I've been trying to figure out why for a long time. Finally, the other day I paged through an issue from cover to back, looking at every single page, and I think I figured out my problem. I don't care for most of the quilts in the magazine. Whoever selects the quilts now doesn't have the magic touch, IMO. My reaction to most of the quilts was blah, and some I found not even appealing from an artistic or historical standpoint. Even the readers' section disappointed me.

I'm thinking the change in the magazine comes because it is no longer run by someone who actually loves quilting.

i find that most quilting magazines are overloaded with quilt patterns that focus more on the fabric collection they were designed around than they are the piecing pattern itself. they're fabulous sources for quick, simple quilts that present little to moderate challenge. maybe you're now in search of more complex patterns?

I have taken it for years now (about 10) and I buy it because it's almost the only USA mag available easily here. I still like it for the USA news in the quilt world, pics of the big shows, I also like the articles that I can sit and read during a tea break - it makes a change from JUST having quilt designs. I tend to agree with Patrice a little though, the quilts to make that are featured would never look the same if you couldn't get the same fabrics, but I suppose you have to work around that.
I stopped taking a UK mag because it began featuring one, if not two bags every issue, then finally announced that the following issue was going to be devoted to ALL bags. I have enough savvy to make my own if I want, so it stopped interesting me. One tote is very like another, after all.

I agree. I have stopped subscribing to them, because they seem to be all about selling certain fabric lines and the kits to go with the patterns of the quilts that are shown.

This is the reason I stopped subscribing to my (used-to-be) favorite magazines.

ranger

here's a link to an Australian website that offers a free 6-month subscription to their digital magazine.

i don't know yet if it remains free after the first 6 months.

if you need the printed pattern sheets for the quilts featured, you have to buy the printed version of the magazine. however, (1) helpful piecing diagrams and instructions are included in the articles; and (2) it's a free way to decide whether or not to need/want to purchase the print mag.

the archives go back at least 2 years, so you're really getting at least 2 years' worth of issues - not just 6.

http://www.downunderquilts-digital.c...ue110/?noli=1&

I let my subsciption run out a while ago and recently I thought what the heck I will give it another shot. I don't know if I will renew my subscription next time. They did send out a pretty indepth poll in their winter edition about likes and dislikes so I will see if it changes or not. My problem is that my interests are tradition with a little bit of modern thrown in. Their magazine is most art quilts which I really have no interest in.

Hey, me too. I having been taking Quilters Newsletter and Quiltmaker since 1984 and have all my issues. But I made a decision this year to stop Quilters Newsletter and keep Quiltmaker. The publishers were at the Long Beach International Quilt show and I had this same conversation with them.

I am finding this out about most quilting magazines out there.
I subscribed to two and it was a hit or miss whether I received the current issue.
I contacted customer service and they did send my missing issues.
I agree that they are pretty boring, bland and all the patterns are looking the same and feature a fabric line.
So, I found out that there are alot of great sites to peruse to get information and inspiration for new quilts to make.
I think I would rather spend my money on fabric!
Kirsten

Has anyone read Quilters Home with Mark Lipinski? I love it
I also subscribe to Fons and Porter.I get Quilters Newlwtter too,and I am not that thrilled with it,for all the reasons mentioned above.

I stopped reading Quilter's Newsletter several years ago. It's not the same as it use to be. It's printed on shoddy paper, the quilts are boring, the articles are not interesting, and too many art quilts and art quilters. I like Quilt magazine and Fons and Porter. Quilter's Home is good for fun reading but very few quilt patterns.

Since you asked, yes.

I'm new to quilting but have long been interested in it. About 10 years ago I was living in a tiny town whose library happened to have a great collection of back issues of Quilter's newsletter (from the late 1990s). I was awed, amazed, dazzled by what I saw in those issues.

When I decided this spring to finally get into quilting myself, I checked out an issue ... and decided to wait for the next one. Wasn't impressed. Finally bought one in July on sale at JoAnn's, and reading it, again wasn't impressed.

Loved the cover of the current issue, but wasn't happy with the contents inside, so I didn't buy that one, either.

After many years, I too have stopped my subscription to Q Newsletter. It used to have many lessons on techniques and math solutions, and the inside "news" was interesting, but these days it seems to have little of interest.

I still like McCall's, and Fons and Porter, and a couple of others. Am even getting tired of Mark Lipinski's 'cutesy' comments (but like some of his fabrics).

(Really, I have enough magazines, books, and web ideas to last 100 lifetimes!!) But you never know, the NEXT pattern might be THE ONE!!!??? :lol: :lol:

So, if we are all getting disillusioned with the current mags, what would we want from an ideal quilt magazine? I would say fewer patterns, more articles on quilt history and on current quilters (art or otherwise) and their work. Perhaps some technique lessons, and more reader content, with photos and stories about quilts we, the readers make. What else?

i get almost all the quilting mags because my kiddies get them for me when they can't think of anything else for a mom that has everything she wants. which is kiddies. and of course, dh.

but i have told them NO MORE QUILTER' NEWSLETTER. i think they have too many quilt show and quilt guild pictures and they squish them up small so they can get more in. they show great quilts, but give no clue as to the techniques used, to you can't even try the technique.

and they don't offer enough instruction. i agree with the others about going online. i can get more tutorials and quilt shows up-close and personal.

as to the other mags, i like getting them each month, because i can carry them around and get ideas from them without sitting at this computer, and spreading my a** to the width of the armchair. instead i can sit in a leetle teeeny weeny chair and mold myself to that size. :lol: :lol:

You can do that?? How about making a video tutorial, uploading it to YouTube and posting a link here. :wink:

I just got something in the mail to try it out for a free issue. I just ordered it, we will see.

[/quote] i can carry them around and get ideas from them without sitting at this computer, and spreading my a** to the width of the armchair. instead i can sit in a leetle teeeny weeny chair and mold myself to that size. [/quote]

Butterflywing, I should never have read this with a mouth full of soda! I almost burst it was so funny! :lol: :lol:

I recently let my subscription to Quilter's Newsletter lapse as well. I used to look forward to each issue (and bought up years of back issues at Guild) but find little of interest in the new issues. I like looking at a few art quilts, but they seem to dominate lately. I also like more "how to" info and it's lacking that. There seems to be way more ads and less content, and less articles of interest overall. Each issues seems just like the last with a new date on it. :cry:

I stopped subscribing to Quilter's Newsletter a number of years ago because it had so many art type quilts and articles. I like how-to articles and patterns for the common quilter. My favorite magazine was Australian Patchwork & Quilting but it became too expensive to subscribe. I do pick up one every now and then on E-Bay for a reasonable price. I still have many of the back issues which I go to frequently for a tip or technique. They have the most clear and concise instructions I have seen in a quilt magazine.

I used to get the QUilter's Newsletter until they changed their format. It seems so choppy now - too many guest editorials, and boy do those guests pontificate about whatever the topic. The columnists used to interject humor into the articles - now it's mostly a lecture (and I mean LECTURE with a wagging index finger.) DH accidentally renewed my subscription - the sweetheart meant well. I told him that I do not like that magazine any longer.

Not real thrilled with some of his topics that have nothing to do with quilting....I joined His yahoo group and promptly dropped out. I don't need to know about Mark's underwear or lack of it.... Kinda off subject most of the time. Just my 2 cents

BTY, I'm letting my QNL lapse also....do not like the new format at all.

sure i can do that. i don't think you want to watch it, though. you certainly don't want to learn it in a tute. think shmush. BUT if i can get in an airline seat, man, i can squeeze into a backside-molding teeeny-weeeny seat with arms to keep me in.

I wil defently not renew Quilter's Home. It is a load of craop. I also don't think I'm going to to renew the others mentioned. I take about 6 different ones & plan to not renew several of them. I like Fons & Porter but I can't always get what they ask for in some of there patterns. Last year I was making a table runner that called for felted wool & couldn't get it at home or Tyler ( large city close by). Found it online but couldn't afford it & couldn't make my own because nobody had wool. The quick quilt ones are the best.

a lot of times, wool that you have washed and dried yourself, is a good alternative. don't get rid of any wool clothing, or look for it really cheap at thrift shops. it won't unravel, just like felted wool.

I let mine go about 2 years ago for the same reason. They had more art and I am not there yet.

Butterflywing, lady at lqs told me how to do it but couldn't find any wool. I just used regular felt. It turned out fine.

:thumbup: :thumbup:

if it works, it's fine. right?

I let my QNL magazine lapse several years ago - they would have a fabulous quilt shown on the cover - usually an "art" type - but no instructions on how to do it or even if a pattern or something was available. Frequently only a short paragraph or two was all there was about it.

I always felt kind of cheated or shorted when they did that.



I

i agree whole-heartedly. i get tired reading about everyone else's quilting experiences without getting help with mine. plus, i don't like their format.

PHOOOT!!!

I think most of the other women in my small group have also let their subscriptions lapse

I have only one subscription to a quilting magazine but get Quilters Newsletter from my mother-in-law when she finishes with it. I feel like a 3 year old when I look through most quilting magazines: I look at the pictures of the quilts, I read what's new in tools, and I look at the ads to see if there's a tool or new line of fabric I can't live without. Occasionally, I do find an interesting quilt that I put a post-it tab on. Have yet to go back and make one of the quilts from a magazine.

After reading so many of the comments, I realized that I probably don't find the quilts in QNM pleasing because so many are made from fabric lines. In the "good old days", most of the quilts were made by independent quilt artists using their own stash. Not only were they talented artists, but they weren't limited to the fabric choices in a particular line of fabric.

The comment about putting in so much show information and compressing the show pictures to a very small size gave me an aha! moment too. I remember enjoying show information in the old magazines, but there was a lot less of it and the photos were bigger.

As for elements necessary for the "perfect" quilting magazine, I think the old QNM had all of them. I just don't seeing this new version surviving when I have difficulty finding even one interesting quilt/article/technique in the new issues.....

I'm really surprized that so many people don't like QNL. I love it. I don't like the magazines that show me how to make a simple quilt that I can figure out for myself, or the ones that show me how great something looks with a particular manufacturer's line of fabric. (Wonder who paid for that article!) I would much rather select my own fabrics, thank you, or use scraps, or just about anything other than make exactly what is shown. I can usually figure out a pieced pattern by looking at it, and then playing with the design on EQ6, so I read the magazines more for the pictures of quilts than for the directions. I guess what I get from QNL is inspiration for things that are a little different - not that I'm up to trying most of them yet, but I like seeing the art quilts, the old quilts, and many that are beyond my skills at this time. I the the quilts that I see in QNL are much more original than the ones in the other magazines. And I like seeing news of quilt shows all over the world.

I also find that, with almost any quilt magazine, what I like the first time I go through it is not necessarily what catches my eye a month or two later. When I'm ready to start a new project, I often sit down with a stack of old magazines and just start turning pages to get inspiration.

I subscribe to half a dozen mags. But have started to let some drop.
I will miss all the eye candy but that is the only thing I like about them besides some good info on products etc.
I will keep Fons and Porter, McCalls.
Have let go of American Patchwork & Quilting,Quilters World,Quiltmaker,The Quilter Magazine, Quilters Home, and several others.
I really did enjoy all of them but never used a single pattern.

If you like the old, traditional patterns, like I do, today's quilt magazines seem to focus, as one poster said, on the fabric collection, while others focus on quilts as an art form. There are a lot of beautifully made, well designed, artistic quilts out there, but I like the old fashioned quilts - the ones you can use on your bed if you want to. I like giving them a wedding gifts.

I have all the old Quilters Newsletters, although I sold the issues from 1 through 51, some time ago. But the old magazines have patterns you can get into.

I am one who has never liked quilters newsletter, rarely they have anything I like. However I love Mark Lipinski's magazine, I get and and read it instantly cover to cover. He covers so many interesting things in quilting besides just having patterns. I like Fons and Porter too but sometimes the quilts are just not what I am looking for. I will renew both of my subscriptions to these two when the time comes around.

I have been reading through the posts and it seems we are all pretty much of the same opinion. I too have stopped my subscriptions to the magazines here in the UK. They have become very expensive despite the extensive ads throughout as well as quilt galleries and exhibitions It would be worth it if one or two quilts were featured in close up with more information on the techniques and constructions. I prefer to design my own quilts and gain inspiration from looking at other quilts, but they cannot be appreciated as thumbnail size photos. I still browse through my old mags and they are much more interesting. I agree there are too many bags and another thing I detest is quilted clothing.

I stopped my subscriptions a year ago, they all seemed the same to me.
And as Loretta said there is a wealth of info and patterns on the internet.

One great reason to subscribe to QN Magazine = you get a card that entitles you to 10% discount EVERY time you buy something at JoAnn's - INCLUDING sale items. The trick is to REMEMBER TO USE IT and to have the AQS membership card - which also comes with your subscription - AND the discount card WITH you.

You can use your card to get discounted tkts to Paducah, Knoxville - several other things I can't remember at the moment - all listed at the web site. I'll check, and post again.

I still find interesting things to read in the magazine. I also like the discounts on AQS published books - AND the super-discounts AQS emails about right after the Paducah show. I'm a sucker for books with more than the 40% discount I can get at JoAnn's with a coupon + the 10% from AQS card. And JoAnn's doesn't have all the AQS books anyway.