them, then taking them in to my weekly sewing group. If no one takes them, I drop them off at the library. There must be a closet quilter in town, for they always disappear from there immediately. My stacks are gradually going down, and now are piled neatly and discreetly disguised with a spare length of fabric.

If I find something I think I actually might make, and I'm more realistic nowadays than I used to be, I tear it out and put it (theoretically) in a binder divided into sections like "stars," "log cabin," etc. For my "current" magazines, I bought a few magazine files at Staples so I can at least keep fairly recent issues more tidy. Of course, there are still quilt magazines here and there around the house, but hey -- I live here!

Margo, do you have any idea how hard these sewing space challenges have been for me while I'm living in the RV? LOL Last Fall before I left, I actually did go through all my quilting magazines and cut out patterns I thought I might do, got rid of some magazines, etc. The only ones I couldn't bring myself to totally get rid of were the Fons & Porter - it seems like I go back to them time after time. I let my subscription expire, but I am missing it and may renew. I did leave my sewing space very tidy and am looking forward to getting home to it within the next 4 - 6 weeks.

I no longer buy magazines or books, actually haven't for about five years. That change came with me going on the internet. There is a whole wide world of information whenever I feel the need without scouring my brain as to where I might find it. At that time I was dealing with a LQS that paid you 25% of original price and then sold them at 50% of original price. I never could bring myself to rip out patterns but used to mark things that caught my eye with post it notes. Just checking out a few forums on a regular basis gives me far more ideas that I can complete in 20 life times. I think this system works well for me as I feel the need to be fairly original in my hobbies but still keeping to traditional values. This works far better in quilting than it did in dressmaking or knitting garments as those items had to fit a body shape. I also used the plastic ring binder slip on back bones (don't know the official name) to secure the magazines in binders, all in date order by title.

Several months ago I scoured my house and gathered up all my magazines and stacked them in a corner in my sewing room intending to go through them and cut out the interesting patterns and articles. Well - that hasn't happened yet, and now there are more scattered over the house. I really must tackle that soon, but right now there are too many time sensitive projects to take of. And so it goes!!!

I've given back years away to our guild who has a huge supply too. Some they sell, others are for loan.

I'm ok in that department although one of these years, it'll have to happen again. Life. Change. Guaranteed.

Do you have a few quilt MAGAZINES in your sewing space? Have they spilled over into your living room? Bedroom? Bathroom?

Until 2007 I was pretty good about keeping mine organized, but since then they have run a muck all over the house! I need to do something about that.

(I think that TQS took over my life!)

I challenge you do do something with yours too. What's your plan? Will you keep all of them and organize them?

Will you cull out the ones you don't think you have a use for? Will you throw them away? Share them with other quilters? Cut out just the parts you think you might use again?

Inquiring minds want to know!