Today's Quilter

A few days before Stitch Gathering I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the brand new magazine, Today's Quilter, to review.

This new magazine comes from the same stable as Love Patchwork & Quilting and is described as "offering something NEW to traditional quilters".

Here in the UK we don't have dozens of different P & Q magazines like in the US, for example. When the two youngsters, LP&Q and Quilt Now  came onto our market, it was so refreshing, both sporting such a young, modern vibe.

In trying to think about the appeal of these different magazines I am playing around with the terms modern, traditional, young and older and I think all four can be interchangeable and I think maybe we shouldn't be putting people in boxes.
Maybe it's more about experience?

I would say in this first issue that the quilt projects might appeal to those who wish to stretch themselves a little.
The magazine has some fantastic contributers, none more so than Lynne Edward MBE. Over the years students have often asked me to recommend a book and I often found myself suggesting Lynne's Sampler Books - well written, informative  and totally non scary. It was in her book that I clearly remember learning that it's not the end of the world if a block comes up short - just add a narrow border & Bob's your uncle. It's not a question of encouraging sloppiness, I find this sort of attitude is likely to encourage more than put off.

There are several quilt projects to try and each one has a "Behind the Quilt" feature so the reader can learn a bit more about the history of the design.

There is going to be a regular Essential Guide series giving in depth tutorials on a specific technique and this month it is all about templates - these are being compiled by Linda Clements and will be a really useful go to tool.

In between all of this there is lots of info about fabrics, books, gadgets etc as well as info on events in your area.

Every issue there is to be a FREE collectible supplement or a gift, and in this first one we have a rather nice booklet celebrating 50years of Kaffe Fasset in Textiles - having heard Kaffe speak this year at Festival of Quilts, I am paying a bit more attention to his designs & fabric and so I was delighted with this booklet which includes 3 new previously unpublished projects, like this one.....

But for me, my heart skipped a beat just as I got to the end of the magazine where I found a new Block of the Month, by Jen Kingwell. As one of the participants in Jen's "My Small World" QAL, I have become converted to working with small pieces and lots of scraps so I just know making her blocks will be fun and it might just be enough to lure me into a subscription.

There is a subscription offer on at the moment - 3 issues for £5 (for UK direct debit customers)

So I'll leave you to make up your own mind, with this colourful image of Kaffe.