piepatch

[QUOTE=Lori S;6687238]It was the invention/introduction of the rotary cutter that changed and rejuvenated the craft/art in 1979. I am sure the International Quilt show has some info on their web site. I know they do survey's and circulate the findings to quilt shops. Age groups spending , shows attendance etc.
This link has some interesting info

I agree with Lori S that the introduction of the rotary cutter jump started a whole new, massive interest in quilting, probably because the rotary cutter made it easier and faster to cut out the quilts?

TeresaA

This made me chuckle. My DH was building himself some new speakers. He needed batting so I directed him toward my scraps. I also suggested that he use a rotary cutter/ruler instead of cutting with scissors.

He's cutting away, comes into the living room and says, "Tee, you won't believe this. Not only am I cutting the batting faster with the rotary cutter, it's also more accurately cut."

I said, "yeah, do you suppose that's why I've been using rotary cutters and rulers all along?"

I was glad to witness DH's profound revolution. It was a little like a baby, discovering his hands for the first time ;-).

Now, back to your regularly scheduled thread ;-).

TeresaA

The lower left 2nd page of this article: http://www.quilts.com/announcements/...0_OneSheet.pdf
confirms what I'm seeing. Quilting is contracting, not expanding. And might I suggest that it's the costs that are leading to the contracting of the market, since the amount spent is going up, while the number of quilters are going down?

Yeah, I agree, it all peaked in the 90's. Around 2002 or so, quilting took a dive and knitting/crocheting increased. Note that many quilt shops now have yarn sections, a situation that was exceedingly rare in the late 90's. The industry may have recovered somewhat and now is in a state of contracting again, as the price of goods soar while real wages are contracting more than ever.

Treasureit

I don't know about the growth rate..but I can tell you that quality of fabric has improved. I deal with vintage fabrics and there were some really bad quality yardage a ways back. I know you can still find lower quality fabric...but some of it was SO stiff that nothing could make it softer. I have tried! LOL -

In my area I think it has declined. There used to be so many quilt shops and now just a couple... I think since 911 and more recent recessions have harmed retailers.

beaglelady

Thanks for posting that article TeresaA. I enjoyed reading it - it is quite interesting. I fit right in there with the "average" quilter. I was just at a Quilt Show (which I enjoyed very much, took 3 classes) but everyone was saying how small it was compared to past years. Apparently there was only about half the number of vendors than there was a few years ago. That's kind of sad.

crafty pat

Having lived through the growing years of quilting, I believe it has never been more popular than it is now. We have more tools, better and much wider choices of fabric,T.V. shows quilt shows. quilting magazines. We can shop on line, have more quilting clubs, local and on line. We now have long arms and much wider choices of machines. We can reach out to other quilters through blogs and quilting boards. In the 80's and 90's the fabric shops carried mostly fabrics for clothing. Now the largest stock is for quilters. We can take classes in shops or on line. Who knows what tomorrow might bring but for now quilting has never been more popular.

oksewglad

Thanks for sharing the links--makes for interesting reading. Creative Crafts pdf information is already 4 years old. I firmly believe the 'Modern' quilt movement will be adding numbers to the fold.

madamekelly

I do know that quilt shows were pretty rare before 1976 (the bicentennial). Before that it was just the local county fair to see quilts.

sylviasmom

Then you would not be interested in knowing that quilters saved the fabric companies from going under. Or that quilting is 30 billion dollar industry.

ccthomas

Very interesting topic.