Quilting on the decline? Like singingquilter I wouldn't think so. It goes through a so-called revival during every economic downturn and every time "nesting" becomes fashionable again.
    Lots of people quilt bed coverings, clothing and other household articles. Some use traditional patterns, some follow their own creative designs (that's what I tend to do). Some putter on their own, others belong to a guild; some make them by hand, others by machine and yet others do both. Some buy new cloth, some collect old cloth and/or garments, some exclusively use clothing scraps and only use yard goods for the backings, but most of us are textile whores, we'll get a piece anywhere we can!
Most of our spouses suffer from our constant battle with cloth acquisition syndrome.
    In whatever form, the art and craft is alive and flourishing. While regular fabric stores are (at best) consolidating their locations, quilt fabric specialists are holding their own. They were the first fabric folks to market and sell online and still seem to have a better internet presence than mainstream fabric stores.