Quilts, Quilting, and Other Needleworks

World Wide Quilting Page is a marvellous starting point for quilt information on the internet. It has information about quilters, quilt patterns, quilt shows, and much much more. But my absolute favorite one is Quilt Chat-- a chat list, show listings, swap sign-ups, all kinds of cool stuff! Planet Patchwork is another one.

I think television is a great place to learn new skills. I love the quilting shows on HGTV and PBS especially. Some of my favorite quilters:

Some quilts really call out for hand-dyed fabrics. Here's a great place to find out some techniques for dying your own-- Prochemical and Dye Company. They have materials for sun prints, marbling, tie-dies, and more.

Some of my favorite quilt shops:

I also like to read, and when you have a mystery with a quilt in it, it's a sure bet. I have a page on Mystery Novels Featuring Quilts, and here's a bibliography of adult fiction and children's and young adult's fiction on quilts prepared by Betty Reynolds, who has a fantastic quilting page.

I don't spend all of my sewing time quilting. I make clothes, for myself and friends and family, and for my American Girl doll, Molly. Window treatments are my favorite sewing. I've made all the window treatments in my three story century old home. SewCity is an all purpose sewing sites, with all sorts of links. Check out their fashion links! My sewing machine is a Viking 6370 I've had for twenty years. The Viking site has sewing projects, links to some of the best home sewing and craft sites, and a chat room! I also like to do hand-sewing, especially counted cross stitch. (It gives me an excuse to watch television and keeps me awake if the program doesn't.) I like to knit, mostly pillows and baby sweaters, but an occasional sweater for myself, too. Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns is the book I'd take to a desert island. For my money, the best all aroung magazine is Threads, it's a class act, with information on clothing construction, quilting, knitting, etc. I'll give almost any kind of craft a try, but paper and cloth are my best mediums. A good place to fine craft information is CraftNet Village. I'm a big fan of Martha Stewart. I can never let a Michael's coupon go unused.

Some of my favorite sources are: