Some Web pages I Enjoy Visiting

Here are a selection of pages which I find enjoyable or useful to visit. Since they are concerned with needlework most of them are quite graphics heavy so will take a while to load if you have a slow connection.

I'm starting with a couple of pages with Stitching Information. Firstly, is Simply Samplers which is an interesting site containing lots of information about samplers, including a reference page discussing what the motifs on samplers mean.
Next is Stitch On Line which is an occasional online embroidery magazine produced by Linn Skinner, a friend from the Compuserve forum. Each issue contains an article about a particular embroidery subject, and is illustrated by photographs of pieces from Linn's visits to the Victoria and Albert textile galleries in London.
( American visitors may also be interested in her commercial site Skinner Sisters where she specialises in materials and designs from British sources.)

Next come the sites of some American Designers whose designs I enjoy looking at even when I know I'll never have the time to sew them!
Told in a Garden has the designs of Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum. She uses whole cross stitch and makes great use of specialist threads and beads, but the main thing I enjoy in her designs is her wonderful skill in shading. Some of her common subjects are Angels, Alphabets and Amish (also other things that don't begin with 'A' !) and I'm currently working on her Lavender and Lace design Celtic Christmas.
From the same family comes Mirabilia Designs . They use many of the same techniques as TIAG but the designs themselves are more other-worldly - the mermaid pictures I find especially beautiful.
Just Nan is well-known for her band samplers which are works of art involving many counted thread techniques beyond cross stitch. I do have some of her charts and will one day muster the courage to start one!
Vermillion Stitchery is the home page of Donna Vermillion Giampa who seems to have designs for every subject you can think of. Her alphabets are quite original.

One of the main pleasures in stitching is increasing your stash of needlework supplies <g>. So here are some of the places I go to spend money.
Willow Fabrics is a mail order company which supplies just about every thread or fabric you can think of. The prices are very reasonable, but there is a mailing charge of £1.50 so I usually wait until I need several things before placing an order.
The Stitch Depot is a shop in Petersfield, Hampshire which I sometimes visit, it is housed in 4 or 5 small rooms but manages to contain a profusion of goods. They also do mail order and are very helpful in tracking down items - mail order is free if you spend over £5.
I enjoy making cards (and when I'm feeling really insane make all my Christmas cards) and I find Craft Creations Limited has a wonderful range of all sizes, colours and types of cards. Their web site is also very interesting with free charts and links.
These next site is an American mail order company : Creative Hand Shoppe. I don't actually order anything from it (although supplies in America are a lot cheaper so it might be worth your while) but it is very handy for tracking down the latest designs from a wide range of companies.

Here are some sites where suppliers provide a showcase for their products which you can then order from your local needlweork store.
I love variegated threads so Caron Threads is a must-visit!
Rainbow Galleries Inc. manufactures many types of specialist thread and has some interesting free charts at their site which make use of these threads.
Wichelt Imports Home Page and Fabric Flair are both fabric manufacturers, and have images of their fabric at their home pages. (I find the Fabric Flair images make great background tiles for needlework pages!)

Finally, if you don't mind visiting a site with a really terrible name <G> here are two pages which contain literally hundreds of links to other craft Nerd World : CRAFTING and sewing Nerd World:SEWING sites.

Mail me   at janeb@knally.demon.co.uk if you have any needlework web pages that you particularly like visiting and if I have enough then next update I'll have a page of other people's favourites.

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