Calling all Mark Lipinski Fans – I don’t know if you noticed, but if you are a Mark Lipinski fan you have missed his mug and pug on the last few issues of Quilter’s Home Magazine. Back in September, he resigned as the editor. He promises that he will be having many new projects as well as signing on for several new episodes of Quilt Out Loud™. All American Crafts, Inc., announced in a press release that Mark Lipinski, has been named Creative Director of All American Crafts combined print and online content.

I was randomly searching the web, I came across several Online Quilting games. I was amazed that theses games existed. Keep in mind I visited these sites for a brief time. Some of the games might ask you to join their site or download a program. I did not see or have any problems with the sites being unsafe, but as with everything on the web, use your own judgement as you surf along.

Quilting is a 3.6 billion dollar industry as stated in the 2006 industry report “Quilting in America”. Per the report, 17 percent or 19.135 million of all U.S. Households reported having someone that participates in quilting. The total number of quilters in the U.S. now exceeds over 27 million. (1) Most of these quilting dollars are being spent through credit cards at local shops or via the internet making quilters a target of identity theft more than ever. Some have protected themselves by not shopping on the internet at all. Some find no increased risk in internet shopping.

The question remains, “are any of us safe from credit card fraud or identity theft?” Probably not, but some of us are definitely more safe than others.