When I began writing this column (March 1999), did I have any idea that I would still be sticking around writing about quilts in the year 2004? Yes, can you believe it? This is my 5th anniversary with Quilts and Quilting and Suite 101. Have there been any changes in quilting in these five years?
Probably the biggest change I see over the years is that machine quilting either by the big machines or the home sewing machine is quite well accepted by the quilting community. The hand quilter is still regarded as the traditional artist but the demand for handquilting has diminished. In this hurry-up world, few can wait 4 to 6 months for a quilt to be finished so they either find a quilting machine or tackle the job on their own home machine.
A change I am seeing the past few months is a trend away from the ecrus and browns of the past 5 or 6 years to pastel shades. I am pleased about that trend as I was a wee bit weary of brown. In the mid-80's I was looking for a true clear pink and could not find it anywhere because fabrics at that time had a greyed appearance. If you have some boxes of old fabric, take a look to see if you don't have some of those greyed fabrics stored away. It's very hard to use them now with our current fabrics.
I subscribe to only 2 quilt magazines and the latest issues show a lot of applique. One issue is nearly all devoted to redwork. I don't think redwork was that popular 5 years ago.
You may remember that I enjoy traditional patterns and right now I am working (maybe I should say "trying to work") on a "Trip Around the World" for our DIL (daughter in law). She and I cut all the strips, sewed them and got them ready to put together on our last visit to her home in Maryland. The idea was that it is difficult for me to do so much cutting, and I could finish the twin size quilt in no time when I returned home - - - Did I say "no time?" That was last November. Here it is March and I am knee deep in a photo editing project for #1 Son here in Nebraska of DH (dear husband)'s WWII photos. This editing is going much slower than I anticipated so the strips we made are mostly still strips. I have only about half of the top sewn but am shooting for end of May pieced, quilted, and bound.
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