Thank you! 75,000 visits to Black Threads blog!

Yes, You Count! Many thanks to all who have visited the Black Threads blog since I started posting back in September 2006. I hope you've enjoyed these notes on African American quilts, quilters and other fanciful things. It has been my honor.

This evening I clicked on the map there on the right side, scroll down a bit. The map tracks each visit to the Black Threads blog. So, if you have visited 20 times, the map counts 20 times. Well, since 2006, there have been 75,000 visits!

I hope you continue to enjoy the Black Threads blog by:

• Clicking the posts in your favorite category. The categories or LABELS are at the bottom of each post or there on the right hand column. Click a LABEL and read more on that topic.
  
• Following the blog - sign up at right
• Receiving an email when there is a new post - sign up at right
• Continuing to share your quilting news - I'll try my best to post it!
• Telling a friend about the blog
  
• Leaving a comment - I'd love to hear from you! (The quilt here is "I Count" by Kyra E. Hicks) Thank you!

1.9 million African American Quilters

According to the Quilting in American study, there are 27.7 million quilters in the United States. The quilters spent more than $3.3 BILLION on quilting expenditures. The industry survey has been taken once every three years since 1994. The 2006 survey, according to one of the researchers I corresponded with, indicated that 7.1% of Quilting Households are African American. I've been tracking these figures since 1997. In the US today, that translates into an estimated 1.9 million Black Quilters. Wow!

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Quilting in America 2006

The quilt industry survey, Quilting in America 2006, has released topline results.

• Total quilters in the US now exceed 27 million! Up from 21.3 million in 2003.
• Total quilt industry spend.... $3.3 billion!
• The average "Dedicated Quilter," who spends over $600 per year on quilting-related purchases, represents 4.7% of all quilters... AND... account for 88% of total quilting expenditures!
• She, the average Dedicated Quilter, is about 59 years old, well educated (72% attended college), has quilted for 13.5 years, and spends $2,304 annually on quilting.
• She owns 2.6 sewing machines. Now, I thought this was silly until I stumbled over my second sewing machine on the way to the kitchen.
• She also purchased an average of 98.7 YARDS of fabric at a cost of $816.60 in the last 12 months. I'm sure that the THREE BOLTS of Nelson Mandela fabrics I purchased this summer DOES NOT count because I shared the yards with others!

Do these statistics represent you?

Grad Student looks for FL Quilters

Qadira Michele Davidson, a quilter since 1991 and painter, contacted me recently. She's a graduate student at Florida State University, Department of Art Education. She's "conducting a research study to find out more about contemporary African American quilt making in Florida and from the results draw implications for theory and practice in art education at the K-12 level."

If you are a Florida quilter and would like to share your experiences with Qadira, feel free to email her at qql0682@garnet.acns.fsu.edu or take her online survey at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=273262746149 All surveys must be completed by December 1, 2006.