When we conceived the journal, we intentionally designed it to be more than a magazine. We chose to print the journal on a thick stock. We don’t bog down the content with advertising. It feels, we hope, like a book. And if you’re a book lover and have room to store your copies of the journal for future reference, hoorah! If however, you’re the type of person who doesn’t like to hold onto things for a long time, we’ve been thinking about ways in which old copies of Curated Quilts can be moved off of your shelves to make room for something new. Consider some of the following ideas to reinvent the usefulness of your copies of CQ.
Upcycle your old copies of Curated Quilts by making your ownpostcards, gift tags, or envelopes. There are so many fantastic quilt images in each issue of the journal which would translate beautifully into a piece of mail.
What you’ll need for these projects:
Rotary Cutter or Scissors
Ruler
Curated Quilt page
Cardstock paper
Glue
Postcard:
Postcards have to be at least 3.5 inches high by 5 inches long and can be no bigger than 4.25 inches high by 6 inches long. Once you cut out your postcard, simply glue a piece of blank cardstock to the intended text side of it. You can create the text field for your postcard by drawing a straight line down the center of your postcard. The address must be printed on the right hand side of the postcard with the stamp in the upper right corner of it. As of January 2020, postcard stamps are $0.35.
Gift Tag:
The Mini Quilt Section of the journal is the perfect place to find your next gift tag. Once you cut out your gift tag, glue a piece of blank cardstock to the back side of it and punch a hole in the corner to attach to your gift.
Envelope:
There are so many different envelope templates that you can print for free on the internet. As long as the template fits an 8x11.5 sheet of paper or has instructions for gluing sections of the envelope together, you’ll be set.
Reuse your Curated Quilts by gifting it to someone else. When we started the journal, we considered putting it on the shelves of retailers like Barnes & Noble. However, when we learned that periodicals that aren't sold at big box stores go straight into the wastebasket, we felt that it would be more responsible for us to continue to sell it directly to avoid useless waste. As part of this idea, we support you reusing your old issues of Curated Quilts by gifting them to others.
Many public libraries have periodicals in circulation. If your collection of Curated Quilts is in good condition, you could contact your local library to see if they would be interested in owning the journals and adding them to their shelves. Some quilt museums also have small libraries and may be interested in adding them to their collection.
Another idea is to contact a local quilt guild to see if they would be interested in circulating copies of the journal amongst their members.
Finally, you can brighten the day of one of your friends by sending them a gently read copy of Curated Quilts. The journal can be sent via Media Mail for an inexpensive shipping fee.
We appreciate your support and hope you will continue to be inspired by the content of Curated Quilts.
By Brittany Bowen Burton