Dear Quilters' Newsletter Magazine,

I will not be renewing my subscription. It pains me to say that after 17 years of being a faithful reader I no longer find enough of value to continue getting your magazine. When I renewed three years ago I was still living in the U.S. and found the show listings useful, which pushed me over the edge of the fence onto the renew side. Plus I still had hope then that things would improve. They haven't. After seeing the most recent issue's "fresh look" I know they won't.

First off, way too many patterns. I have not once, even when I was a squeaky clean brand new baby quilter, ever made a quilt from one of your patterns nor have I ever desired to. Maybe I should repeat that point for emphasis: too many patterns. One pattern per issue (and that includes the horrible patterns that extend into four or more issues - aiyee) max.

Shop Talk? Aka, advertising without the benefits to you of getting paid to put it in the magazine. The so-called book "reviews" - ditto.

If "At Home With Quilts" (which has been missing in action for several years now) were in every issue, I'd still be getting the magazine. I love seeing how people decorate with quilts. [If Patchwork Place published another book on decorating with quilts I would so buy it.]

As it is, the magazine I anxiously look forward to is Quilting Arts Magazine. It's colorful, joyful, and full of techniques, not patterns. Sure, lots of those techniques aren't for me -- I'm not going to buy a heat gun and the idea of plastic on my quilt is repellent, but I still love reading about it and seeing photos of great quilts. The magazine has even gotten me interested in areas outside of quilting, such as embroidery, and having my horizons expanded is not a bad thing.

disappointedly, Tonya