Quilters are passionate about their hobby. I have one friend who actually built a huge walk-in closet onto her home just to hold all her fabrics for upcoming quilt projects. Her closet holds shelf after shelf of colorful ginghams and solids, enough to start her own fabric store. As many quilters are, she's a self-professed fabric addict.

There's no question in my mind, quilts are a labor of love. Carefully stored away in my closet are quilts made by my grandmother. She was raised on a farm, where quilts were a necessity, rather than a luxury. They are old and worn, but full of character. Here are some quilt sites of interest.

American Quilter's Society

Most dedicated quilters make a pilgrimage to Paducah, Kentucky at least once in their lives to visit the prestigious Museum of the American Quilter's Society. Their elaborate, award-winners are showcased here.

World Wide Quilting Page

Established in May 1994, this site is ancient by cyber standards. In fact, they reported logging their one millionth visitor in October of 1997.

With so much information, they include their own custom search engine to help find what you're seeking. If you scroll down, topics are listed with newer items highlighted. Their how-to section is quite extensive and easy to use and they up-date frequently.

Quilting With a Passion

At this site, you'll find good links to quilt discussions, quilting events and quilting how-to's, plus about 20 other topics. They even have a segment on quilt appraisal, cleaning and storage, which might come in handy.

This web site is an excellent compilation of various resources, collected and categorized for all quilt-related materials on the internet.

A Brief History of Quilting

If you're interested in this aspect of quilting, this is a good starting point. They have information on the origins of Amish, Hawaiian, Crazy Quilts, Depression and Linsey-Woolsey.

In addition, they include the history behind certain quilt blocks such as the Log Cabin and Drunkard's Path. One of their more noteworthy links is to quilt photos from the Smithsonian. Finally, there's some material on quilting in Japan and Italy.

Antebellum Quilts from the Shenandoah Valley

Historic quilts are a special interest of mine, and this site has a nice selection, with good color photos. The quilts date from the mid-1800s. Click on the quilt blocks on the far left side to bring up an image of the entire quilt. Some also have detail shots. Downloading the full photos will probably require a minute or two, at least it did on my PC.

Quilters Online Resource

This is an immense site with interesting links such as pen pals, swaps, software and of course, patterns. It qualifies as one of the more colorful quilting web sites. They offer a free mailing list for sharing ideas and techniques.

Kwik Squares

Beginners might want to check out this site, which has a basic explanation and diagram of what a quilt is, exactly. They go on to explain in some detail about blocks, stitching and other aspects of quilting, especially for the novice. Pertinent links are included in each section.