Quilting has long been immensely popular all throughout the world as well as all throughout the United States as its own entity. After all, quilting even dates back to the ancient cultures found in Egypt as well as in China. with the oldest quilt ever traced back to around 3400 B.C., a quilt that is referred to as the Tristan quilt. During this time period, the first quilts were made by combining three layers of fabric – a top and a bottom with batting in the middle for warmth. The three layers were then stitched together to hold the middle one firmly in place.
Though quilts have certainly changed over the years that have elapsed since, quilting is still quite widely popular all throughout the country and the world as a whole. As a matter of fact, more than 20 million people in the United States alone would consider themselves quilters, meaning that very nearly 15% of all households in this country have at least one person in them who quilts, often on a very regular basis. And the industry for quilting is also one that is very much thriving, worth more than $3.5 billion in the United States as of data that was gathered in the year of 2014. In the years that have transpired since, this overall value has only continued to grow and grow – and will likely keep growing in the years that are ahead as well.
There are many reasons to quilt as well. For instance, quilting can even be used as art and for a political statement. To this day, the AIDS memorial quilt is the largest quilt that has ever been created. On its own, this quilt weighs up to a full 54 tons. It was used as a memorial to the victims of AIDS and the AIDS crisis, and served as a powerful statement about the toll that this health crisis had taken and, at the time that the quilt was created, was still taking. In fact, the creation of this memorial quilt was critical to the growth of the movement against AIDS.
Of course, not all quilts will be made on such a large scale. In fact, this won’t even be the case for the vast majority of all quilts made. Other types of quilts have become incredibly popular as well, as many t-shirt quilt makers will easily be able to attest to. T-shirt quilt makers represent a decent portion of the quilting population, as t-shirt quilts themselves are widely popular. But why are these t-shirt quilt makers currently so in vogue, so to speak?
For one thing, t-shirt quilt makers can transform old t-shirts into a brand new product. Not only will this continue the usefulness of old t-shirts or even other articles of clothing, but it reduces waste as well. After all, far too many people would have otherwise simply discarded the t-shirts in question. T-shirt quilt makers can very much prevent this from happening.
T-shirt quilt makers can also provide crucial memory quilts for a variety of different occasions. Memory quilt patterns are more vast and accessible than ever before, and memory quilt makers and t-shirt quilt makers can give an important gift to many a person. Consider the child who is going away to college, soon to be living outside of the home for the very first time. In such cases, presenting them with a custom memory quilt can help to ease what can often be a difficult separation, as many t-shirt quilt makers and memory quilt makers are well aware of. Such a custom quilt can also be ideal for parents, giving them a use for all the old baby clothes that their children have outgrown and preventing these articles of clothing from simply sitting in boxes in an attic or even a basement somewhere.
At the end of the day, there is no doubting the overall popularity of quilting. In fact, quilting has become only more and more popular as time has passed on. From handmade quilts to mass produced ones, quilts are easy to find in the United States and in many other parts of the world as a whole as well.
