Hello all, Mary Ellen here.

Do you consider yourself to be a dedicated quilter? Every 2 years or so the organization Quilts in America funds a survey of quilters across the US to find what a dedicated quilter is about. I’m sure that manufacturers and retailers find this information useful in planning their focus. The amount of money spent on quilting is comparable to, (and I’ve heard but can’t find the  citation for you) and has been at times more than, the money spent on golf!

Have a look at this summary of the survey results to see where you fit. In many aspects, but not all, I fit the profile. My one concern about this, if you can call it that, is the average age of dedicated quilters. I won’t go into the math of averaging data, but it does tell us that we are an aging group. The fact that the number of quilters in the US, according to this survey, has dropped so significantly since 2010 is surprising to me.  How can we get more young quilters hooked on this hobby? I suspect that this data is skewed a bit by the methods used for collecting it. I’m guessing that many of the new younger quilters were missed by the data collection and thereby aren’t included. But in a very informal way of analyzing this, think about the quilt guild meetings and quilt shows that you attend. Not very many young faces are seen there.

What part(s) of these survey results caught your attention? Click on summary link below to view.

QIA_summary  Share your thoughts in a comment!