When I first read Craft Nectar’s article my feathers ruffled at the paragraph “Hiring designers based on the number of Instagram followers instead of talent will not save our industry. Deciding which books to publish based on the age of the author will not save our industry.” Ahhh ok, so a big fuck you to the millennials? She’s simply circling around the style vs. substance debate at the beginning of her post. Retirees have the purchasing power in her experience versus the online millennial generation. My grandmother wasn’t on Instagram; she didn’t care what kind of social media following you had. Could you show her a stitch, a pattern, a new way to work her fabrics? Then you had her attention and her money.
It was her next sentence ” Belittling other genres of quilting will definitely not save our industry. If you REALLY want to save our industry, here are a few things you can do:” that reined me in and soothed those previously ruffled feathers. Regardless of what people feel are the current trends in publishing and design why would anyone belittle a genre, a designer, a pattern? Why strike at someone with Instagram fame? Maybe you don’t respect the vehicle but respect the work that went into building those posts and cultivating a following. Design and marketing power? Maybe there are lessons Instagram can teach us to spread quilting to the next generation. With so many industries losing young interest fabric arts seem to be one of the few crafts that are gathering new followers. I can’t walk into my local Starbucks without some high school basics (i.e. pumpkin spice loving, yoga mat, leggings and puffy vest) stitching away. Granted I grew up in Portland, Oregon.
Her 6 points can apply to all industries and should be shared. So let’s gather the momentum and create a gallery of inclusion. Let’s enjoy this surge in interest and reward the artists, shops and magazines that put in the leg work every day to create. Please check out her article attached below and comment with your views. Time for a crafting discussion.
The past few years have brought tremendous changes to the world of quilting. Shops have closed by scores. Magazines and book publishers have shuttered or merged with other publishers. American Quilter Society has ceased publishing books all together. City Quilter in New York is closing. Tension has arisen at times between genres of quilters who […]
little history on the prairie 