I rarely if ever buy quilting mags (just gave away over 200 from when I was working and subscribed). I can find everything I need here or elsewhere on internet. DH is in China for 2 wks and I wanted something to read. I started to look at quilt mags at the store and they're all wrapped in plastic. Has this been going on for awhile? I find this outrageous!! I like to flip thru the mag and if even one thing catches my eye I'll buy it. All of them were in sealed plastic bags. How stupid!! They're not Playboy or Hustler that you have to hide the contents--they're quilt magazines. Needless to say I didn't buy one; that's their loss which I don't think they can afford to alienate many more buyers. I think most everyone uses the internet now and passes on mags.
Oh they offer a little "freebie" in them like a pamphlet or folder on another topic so I'm sure their logic for the plastic is to hold the 2 thngs together. Staple it inside the cover for crying out loud!!
Sorry for the rant on such a beautiful Sunday morning!! I was just wondering if anyone else feels this way. I sent an email to McCalls but don't expect to hear from them.

Hmmmm I suspect thats exactly why they do it so people like you & me can't thumb through them. Here in Utah the only quilt magazine that comes sealed in plastic F & P but it always has been. I really scaled back on my magazine subscriptions a couple yrs ago when the prices just worth the content, espically when there seems to be so many ads.

Hear hear.

Jan, I didn't notice b/c like you I just got rid of about a million mags and don't buy them anymore! But I agree with you- you should be able to look through it before you decide to buy!!
The internet is a big reason I don't but also found too many ads etc, for the prices. Let's hear it for the internet !! :D

I totally agree!

I often go and browse the quilting mags at Borders at the mall when waiting for DH. I think that only F & P is in plastic there, but I could be wrong. I agree, it is their loss as if I see something i like I buy it. Can't see inside...don't buy. Definitely irritating.

At the bookstore in this area, some mags are in plastic. For these, the store opens one package and displays it in front of the others, so that people can look through it.

Thats a great idea, Ranger, then the people could see what patterns are there before buying!

I use to go to the library and look at the new quilting mags first and if I found something Id want to make in it I would buy it.

I think that is a great idea!

YAY for the internet. google it and up it comes

Have you seen the online quilt magazine? I think it's pretty nice. Free, at least for now with lots of good information in it. http://www.onlinequiltmagazine.com/d...qm-2010-09.pdf

I quit buying magazine a few years ago. There's usually only one or two things in them you might want and keep them for and then you can't find what it is when you want it. It's so much easier to find things on the internet and with all I save on subscriptions I can afford to pay for a pattern or two if I need to.

The only quilt mags sealed in plastic here in Arkansas is F&P. All others are open and browsable.

Those magazines in plastic bags are the ones I don't buy. If I can't see if there is a quilt in the magazine that I want to do I won't buy it. Besides with this board and all the freebie patterns you get on the internet I don't think I will be getting any more magazines.

Yep.. I noticed that. So I make it a point NOT to buy F&P's magazine. I did a few times and was very disappointed. They probably could sell more magazines if they didn't wrap them up so tightly!

Here too!

The reason they could be wrapped in plastic is because sometimes, actually a lot of times, there are paper templates in the magazines and people steal them.

Maybe it's to keep people from stealing ideas by looking inside rather than buying the magazines to get the patterns, etc?
Im like the rest of ya....too much $ for an idea or two that you may be interested in that mags.

I don't buy the quilting magazines because the prices are so high, and I can find so many patterns online or design one with paper and pencil for free. Besides that, for the $7 a magazine costs, I can buy a yard or sometimes 2 or 3 of fabric!! LOL. Rather spend that money on something I KNOW I will use.
Cheriefaye

And this mag is really neat.

Frankly, I'd prefer not to end up with a magazine that others have thumbed through. I've seen mags where portions have been torn out so that the viewer doesn't have to buy the whole magazine. I take good care of my mags and I'd rather not buy one with fingerprints and dogeared edges.

I quit buying quilting mags a long time ago. I very seldom used any of the patterns and I find that I can get all the patterns or ideas I want right off the internet....for nothing. I can't believe how expensive magazines have gotten! I'm not going to spend $10 for a magazine I'll probably look at once and then it'll go in my mag bin. I'd rather spend that $10 on fabric :)

I buy them used on EBay, and pass them on when I'm done. My library does not have even one. I use books and magazines to learn techniques, and not to recreate existing quilts in general.

I quit buying quilting magazines, recipe magazines and novels. Nothing gripes me more than a magazine in plastic. LOL I check them out from my public library. I see lots of pretty things in magazines but, honestly, I can't say I have ever made any of them. And, I get really tired of all the pages of advertising. One of the ways I save money. I am really getting cheap these days...in fact, I was in a bookstore yesterday and shocked my DH by NOT purchasing any novels (I do not care for the novel selection at the public library..to heavy on mysteries). I have given away boxes and boxes of magazines and novels this summer. I am going to purchase a NOOK and download novels from now on. I am simply running out of bookcase shelf space in my home.

Pam...we have a wonderful used book store in our town so when I buy a paperback (it's usually around a dollar or less) and I take it back the next time to get another one I get a certain percent of what the original price was and so I have lots of "credit" towards my future purchases. I never buy a "new" paperback any more.

I also quit buying books-got a Kindle. Before that we had shelves built in the bedroom because we had so many books-we both read a lot.

As for not wanting a mag with dog-eared pages and fingerprints, Jackie, how do you decide which one to purchase if you can't look at it? This was my original rant because I haven't purchased a mag in over a year. And you know they say you can't judge a book by it's cover; I imagine that holds true for mags, too. I think putting them in plastic discourages people from buying them. All the magazine and newspaper editors are bemoaning the fact that subscriptions and purchases are down due to the internet. They are shooting themselves in the foot as far as I'm concerned.

I was looking at magazines at Wal-Mart just the other day and not a one in plastic. I get several subscriptions (just to have something to read and enjoy them) and some of them are in plastic. But have not seen them on the shelves in plastic around here.

I do subscribe to three different quilting magazines and I do enjoy getting them in the mail and drooling over them. However after a few years you get loaded with mags. I do look in the store and the only ones I find in plastic are usually the ones that have an extra pattern or supplement of some sort. I can understand those being wrapped up. After getting the mags for a while, I do get tired of all the advertisements. I know they do that to supplement the mag but I don't want to see adds for clothes and my quilting magazine.

Both Wal-Marts here have Fons & Porter in plastic.

Magazines have long since been wrapped in plastic bags, especially if more than one is offered at a time for 'bargain price' That is to stop us taking up space whilst reading magazines in newsagents and any of us lucky enough to have idetic memories can take designs and info without paying for them :roll: Some newsagents have signs asking us not to read before purchase 8-)

Didn't think of 'thumbing through before' that could be a health risk if people moisten their thumb in mouth and then turn pages :shock:

I think they should have one copy not in plastic so we can see it. They can just write it off and it could be marked "not for sale". That way we could see inside and make our decision.

The only one I ever see in the plastic is Fon's and Porter The other are all open. I just got 2 last week

True of any library book.

I gave up buying Australian Patchwork and Quilting - and their other patchwork magazines years ago. They package them in plastic AND add another one or 2 back copies they can't get rid of, THEN make you pay for the extras as well as the current issue.

The only magazine I buy that is in plastic, is Australian Quilter's Companion - in fact it is the *only* Australian quilting magazine I do buy. The reason that is in plastic, is because they include a DVD in a hard case on a quilting technique. You can imagine how many of those that would go missing if they weren't wrapped.

I quit subscription except to QuilterWorld. I became tired of F&P. I was looking forward to their 25 anniversary, but I was disappointed. The only reason I still rec QW is because DH renewed for 2 yrs. Without asking me. He is a good man

Judy thanks for this web site. It is great.. I too stopped buying quilt magazines, but am always tempted when I walk buy them.
Jan

Me too. If I can't find a pattern on the internet or in the books I have that I like, then I'm pretty picky.

Oh, Another thing. I have learned more and had more questions answered here on the Board than all the magazines put together.

I not only quit quilting mags but am in the process of stopping all the mags I now get when the subscrip expires. Need to watch my pennies. I do feel a bit sorry for the mag companies in that they are losing so many subscribers, hope they can keep going so their employees stay employed.

I'm with you all the way re: mags in stores. I have a sub to Quilters World; it comes wrapped in plastic. I'm glad of this because there are time I get mail that is completed ripped half way across the first 4 or 5 pages.Does anyone else have problems with their mail?