You never know...both of my grandmothers were quilters and they both died probably thinking that their hobbies were leaving the family with them. Not so...eventually I picked it up about a decade later. I really wish I'd gotten into it while they were still alive though. (Coincidentally, they passed away within 5 months of each other.)

I'm 39 and I can't decide if I'm still young or not either, but I am definitely one of the youngest in my guild. But I'm NOT the youngest, and that's awesome.

I just spent about a week traveling around Oregon, attending 2 quilt shows (quilt expo in Redmond & Sisters outdoor quilt show) and yes...most of the ladies looking at the quilts were older than me, but definitely not all of them. I saw LOTS of people my age or younger. I saw lots of (I assume) mom & daughter groups too, which is really cool.

it may be different but itt'l always be here

I started at 38. (sixty now). Moved over from cross stitch. I find this more rewarding, as the quilts can be used when done. The interest is out there, and will show itself.

My niece, early twenties, just made a T-shirt quilt for her brother for Christmas. I'm about to begin teaching a young woman how to sew and quilt. There will always be those who need to create and so I'm optimistic about quilting continuing its popularity. What other outlet gives you so much joy? Oh, and I love the quilt you have for your avatar.

I grew up garment sewing, and made my own and others clothes for years. Then I discovered quilting, and am loving every minute of it.

I agree with nanna...when I first started to sew, maybe 20 years ago, sewing wasn't a big thing that I can remember.
With how much interest there is now, I can't help but think it will continue to grow.

I believe the way technology is progressing, in 20 yrs. we will look back on such gadgets as rotary cutters et al. will be obsolete.. We'll press a button on the New programmed electric cutting machine for the size square we want, and the cutter will do all that for us.. We'll say 'remember when we used to crank that handle on the Accuquilt". :) We can program things like our embroidery machines work, or just speak into them, and they will do our bidding..Haha..
Just as hand quilting is rarely done these days.
There is always someone out there to get us to spend our money on the latest...Look at the GPS and no driver cars, if you think it's far fetched...

One of my quilting gal pals is teaching her grandson to quilt (he asked to be taught! and he is in middle school) and two of her nieces wanted to learn when they saw what he had made! Another of my quilting pals is teaching her niece. So there is a younger generation learning. It's just they tend to hang out on line and face book.

My 12 yr. old great niece is into quilting! And, when I go to the Houston show, I have noticed a range of ages with lots of moms with babies in strollers.

Plus, a lot of the Houston area schools do field trips to the show. I "happened" to eavesdrop on one group and heard several of the kids, both boys and girls, commenting on how cool the quilts were and was it hard to learn to do them.

I think quilting will always be around. Its popularity may ebb and flow but we will always have quilters!

I started quilting when I was 21, now almost 5 1/2 years ago. I always wanted to quilt, ever since I was young. I was lucky to get a beginner's quilting class for my 21st birthday (okay, I might have begged for it...and probably got it to get me to shut up about it ;) ). In that class, I was probably the youngest one, although there was one other woman who was only a year or two older than me. The rest of the women could be about equally divided into the age groups 30-50 and 50-70. So, quilting is discovered still by a wide range of ages still and I think that it will always be around. But, popularity (is it "in") will fluctuate.

There are many young women quilting today. If you read some of the online quilt blogs there are many quilters in their 20's and 30's quilting. Some say they are only finding a home online because many of the neighborhood quilt guilds are filled with more mature women and these young women often have completely different quilt aesthetics. A similar blog conversation was just taking place last week online.

Just like clothes sewing that keeps going and going generation to generation, so will quilting. There has been a revival of clothing patterns with these online blogs as young women are designing new clothing patterns to fit their style. Can you believe there has been a revival of chevron prints (70's) and this whole vintage modern movement? There are so many young women who have not had a chance to experience all of this.

I do however, wonder what the modern quilt movement will look like in 20 years.

Also, I just bought 2 extra sewing machines to introduce my 12 yr old granddaughter and 7 & 12 yr old nieces to sewing. Hopefully one of this group of three will develop a true love for the craft.

I think that the more intense and high tech the world becomes - the more some people long for something that is "tactile and fundamentally homey"....and those types of people will always be out there. It's like canning fruits and veggies.....i worry that it will be a lost art - then read about how many younger people are doing it again.

I do notice one big change in the quilting industry over the past few years and that is the closing of many LQSs. I think the internet, big box stores/chains and the economy have contributed to the decline. What has increased are the number of large quilt shows run by corporations (Mancusco, etc).

I personally believe quilting will always be around, but like any other hobby, it will wax and wane with time. Look at scrapbooking for instance. Five years ago there were specialty shops, large areas of craft stores and "bees"...now (at least in my area of southern NH) you are hard pressed to find scrapbooking items.

I will (I hope) still be quilting 20 years from now...I'll be 78 years old then.

My 12 year old grandson made a quilt for "Project Lioness" when he learned that I sew for them. It was really nice. I'm so proud of him for doing it. Now he's working on a sports quilt for himself.

Funny that you would post this. My young next door neighbor asked me to share how to make a quilt and sew clothing today. I gave her a reader's digest sewing book thick as a phone book and a Elenore burns Quilt in a day log cabin book that was my original book I learned from. You know the kind you tear the strips and strip sew the pieces? Well I figure if she presses as she goes, it will be a good start for her. It was for me!

I think quilting will be around for a long time, but I am glad that garment sewing is coming back as well,. I think people are fed up with cheap clothes and ill-fitting clothes and clothes that do not flatter our bodies or are made for the 20-something crowd. Just my take on the 21st century.

Need to update my member info!
 

My Dad is 73 and can hand sew stitches that you need to use a magnifying glass to see! He learned to sew from his Grandmother. He repairs sewing machines as a "very small" hobby and he has always been an inspiration. I learned to sew watching my GreatGrandmother (same lady!) and I begged for classes when I was very young. I sewed clothes for my daughter, from necessity, but really enjoyed adding special, one of a kind trims. As a Grandmother myself (time does fly!) I sew for my granddaughter, and have taken to quilting in all it's forms. My Dad just recently mentioned about listening to his Mother and Grandmother talking about piecing quilts (from old clothes and wool "army" blankets) when he was very young! And as a girl, I was taught that tools are meant to be used, if you see a loose screw, go get the appropriate tool and fix it! My family didn't believe that genders had limits.

Taking my 10 month old granddaughter to a fabric store is a JOY, as she loves the colors and wants to feel most of the fabric! Quilting, sewing and other creative crafts WILL live on!

PS, just finished my move to Alabama and am looking forward to joining a group of ladies who quilt together. All ages, all skill levels, a few totally hand sewers, some a "mix" and a couple who only machine sew! PPS, moving your fabric stash is quite an eye-opener!!!!!!

Last night a friend of mine rang me up and asked if I'd be willing to teach her 6 year old daughter how to sew. She's a sweet kid who has come over and learned a little sewing with me several months ago. She's about to become a big sister (which makes her "almost a grown up", she says) and she wants to learn how to sew so she can make "dollies and blankets" for her baby brother. Isn't that adorable!?

I said yes, by the way, but told her I need to wait a month before we start. She doesn't know it yet but I have a "big sister" quilt I'm working on for this same little girl, and I also have a queen-sized wedding quilt I've barely begun and both need to be FINISHED in 3 weeks. Ouch!

As long as there are good how-to tutorials, beautiful fabrics, and good examples of quilts left to see, there will be those who will take up the torch and carry it on.

Several of my daughters and sons are quilting. They have a more free style.

Well thanks for the post everyone! I feel much better about it all after reading all your comments. My dh & I had dinner with some friends last nite, my friend and I was discussing this. She said she never had any interest in quilting til she was in her fifties. I think that is so for many. I know the quilting/sewing world will keep changing as does everything else.

More men are into quilting now than years ago. That is a big change in quilting. Glad to see it.

I have been sewing clothing since I was 14, I am 5' 10" & was taught by my Mother who was 6' so we had to make clothing for us that was long enough. I stopped sewing for quite some time & finally I am disabled & can't work so took up quilting I am a beginner but my grand daughter at the age of 5 hand sewed a pillow case for my husbands knee pillow, it's still holding together! She watched me with some cutting & sewing for a quilt & took it right up using my scraps. She picked through the scraps & came up with almost all the scraps from a lap quilt I made for my husband, she didn't realize they were mostly the same fabrics. I think she is going to pass me up with the quilting. She is now 13 and has made dog quilts for almost all 4 of my dogs. I have willed all my fabric & 4 sewing machines to her which she is tickled about but would rather be sewing along side her Gammy :thumbup:

I have done so many cross stitch pictures I have hanging, one special one was one I done while staying with my Mother at a Hotel in between chemo treatments for her. i t will always hang on my wall and remind me of her.

I don't think quilting and scrapbooking are equal. I think other handcrafts would be a better comparison, like crocheting or knitting.

Scrapbooking (to me) as we saw it was/is a fad. Papercrafts (as in origami or things like twilling, etc.) aren't a fad, but that particular "mode" seems very dated. (People do more scrapbooks and photo albums, on line, I think, now).

I made scrapbooks when I was in college (in the mid 80's) but it was simply a collection of the things that were special--no extra design pieces, etc. I always put photos in a photo album and saved the scrapbook for the "things" like folders, play flyers, etc. I never really got "into " scrapbooking" in the 80's and 90's, though my daughter seemed fascinated by it, as it seemed to make making photos available a "project" instead of a 5 min. task of simply putting them into an album.

I wasn't part of the quilting phenomenon at its peak in the 70, 80s and 90s, so I don't know it any other way than it is now.

It is really an art form that results in something useful.

I think that by seeing that quilting as been around for literally centuries, we can believe that it's not really going anywhere...though most fabric buying may be on line or in specially large shops than in local ones.

Seeing so many of our members' grandchildren quilting with them is encouraging. There will be quilters and there will be quilts. Most of us didn't start quilting until later on in life. By the time we are in our 30's we are starting to look for a rewarding hobby or pasttime. Quilting will always be mine