According the recent Quilting in America 2006 survey sponsored by Quilter's Newsletter Magazine the dedicated quilter is:
* Female
* 59 years old
* Well educated (72% attended college)
* Affluent ($87,026 household income)
* Spend on average $2,304 per year on quilting
* Quilting for an average of 13.5 years
I am much younger than the dedicated quilter and I know that $2,304 in quilting supplies, classes, etc. does not get you very far! This survey tells me that the dedicated quilter is likely retired or close to retirement which means I have many more years of quilting ahead of me! Yahoo!
Something else that I found interesting the survey is that the average dedicated quilter owns an average of 2.6 sewing machines and 24% own more than 4 machines! If I count my retired Kenmore, my antique Singer, my Bernina that is used for piecing, and my APQS long arm, I own 4 machines!
Finally, 4.7% of all quilters are dedicated quilters and account for 88% of total quilting industry expenditures. That means that if the remaining 95.3% of the quilters out there started to spend anywhere near what the minority or dedicated quilter spends on quilting, there would be an explosion to the quilting industry!
Check the survey out yourself; it is an interesting read: http://www.quilts.com/home/news/index.php?page=announcements/index
how intersting...if you don't count buying a new machine, I am way under that average spending amount this year!
ReplyDeleteI found this very interesting when I first saw it. I'm exactly the right age, right sex of course, have a college degree, have an income that high if you count both of us, spend at least that much on quilting each year - often much more - and own 5 machines if you count the longarm and the serger. The only place I vary much at all is in the length of time I've been quilting - well over 20 years. So I feel I fit the average very well! I think I'm definitely part of that 4.7% also - at least as much as I can be while I'm still working!
ReplyDeleteI read this article too. I am only 45, have attended college, between DH and I we make more than the average income, I don't know how much I spend in a year on quilting and I've only been quilting for a little over 2 years. I have 3 sewing machines, but only use one of them.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was an interesting article.
neat survey stats. I too am "under age", with many years of quilting to look forward to. And I really wish I had the average income and disposable income for the purchases listed here! I'd be in seventh heaven... Ah well, single parenthood and the decision to work in the church in a support role have their costs...
ReplyDeleteI'm much too poor, and have been quilting way too long. Otherwise, I qualify. =) I'll have to go read the article now.
ReplyDeleteFun statistics! I'm a smidge younger, and I probably spend more than that per year, but I try not to tally up the $$$.
ReplyDeleteJeanne :)
Hi Norma, what an interesting survey. I guess I fit into most of the criteria...but no longer spend anywhere near that much in a year.
ReplyDeletehugs,finn
How interesting especially the statistics on spending - I agree with you that $2,000 does not go far... (I spend close to that in long-arming alone.)
ReplyDeleteI also am well under the avg. age/income/machine number, etc. Here's top retirement - when I will be using up what I bought during my working years! Tee Hee, even I don't believe that one!
These are interesting statistics, Norma. Thank you for sharing them. I'm younger and much poorer, but at least I know what direction I am headed! And when I get there, the quilting average is sure to go up tremendously.
ReplyDelete