I'm a new quilter and I find that the more I look on the internet for free magazines, I'll notice that they are not always as pretty as the ones in the magazines. I like to go to the library anyway so that's where I will scour the them and if I see one that really hits me then I'll buy the magazine.
I'm also a cross-stitcher. I had a subscription to several magazines and now they are all out of print. I'm glad I had the subscriptions because some like Paula Vaughn are impossible to find and also P. Buckley Moss charts are out of print and valuable.
Either way you go you can't loose...