Pirates of the Sewing World

What do these 2 pictures have in common?

I just read something that compared quilters to pirates... it made me smile. It may be true... lol! Quilters, as well as, embroidery enthusiasts, knitters, crocheters, paper crafters, etc. do not sail the seas looking for loot, but instead, fill trunks with bounties of ideas & treasures, following maps from one quilt shop to the next, coveting projects of fellow crafters, thumbing magazine pages, reflecting on history, & surfing the Internet. Quilters are like sponges always thirsting for something new... & always sure it can be made a better way!

If indeed, handwork junkies are pirates of sorts, it started with generations of women before 2008.... when patterns & homemaking ideas were passed by word of mouth, written letters, crudely penciled diagrams & templates cut from newspaper. In colonial times, women thought of patterns as community property... it was neglectful not to pass them from old to young! In the age of prairie women, it was a matter of survival to spread them... in the Retro-years, sharing was taken for granted... Now, in the 21st century, it is taboo to even discuss sharing patterns because of copyright infringement issues.
Of course, the creators, manufacturers & sellers of patterns & craft articles are due respect & just revenues.... this cannot be bypassed or denied either morally or lawfully. Modern day patterns are works of love & art with striking pictures, detailed instructions, convenient templates & handy hints contained in sleeves of resealable plastic or published in expensive printed forums. Quilt shops are amazingly comfortable & inspiring islands offering not-inexpensive-stages for women to gather, enjoy & gleen from storehouses of products. All of thi$, quilter$ are happily, willingly $ enjoyingly $upporting...
but oh, brother... please continue giving crafters a generous break! Afterall, there is such a fine line between pirating & traditional-sharing... educating-novices & infringing... stealing & being creative... making one & making enough for local craft fairs... etc., etc., etc. It all boggles the minds of stitchers!
Thank goodness that the gray oceans of the Granny Pirates are broad.... how many prisons it would take to house the crafting-bootleggers if they were all hauled in! With that being said, "Mums still the word, sewingrooms with shades pulled are still the places, & yes, patterns & ideas are still never shared in the 21st Century." However, just in case a sewing granny is lurking about, "The only way to keep an idea or pattern off the radar is never to make it or show it even one time!"