I use Fons and Porter and watch them on TV. Have learned a lot from them.

Quilter's World

Quilter's Home! Dopey but fun.

Dana

i love the quilters mag. i have been buying kits latley because the fabric are all coordinated, i find it save money and time to get it all in a kit. the quilters mag. has kits for almost every quilt in a issue. i have stopped getting them in the mail too. lots of quilt patterns i don't like and they are getting pricey too. the ads i love..lets you know what the different companies are coming out with. good luck, have fun.. puglover1

Fons and Porters are good beginner books and magazines. I like "The Quilter" magazine generally.

I don't buy magazines anymore. May I suggest a little book that will resolve most of the problems you will face. THE QUILTING ANSWER BOOK by Barbara Weiland Talbert . It is published by Storey Publishing. It fits into your purse, 5x7 inches 431 pages. There is no patterns in it, but a lot of solutions.

Sorry, I guess I'm too old (70) and impatient to deal with the magazines. I tried a Fons and Porter subscription and was completely turned off by the amount of advertisements - they took over the magazine. Seems the quilts and articles were an afterthought. I've received 3 so far and the last two lay unread on a shelf. I much rather spend my money on the soft cover quilting books, Quilts, Quilts, Quilts; Eleanor Burns, etc. I also have 13 VCR tapes of Simply Quilts (what will I do when the VCR machine dies on my???)
The Internet is loaded with free sites that offer everything you can get in a magazine - Of course my favorite source of inspiration is this site = love you ladies. Janet

I agree!!! Love this magazine. It also has real good tips. I've been getting it for several years. Let your sub. run out. You get better deals on sub. sometimes as a new subscriber. :)

For my first quilt I took a two times 3 hrs (6 total) class. I learned how to cut out a lot of material at once and how to keep sewing w/o putting in pins. It was worth it.

After that (and after seeing the Gee's Bend exhibit at a major San Francisco museum.. I've heard that minor museums had much less impressive shows) I have thrown out a lot of rules.

Do what you want. When you get into a position in which you can't figure out what to do next, be creative or surf the internet. I surf a lot and have a few hundred ideas saved in about 30 categories. Quilt. Don't fret. Quilt for someone you love (love can never be "wrong"), they'll cherish it and you'll have become a better quilter just by doing.

When I make a quilt for someone-I-don't-know-who (like for a grandchild to raffle off) I find myself doing panel quilts... I just frame the panel and back it as beautifully as I can because I need the vision of the person. A big drawback for me, but I'm happy with my system.

Finally... FORGET THE 1/4" ABSOLUTE SEAM ALLOWANCE. Just make sure it's at least close to 1/4" so it won't pull out; a little extra doesn't matter unless you are doing really small detailed work. I have arthritis and can't even hold little pieces! I make squares and frame them with uneven edges that may vary an inch from side to side, and block them the size I need when done. It gives a quilt much more movement and liveliness!

Just DO! and enjoy!

Honestly, I am letting ALL of my subscriptions run out. I don't want to run up against copyright problems, and I only found a few patterns that I was interested in making anyway, out of 9 mags!. I can get better info here, better and faster answers to MY questions, and more inspiration and warmth from all of you. (Do I need to say, much easier on my limited budget also?)