Sunday, February 9, 2014

Quilting and Technology

Pinwheel baby quiltLovely in LavenderHand quiltedTula PinkDresden PlacematsWonky crosses
eclinical.jen's photostream on Flickr.

I have recently revisited an old hobby.  I used to quilt in the early 1990's, but stopped because having kids and working took over.  Anyway, I am back and both impressed and shocked by the changes related to the hobby of quilting.
Fabric - This has changed significantly, there are now more designer lines of fabric, and the quality is much higher than 20 years ago.  Where before, the fabrics were very little house on the prairie looking, the options of today and beautiful and are more modern looking.
Technology - I can do everything on my 1970's sewing machine that the fancy programmable sewing machines of today can handle.  No technology update needed!
Gear - My gear from 20 years ago such as a mat, rotary cutter and rulers are the same as what is sold today.

The big change is the Internet.  I can buy quality designer fabric online, take classes, watch youtube videos on any technique, interact with other quilters via blogs and message boards, share my projects and see all kinds of other quilt ideas all online for free.  I don't need to go to a quilt shop to attend a class, or ask about techniques.  I can see thousands of quilts online to get ideas about color choices and block types.

I am both saddened by the lack of updates, and a bit happy that technology hasn't taken over this age old tradition.

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