Hancock’s of Paducah
This is the biggie – the site I check first when I’m looking for new lines, specific fabrics, or great bargains. They also send out catalogs that are fun to flip through for inspiration. They have a huge selection of quilting fabric in every style imaginable, as well as home dec fabric, notions, books, patterns, batting, you name it. You have several options for navigating the site – they have links for new fabrics, shopping by brand or searching by name, or my favorite – by theme. Are you looking for sale fabrics? Check their Closeouts links. Want cat fabric? There’s a link. Quilt backing, jelly rolls, charm packs, reproduction, conversational, children’s, food, modern? There are links to everything. I’ve purchased a lot of fabric here, and their prices are comparable to quilt shops – even better if you keep up with their closeout selections, which go as low as $3 per yard! They cut generously – usually a half yard (18″) is closer to 20″ or more. Their shipping is reasonable and generally very fast.

Connecting Threads
Connecting Threads is one of my favorite quilting book resources. They sell books, patterns, tools, notions, and their own line of threads and fabrics, including kits. Also with a mail order catalog, their site is a joy to use. Everything is clearly marked and easy to navigate. My favorite feature, though, is the “View More Images” button at the bottom of nearly every book. No more buying a book because you love the cover quilt, only to find that it’s the only project you like in the entire book! Here you can see as many as ten different projects from the book, so you know exactly what you’re getting.

Keepsake Quilting
Another mail order catalog, Keepsake Quilting has a great variety of fabric collections, books, patterns, supplies and even some fun collectibles. Their site has a variety of navigation options – want to see everything suitable for appliqué? Click on the Techniques link. Looking for a block of the month project? There’s a link. Keepsake Quilting will do the fabric selection work for you. They sell a lot of fabric medleys – collections of several fabrics, either in the same line or coordinating colors, that are sold as a group. They also offer unique die cut pieces, so you can buy a set of pre-cut leaves, hearts, octagons, butterflies, diamonds, triangles, stars, Christmas shapes, tumblers, circles, teddy bears, scottie dogs, and even dinosaurs! Because they cut their own, their charm pack and strip selections are fantastic. You aren’t limited to a single line, but can choose by color or theme. Neither are you limited to 5″ squares, as they offer 2″, 4″, 6″ and 10″ collections.

Fat Quarter Shop
Don’t the the name fool you, the Fat Quarter Shop isn’t limited to fat quarters. They offer charm packs, jelly rolls, layer cakes (10″ charm packs) (and hmmm, I’m getting hungry!), books, patterns, kits and yardage. Navigation is a breeze, and it’s a fun site to explore.

Fabric.com – All types of fabric, not just quilting, with some fantastic sales. Great shopping experience.

Fabric Depot – Also with many different types of fabric. Everything you can think of.

Color Tools

Choosing fabrics is one of the biggest stumbling blocks quilters face. Some people love it, but a surprising large number of quilters are uncertain about color. If you want to play it safe, choose fabrics from a single line, with an extra fabric or two thrown in for sparkle. For those who’d like to experiment with their color palette, try some of the tools below.

Color Schemer is a color matching application that you can purchase. However, people can upload their color schemes into the gallery, and viewing the gallery is free! You can browse the schemes, look at the most popular, and even search for keywords.

Color Wizard is a tool that will help you with those “fancy” color theory ideas like monochromatic, analogous, triadic, complementary, split complementary… Just drag the sliders (Red, Green & Blue) until you find a color you like, or click Randomize until something pops up that you can work with. You can click on any color you see to choose that color as your base. Then click the tabs for monochromatic, analogous, etc. color schemes.

Color Scheme Generator 2 is easier to use when defining the starting color, and it’s been updated so it’s much easier to adjust the colors, intensity and contrast. The biggest negative is that it’s a Flash site and you can’t click your back arrow to undo something. Click on the starting color in the ring, click on Mono, Contrast, Triad, etc. above the ring to choose your scheme, then click the “Adjust Scheme” tab below the ring to choose a different tint or shade and adjust the contrast.

Kuler has two functions – the main page allows you to create color schemes by choosing a starting color then clicking one of the categories – analogous, complementary, etc. You can also play with a custom combo where you move the points around on your own. It is very intuitive to use. Then click on the Explore link at the top left to find a collection of pre-selected color schemes, created by users. The schemes are limited to only five colors, and the schemes are not necessarily created by professionals, but it can trigger ideas.

Idee Multicolr Search Lab works with Flickr to show you photos that include colors you choose. Not really a color scheme generator, it’s still a great way to see how colors look together “in real life.” Add more colors by clicking on the color boxes, and your photos will change. (Thanks Kris!)

How value works in a quilt is important. Today’s quilts seem to be less about value and more about throwing everything in, but I still think understanding value is a “valuable” skill. (Hah!) If you really aren’t sure you have a handle on value as it relates to hues, check out this post by amy a la mode. It’s one of the best explanations I’ve seen lately, with a whole bunch of photos to illustrate her point.

Learning to Quilt

I’ll add to this section as I come across websites that present the information clearly, accurately, and without a ton of advertising.

McCall’s Lessons – McCall’s has a great collection of lessons for the beginner.

crazy mom quilts binding tutorial – Amandajean is a goddess. She makes beautiful, simple quilts, often completing a quilt in a week, and she has some of the best, most clear tutorials available. Her binding tutorial is a definite keeper. I’m sad to report that she is no longer blogging, but she has kindly left her blog out there as a resource.

Applying continuous binding – This is a fantastic tutorial in a single sheet format. The illustrations are clear and the writing is complete but concise.

Video

Isn’t the Internet fantastic?! You can actually watch videos about quilting right here on your computer. Here are some of my favorite sites:

Simply Quilts – For years, Alex Anderson had a show on HGTV called Simply Quilts. Although the show is no longer airing on television, you can view the episodes at the HGTV website. Use the search function if you’re looking for something specific, or just browse through the segments. Each video is less than 10 minutes, and the episodes are broken up into segments. You can find print versions of most of the projects – look under the video and you’ll see a link to “Get Free Step-by-Steps.” UPDATE: It looks like most of these videos have disappeared. There are just a few left.

The Quilt Show – Alex Anderson joined with Ricky Tims to create this website that includes videos. This site does require a subscription, but you can view a couple of free episodes to decide if it’s for you. Both Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims are highly respected quilters, and the videos are very well made.

Quilt As Desired

Do you hate this phrase, or do you consider it an invitation? Whichever applies to you, these links may help you finish that quilt.

Patsy Thompson Designs, Ltd. – Free motion quilting motifs for you to download in PDF format – free, of course!

365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs – Doesn’t the name just make you a little giddy? Leah Day is blogging every day with a new free motion design. Not just any free motion – actual FILLER designs, which to me is the holy grail of free motion designs. Sure, you can find designs for “continuous line” puppies and butterflies, but what about plain old overall designs? If you’re tired of meandering and looping, check out this blog – it will blow your mind.

Miscellaneous

Here’s all the stuff that doesn’t fit into a category.

Sew, Mama, Sew! – There’s a little bit of everything here – fabric shop, tutorials, blog, discussion forum – for every kind of sewing, not just quilting. The annual month of Christmas gift links is amazing, and that alone is worth adding the blog to your reader. Plus, they are very nice people!

Quilter’s Travel Companion
You may have seen this book, but did you know they had a website, too? Next time you’re going on a trip in the United States or Canada, check out the quilt shops along your route or near your destination. It doesn’t list every shop, only the ones who advertise with them, but it does have quite a few! The site is extremely easy to navigate using maps (click on either the US or Canada map at the top of the screen), so you can see where other shops are. Some shops have links to their websites directly from the map, while others show their ad from the book. Most ads list a website so you can look them up, too. Not only are there quilt shops, but they list quilt guilds and quilt shows, too! Again, everything is listed by maps, but the the shows are also listed by date below the maps. Remember, though – this site lists only shops that have advertised with them.

Amish Country Lanes Quilt Size Calculator – quilts come in every shape and size imaginable, but sometimes it’s nice to know exactly how big your quilt should be to cover your bed. There are “standard” sizes available everywhere on the web, but this site helps you calculate exactly what you need based on your bed’s dimensions, how far you want it to drop, even if you need it to cover a pillow or whether your bed has a footboard! It gives you a “standard” mattress size to start with, but you can tweak it with your exact dimensions. The only negative is that it provides standard sizes for full, queen and king only – if you want to make a twin size quilt you need to enter the bed’s dimensions.

Lily Street Quilts Fabric Calculator is a fantastic calculator to help you determine how much fabric you need for backing, borders and binding.

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