RJR Posey Quilt Collection Some of the nicest pages are attached to business sites. Is it because many people who work in this area have a great love of the subject? This one features patchwork quilts. A Damn Scribbling Woman An essay on two nineteenth century USA authors who seem to have dropped out of sight in the UK. I was fortunate in that my Grandmother was an expert on them and I have inherited her appreciation of their storytelling, characters and scene setting. Books by Anna Warner and Susan Warner offer an insight into our recent past. Their own life stories make an interesting study too. Illustrated Women Dana Taramina's site devoted to the ink on a group of remarkable women. Apart from the pleasure of meeting these Ladies, many of the designs they sport are inspirational! Fulford Software Solutions This is the cross stitch design package I use - and heartily recommend. Features are described on these pages. I'll also emphasise the benefits of a healthy User Group and Newsletter. Well worth considering if you are looking for something to support your designing, or are frustrated by one of the other programmes about. You can download a demo version from this site. DMC The DMC company is a well respected manufacturer of embroidery items including hundreds of colours of six-strand embroidery floss. I design using their threads as I have found the colours to be consistent, and the quality excellent - they are colour fast for hand washing, are easy to work with and resist fraying. This site has a list of all the current colours and, importantly, there is an ecological statement. There is a UK version but I find the USA one more useful. Forest Stitchery Every new year I resolve to be organised and never to run out of things I know I'll need. Fortunately Wendy Thairs at Forest Stitching caters for people like me and can ship high quality items very quickly with good humour at a keen price. It was Wendy who rushed some threads to me in time to take experimental stitching for a fire-screen away with me. Willow Fabrics is a well known supplier in the UK. Their site is easy to use and comprehensive - the range of items tends to spark off ideas for projects. Changing the colour or texture of the background can change the whole effect of a design. They don't just do fabrics however - lots and lots of interesting goodies! Bibliofind There's something about old books. Treasure hunt, serendipity, last chances- this site is the nearest thing I've found to looking along the shelves of a wonderful second hand bookshop. Many booksellers from across the world and the search facility lets you browse - bliss! Aion Many embroidery sites are USA-based but this one is an excellent UK starting place for all sorts of cross-stitch related material. It's changed frequently, well presented and sets you off in lots of interesting directions. Future Publishing There are many cross stitch and embroidery magazines available at the moment. Future Publishing produce some of the best of these and their site has subscription and other information. Interestingly the stitching titles are grouped under "Women's Craft Titles" but one can't get sniffy because so is woodwork! The Computer Textile Design Group site is a real treat. I'm a member and really do recommend it. Be inspired... but it's for beginners as well. There's a printed newsletter with details of members' current projects, reviews of software and materials. CTDG also display at shows and exhibitions so it's worth looking out as you go round. Craft Creations This is the company that supplies many of the cards I use for mounting work. Good response times, courteous service and they carry lots of different items. Additionally there is a friendly and inspiring subscription magazine which is full of ideas for card making. This covers many techniques (including cross stitch!) and also includes designer profiles. Six Degrees There are a number of areas on the Web where people with common interests can get together. This is one of the most interesting as the "hook" is the opportunity to join up with other people you know, as well as make new acquaintances. Hard to describe and easy to do. The special interest group you are looking for is Cross Stitchers Anonymous. As well as chat, tips and shoulders to cry on there are usually a number of Round Robins going on. |
