Nearly 700 people responded to my survey over the past few weeks. Although it’s safe to assume that the results are skewed toward people who were not offended by my earlier posts, the results are full of all sorts of interesting bits. Except for the first question, all responses are sorted in descending order. The first question is also the only question that allowed just one box to be checked. I’ll be posting some of the “Other” comments I received for each of the questions over the next day or two.
| 1. What skill level do you consider yourself? | ||
| Answer Options | Percent | Count |
| I’d like to learn to quilt someday | 0.3% | 2 |
| Newbie Quilter | 4.3% | 30 |
| Adventurous Beginning Quilter | 22.5% | 155 |
| Intermediate Quilter | 28.0% | 193 |
| Adventurous Intermediate Quilter | 26.7% | 184 |
| Skilled Quilter | 19.6% | 135 |
| Master Quilter | 1.4% | 10 |
| answered question | 690 | 690 |
| skipped question | 2 | 2 |
| 2. What techniques do you use? | ||
| Answer Options | Percent | Count |
| Half Square Triangles | 88.9% | 614 |
| Chain Piecing | 86.1% | 595 |
| Strip Piecing | 83.2% | 575 |
| Squares and Rectangles measuring 2″ or smaller | 70.3% | 486 |
| Flying Geese | 67.7% | 468 |
| Quarter Square Triangles | 62.7% | 433 |
| Foundation (Paper) Piecing | 61.1% | 422 |
| Fusible Machine Applique | 59.0% | 408 |
| Squares and Rectangles only, measuring 2 1/2″ or larger | 55.3% | 382 |
| Hand Applique | 49.3% | 341 |
| Partial Seams/Y Seams/Set In Seams | 46.5% | 321 |
| Curves | 46.0% | 318 |
| Other Size Triangles (60 degree, 30 degree, etc.) | 45.9% | 317 |
| Templates | 45.0% | 311 |
| Raw Edge Machine Applique | 44.1% | 305 |
| Embroidery | 43.4% | 300 |
| Improvisational/Wonky/Free Pieced | 43.1% | 298 |
| One Patch – NOT Square or Rectangle (Hexagons, Tumblers, Pyramids, Apple Core) | 33.3% | 230 |
| Hand Piecing | 31.3% | 216 |
| Stack & Whack (Kaleidoscope) | 26.8% | 185 |
| Bargello | 13.7% | 95 |
| Pre-cut shapes (AcuQuilt Go Cutter or purchased shapes) | 13.6% | 94 |
| Other (please specify) | 10.3% | 71 |
| Trapunto | 8.2% | 57 |
| answered question | 691 | 691 |
| skipped question | 1 | 1 |
| 3. What size quilts do you make? | ||
| Answer Options | Percent | Count |
| Lap Quilts | 84.9% | 587 |
| Baby Quilts | 76.3% | 527 |
| Full/Queen Bed Quilts | 68.6% | 474 |
| Twin Bed Quilts | 64.0% | 442 |
| Small Quilts (under 36″) | 52.0% | 359 |
| King Bed Quilts | 27.9% | 193 |
| Mini Quilts (under 18″) | 27.8% | 192 |
| Mug Rugs | 21.9% | 151 |
| Other (please specify) | 8.4% | 58 |
| answered question | 691 | 691 |
| skipped question | 1 | 1 |
| 4. How do you create your quilts? | ||
| Answer Options | Percent | Count |
| Use patterns sometimes | 70.2% | 486 |
| Use quilt pictures as a guide, but figure out the piecing on my own | 66.0% | 457 |
| Create my own quilt patterns with traditional blocks on paper | 37.4% | 259 |
| Create quilt designs entirely on my own on paper | 34.7% | 240 |
| Follow detailed patterns only | 16.0% | 111 |
| Create my own quilt patterns with traditional blocks using quilt design software | 16.0% | 111 |
| Other (please specify) | 12.9% | 89 |
| Create quilt designs entirely on my own using quilt design software | 10.5% | 73 |
| answered question | 692 | 692 |
| skipped question | 0 | 0 |
| 5. What fabric styles do you use? | ||
| Answer Options | Percent | Count |
| Solids and Near Solids (Kona, Moda Bella, Shot Cotton, Linen, etc.) | 70.5% | 488 |
| Brights | 61.8% | 428 |
| Tone on Tone | 60.3% | 417 |
| Neutrals | 60.0% | 415 |
| Small Scale Modern Prints | 59.2% | 410 |
| Batiks | 56.6% | 392 |
| Modern Florals | 49.7% | 344 |
| Jewel Tones | 48.8% | 338 |
| Holiday/Seasonal | 48.1% | 333 |
| Large Scale Modern Prints | 46.4% | 321 |
| Children’s | 44.8% | 310 |
| Geometrics | 44.1% | 305 |
| Celebrity Designers | 42.1% | 291 |
| Modern Retro | 41.5% | 287 |
| Novelty | 40.9% | 283 |
| Current Traditional (French General, etc.) | 39.3% | 272 |
| 30’s Repros | 38.3% | 265 |
| Romantic Florals | 37.0% | 256 |
| Civil War Reproduction | 33.1% | 229 |
| Pastels | 31.1% | 215 |
| Traditional (Kansas Troubles, etc.) | 30.1% | 208 |
| Words, letters and numbers | 28.2% | 195 |
| Oriental | 24.1% | 167 |
| Homespun | 23.0% | 159 |
| Other Weight/Texture Fabrics (Minkee, Kona Crush, Corduroy, Voile, Sateen) | 19.9% | 138 |
| Other (please specify) | 13.7% | 95 |
| answered question | 692 | 692 |
| skipped question | 0 | 0 |
| 6. In what format you do buy your fabric? | ||
| Answer Options | Percent | Count |
| Yardage, coordinating fabrics that I like regardless of the fabric lines | 83.4% | 574 |
| Fat Quarters, coordinating fabrics that I like regardless of the fabric lines | 64.2% | 442 |
| Pre-cut fabric bundles from a single line (Fat Quarter, Strips, 10″ squares, 5″ squares) | 51.3% | 353 |
| Yardage, choosing fabrics mostly from a single line but adding some others (other than solids) | 30.7% | 211 |
| Fat Quarters, choosing fabrics mostly from a single line but adding some others (other than solids) | 23.8% | 164 |
| Fat Quarters, choosing coordinating fabrics from a single line (plus solids) | 21.8% | 150 |
| Yardge, choosing coordinating fabrics from a single line (plus solids) | 21.2% | 146 |
| Yardage bundles encompassing all or part of a fabric line (Half Yard or Larger) | 15.3% | 105 |
| Other (please specify) | 11.5% | 79 |
| answered question | 688 | 688 |
| skipped question | 4 | 4 |
| 7. How do you finish your quilts? | ||
| Answer Options | Percent | Count |
| Straight line quilting on my domestic sewing machine | 65.9% | 455 |
| Free motion quilting on my domestic sewing machine | 57.8% | 399 |
| Hand quilting | 32.9% | 227 |
| Pay to have them professionally quilted | 32.0% | 221 |
| Free motion quilting on my quilting frame – longarm or short arm | 14.3% | 99 |
| I don’t – I have a dozen quilt tops waiting to be finished | 10.1% | 70 |
| Tied | 9.7% | 67 |
| Other (please specify) | 8.6% | 59 |
| Pantographs or stencils on my quilting frame | 8.3% | 57 |
| answered question | 690 | 690 |
| skipped question | 2 | 2 |
| 8. What do you struggle with in quilting? | ||
| Answer Options | Percent | Count |
| Finding time because of family or work commitments | 59.0% | 404 |
| Getting distracted by new ideas | 56.4% | 386 |
| Getting sidetracked by the computer (blogs, Flickr, EQ7) | 45.5% | 312 |
| Fabric and color selection | 21.0% | 144 |
| Accuracy – quarter inch seams | 18.0% | 123 |
| Other (please specify) | 15.2% | 104 |
| Accuracy – cutting fabric | 14.3% | 98 |
| Losing interest in a project halfway through (because you no longer like it) | 13.3% | 91 |
| Learning new techniques | 10.5% | 72 |
| answered question | 685 | 685 |
| skipped question | 7 | 7 |
| 9. How do you document your inspirations and design ideas? | ||
| Answer Options | Percent | Count |
| I keep an inspiration notebook where I jot down ideas and sketches | 46.3% | 316 |
| I have an inspiration wall, board or folder where I put photos, fabric swatches, etc. | 32.9% | 225 |
| I draw designs on graph paper | 31.5% | 215 |
| I use Flickr (or other photo sharing site) Favorites and Galleries | 26.9% | 184 |
| I don’t keep track of ideas! I forget more ideas than I make. | 24.5% | 167 |
| Other (please specify) | 18.4% | 126 |
| I use EQ6/EQ7/other quilt design software | 10.7% | 73 |
| answered question | 683 | 683 |
| skipped question | 9 | 9 |
| 10. How do you document your quilts? | ||
| Answer Options | Percent | Count |
| I attach a label with the basic information – my name, date, location, and who it’s for. | 50.7% | 350 |
| I keep a photo album of quilts I’ve made. | 50.6% | 349 |
| I post final photos and a brief description on my blog or in my Flickr (or other photo sharing site) photostream | 41.3% | 285 |
| I write about the process on my blog, including progress reports. | 30.0% | 207 |
| I don’t. Once they’re done, they’re gone. | 13.8% | 95 |
| Other (please specify) | 13.6% | 94 |
| I keep a journal with my design process, challenges I had during the construction, when I started and completed the quilt, who I gave it to, their response, and photos of the quilt. | 8.7% | 60 |
| I journal on the label, including a story about the quilt, the recipient, or my design inspiration. | 3.2% | 22 |
| answered question | 690 | 690 |
| skipped question | 2 | 2 |
Piecemeal Quilts 
Thanks for all the work you did getting this survey together.
It is interesting to see what people had to say. Will you releasing the “other” comments at a later date.
It says we have 10 MasterQuilters who took the survey. I hope they will come forward and give us techniques and tips? That would be great.
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing!