While teaching on the West Coast this summer, we found that quilters there had different questions than quilters who we’ve taught in the Midwest, on the East Coast and in Canada. In particular, many quilters had retro-inspired fabrics that they weren’t sure how to use, fabrics with both black and white in them that made it hard to determine the fabric’s value and large-scale prints that they loved but weren’t sure how to use. So we designed our cover quilt Retro as a tutorial for learning to use these types of fabrics. We even include a spread detailing how we curated this palette and which fabrics didn’t work and why.

This type of detailed explanation about design decisions is one of the hallmarks of Modern Quilts Illustrated. We’re not just interested in selling you patterns. We want you to understand why we made certain decisions. Everything we include in our magazine must pass one test: does it make our readers better quilters?

Our circulation has gotten substantially larger allowing us to add four more pages and new features. Beginning with Issue #7, we’ll be featuring a guest pattern designer. It may be a big name in the quilting world or someone whose name you may not know. We’re also including a simple quilt in each issue easy enough for a newbie or and experienced quilter looking for a fast project. Should you be interested in purchasing a copy of Issue #7 or starting or renewing a subscription, click on over to the Modern Quilt Studio website to learn more.