ARTS & CULTURE
LABOR OF LOVE
Quilting seeing a revitalization as a way to preserve the past
STORY & PHOTOS BY MICHELLE WULFSON
Never make the mistake of suggesting to a quilter that their craft is a lost art .
“ I really do hate that wording , it is not lost by any means ,” Tall Pines Quilt Guild member D-Ann Gilmore said , correcting my naivety kindly , but firmly . If anything , it ’ s growing . It ’ s a billion dollar industry , Gilmore adds , and she ’ s not wrong . In 2014 , the quilting market was estimated to be worth $ 3.8 billion dollars and has consecutively grown each year to $ 4.2 billion in 2020 .
“ I think that it is an old memory because it ’ s been around for a long time so we think it ’ s lost , but I don ’ t think it is , I think it is totally revived ,” Gilmore said .
Quilting today is both a pursuit to preserve the past while continuing the forward motion of creating , as each generation builds on the craft to make it their own .
12 | HUNTSVILLE LIVING | MAY-JUNE 2021