Looking at the history of home sewing provides some clues. According to A History of the Paper Pattern Industry: The Home Dressmaking Fashion Revolution, several key developments took place between 1825 and 1850. The growing availability of sewing machines played a major role, but another crucial shift was the invention of inexpensive paper, thanks to steam-powered paper-making machines. This led to an explosion of affordable dressmaking publications and patterns. Additionally, the expansion of the national postal system made it possible to order patterns by mail—even from remote areas.

Over a hundred years later, quilting saw another wave of innovation. In 1979, the introduction of the rotary cutter revolutionized the craft by allowing quilters to cut fabric with speed and precision—far more efficiently than traditional scissors. While sewing machines had long been used for piecing quilt tops, hand quilting remained the standard for finishing a quilt. It wasn’t until the 1980s that machine quilting gained broad acceptance in the quilting community. As sewing machine technology improved, machine quilting allowed for faster completion and more intricate designs, paving the way for new creative possibilities.

By the late 20th and early 21st centuries, computer software programs enabled quilters not only to design their own patterns but even to automate quilting itself through computerized sewing and embroidery machines. Long-arm quilting machines further transformed the process, making it easier to create intricate stitching designs on large quilts.