Industry and Economics- Sewists could Inspire the World: This has Nothing to do with Twinkies or Ho-Ho's!

I sense a little bit of a tangent starting to surface. It is not necessarily political, but it is related to sewing and quilting. Please bear with me, it is more about the economy I suppose, and with the whole Twinkie, Ho-Ho crisis looming I feel the need to address a subject that is rather taking a back seat, a lesser position.  (*Disclaimer-I have never eaten a Twinkie, I had a Ho-Ho once, I felt like I was eating chocolate flavored candle wax!)

With this being Thanksgiving week here in the US, I am trying to remember all the elements of my life for which I am grateful. I am not talking about some ethereal touchie-feelie gratuity, no Kum-bi-yah stuff (did I spell that correctly, who knows,) I am talking tangible, functional and reality based thankfulness that applies to me, that enhances my life, and provides personal growth.

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If you are of a certain age you have seen the Quilting and Sewing industries enjoy a marvelous resurgence. If you are young to the craft, this is a fresh way to explore your creativity. One cannot ignore the many quilt shops and fabric shops advertising and offering classes. Crafts such as those that concentrate on paper, beads or painting have also captured their share of the market.

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As a quilter, many of us remember trying to find fabrics for our projects in the 1970's. I never saw a quilt shop until many years later. I would re-purpose clothing, curtains, sheets etc. I remember a family member actually resorted to some polyester patchwork. By the way, I still have it, it is sturdy, it will survive longer than me!

Google Images

The new quilting tools have truly revolutionized the quilters process. Rotary cutters, cutting mats, acrylic templates and rulers, specialty threads and machines that do everything at the touch of a button. This is big business. Our local newspaper ran a feature recently on the Hand-craft business. The Entire Article.  I found it interesting in the sense that they are just now! just now! noticing that this segment of the business community supports many small businesses and that $9.92 billion dollars annually is spent on these pursuits. Here we are ladies, making clothes, stringing beads, piecing quilts and the business world, in general, has just noticed what a force we are in the market! Silly birds, ask us how to get this economy back on track and we will point you to the latest comfortable sewing pattern (probably from an independent designer who has built his/her business out of their kitchen) we will show you how to construct it with quality fabric (from all over the world) and thread with an appropriate stitch (on machines older than we are or new ones that support other economies) so that it doesn't fall apart after two washings, (no thanks to rip-off manufactures who would enslave a population to grow its economy and those who turn a blind eye to it)  and later that day we will be piecing quilts for family and friends for Holiday Gifts (that will be much appreciated, cherished and handed down through that family as a legacy to its maker and be knitting little hats for charity while watching some lame television program.  P-L-E-A-S-E, just ask us, we can fix this.

Google Images