Paper or pdf?

How and where do you buy patterns?

It used to be that the only way to get a pattern was to buy it at your local quilt shop, then online stores started popping up and you could purchase them there. These patterns were of course printed on glossy paper and sealed in plastic. Now we have options- many designers have their own websites and offer PDF versions as well as printed versions of their patterns. When PDF versions started becoming available they were offered at a discount, sometimes at half the cost of the printed versions, businesses saw it as a big plus at not having to stock/store an item leaving them to having less of a carbon footprint and passing the savings onto their customers, especially if they didn’t have to send a printed version through the postal system. Those discounts are gone and PDF patterns are the same or more than their printed versions. Why are they the same or more? It’s simple, people are pirating the PDF patterns and selling them. Some companies won't entertain the idea of having PDF’s of their patterns available while other companies have embraced it with open arms.

With the growing trend of downsizing and living with less comes new issues. While making the choice to live with less stuff and not have to deal with clutter is great, but what do we do with the bulky little things like photo’s and patterns? PDFs are the answer for those that just want to have less to store in their dwellings. Many people work directly from their laptops and don’t print the patterns which in turn is saving them money on paper, ink and ultimately space.

Another space saving item are digital photo frames, you can display your family photo’s on a revolving basis (I bought my mom one of these and she loves it), I like the ease of being able to add more photos to the memory. So no more dozens of family photo’s hanging on the walls or displayed on tables in assorted frames. There’s less clutter, less to clean and your photos are all in one place.