Ran across this article this morning while having coffee!!!

http://www.quiltersvillage.com/conte...erica-2010.pdf

sewcrafty - That is amazing - When I first read the title and your post, I said to myself - -that not me!! ROFL - Guess I was wrong!!

The little fact that they found that only 6.2% generate well over half the purchases make me wonder where all that fabric is being stored!! lol

interesting. on the other hand ...

"dedication" to the art is measured by how much we spend? that's downright insulting. not to mention elitiste and unfair.

dedicated quilter IMNSHO (In My Not So Humble Opinion): one who will find a way to quilt - without busting the family budget - no matter how high or low the family income is.

Guess I'm dedicated!

Love it!

Maybe WalMart should look at these #s and expand and improve their sewing dept. instead of getting rid of them. It is getting harder to find decent supplies and fabric at a reasonable price.

well according to that there is NO way I'm a dedicated quilter. I guess the fact that I am absolutely in love with quilting and spend every spare moment I can doing it, that I dream of quilts, and that it is the most fulfilling hobby I've ever had doesn't count for much.....only if I spend big $$ are you dedicated.

Sounds like reality.

My husband will tell you it's stored in my sewing room. However, I don't think ALL of it is. I guess I'm a dedicated quilter too, although I don't think the $$ we spend determines that.

Purchasing fabric on line is the way to go. Many on line sources offer wonderful fabrics in the $3 to $4 per s/y price range and they are LQS quality. Whittles Fabrics, Thousands of Bolts, Fabric Depot are just 3 that come to mind.

I guess dedicated. After closing my quilt store I have 1000 bolts of fabric allllll overrrrrr the house.

I think dedicated is more about the amount of time you are willing to spend, not the amount of money you can afford to spend. The facts quoted, as far as percentage of households, etc. would seem to refute the "dying art" idea, if you take into account that there are a lot of quilters out there who don't fall into their amt spent range. Seems quilting is alive and well and living all over the world! Just check our board locations.

I think they just picked the wrong word to describe what they're calling "dedicated." We all know you can be dedicated and be pretty thrifty too.

I guess I'm dedicated, but not by their #'s.

I gues I'm dedicated as well, though a little bit younger and of course, not everything matches!

I dunno if I'm "dedicated" so much as I am "addicted" and feeding ANY addiction can be costly ... hmmmm ... so does that make me deciated by addiction then? :lol:

Hear! Hear! Blew my world apart when they took their sewing centers out! DANG!

More to envy you about!

:mrgreen:

Not yet but getting there!!!

NO WAY!!!!

It says only 2 hours per week on quilting websites. If this isn't considered a quilting website then maybe.

I found this very interesting. Thanks for the link.

oh my that is alot of fabric!

I just wanna know what kind of thread their using... I can't find thread for $3.40 a spool... well, at least not thread I like.

I guess I'm not allowed to be dedicated! I'm not anywhere near 62! :)

Keep in mind this study was done for Quilt Market, and it's all about the retail side of quilting supplies buying and selling. This wasn't a "how do you feel about your hobby" study.

Seems like a good way to turn off a lot of 'dedicated' quilters to the organization that commissioned the study. I have spent the requisite $600 this year, but that is because I'm getting started and bought a new-to-me sewing machine this year. Doubt I'll hit that again any time soon. On all their other "average" qualities, I'm a big outlier - probably 2-3 standard deviations from the mean...

Rest assured, dedication to a craft is certainly not measured by funds expended alone.

Cheers, K

Thank you for the link. It is interesting perspective, but as we all know and others have indicated, it is an attitude and not a wallet thing.

But having to generate data to support making decisions, you have to find something that you can measure. $$$s and demographics are a easily generated. To do a more qualitative "feeling" sampling is more expensive and something not done on such a wide spread population.

Good to know that I am still several deviations from the mean. I don't want to be normal. :wink:

I guess I'm dedicated. I don't spend as much anually but in total I have more invested. They have my age right!!

I had to laugh when I read the average quilter spends 2 hours a week on quilting websites... :roll:

I do take offense to having to spend a certain dollar amount to be considered dedicated...

Let's see I still 20yrs to go and I don't spend that much on fabric's. The amount I spend is extremely smaller I am always on the QB and I sew almost everyday. And they want to say I'm not dedicated. Phooey on that.

I do find it interesting that the number of quilters is down (since '06), but the value of the market segment is up.

Yeah, I think I've already spent that much so far this year. :D

Well, I'm younger and I spend less money, but I am definitely dedicated, addicted, and even obsessed with quilting. And I spend WAY too many hours on this and other quilting sites every week. I could get so much more done if I would sew instead of compute!!

I don't fit their definition, but if you could see my den right now, it looks like a dedicated quilter to me :roll: Too hot in my sewingroom. ac in there broke. so I have moved to the den :lol: there are 3 quilts in different stages in here, and all the material that goes with them. I do have a stash, but I do not over spend, no really I don't :-D I have caught myself talking about quilting to a non-quilting friend, only to look up and see her eyes glazed over :shock: I clean my house, when my shoulders are too tired from sewing , and I need a short break :-D I have been known to end up in tears, because the border I spend all day planning, and sewing, is 1 inch too short :roll: I have worn out at least 6 seam rippers.
NO, I am not dedicated, not in the least :-D

I thought so, too. I wonder if it has anything to do with Simply Quilts being taken off the air. That was my first thought on that curious statistic.

I am a dedicated quilter, according to them anyway. I was when I started and didn't have enough time or money and found a way to quilt anyway. Being a dedicated quilter isn't linked to how much you spend. It's how much of yourself you put into the craft.

i get my cotton solids from http://www.connectingthreads.com/Quilting.cfm

for cotton variegated and polyester for embroidery, i go to http://threadart.com/shop/

My house!!!!

Sounds like heaven!

I wondered if it had to do with the economy, and people being laid off. So many of their statistics have to do with money...

I thought I was a dedicated quilter until I read the article. According to them I am not. Oh well.