Quilting is a $4 Billion Industry in the US

The CBS News Sunday Morning show recently had a 7 minute long segment on quilting.  And if you like bad quilting puns, this video will leave you in stitches (click on this link and then look for "Quilts for Sale"). 

According to the report quilting is a $4 billion industry, there are 27 million quilters in the U.S., and about 55,000 showed up at a big quilting show in Houston.  Quilting even has celebrities, with Ricky Tims apparently being the biggest, and TV shows.

My favorite part of the story is when they talk about a $18,000 computer-aided sewing machine.  This machine provides quilters with the ability to produce multiple copies of a quilt design.  Very cool and a great example of technology enabling small artisan businesses.

I first heard about this on the Patchwork Pearl blog, which pointed out:

"Many opinions are out there on this one, but from my (business perspective), it certainly raised the profile of this booming industry.  I think that pieces such as this help professionals remember that there is a big pie out there."

Quilting is yet another example of a next gen artisan industry.