Around and Around

Remember webrings?

When I first started blogging--back when we had to walk ten miles to school and home again, uphill each way because cars hadn't been invented yet--there were webrings. Well, there still ARE webrings, really, but it's not quite the same, I think.

Back then, blog surfing was much harder. The simplest way to discover new blogs was to come upon a webring member and click the "next" on the ring badge and travel from blog to blog, around and around the ring. If you were lucky, you'd stumble upon a member who belonged to two rings, and then you could click the "next" on the other ring badge and discover a whole other group of quilt bloggers.

Back then, I thought about joining a webring. There were Quilt Mavericks (headed up by Bonnie Hunter); Stash Quilts (where I found Vicky of LA Quilter--who is still working that stash); and Heartstrings--I'm pretty sure there are more webrings but I've forgotten what they are. I remember reading at the time what each group focused on and/or required of its members and I didn't think I really fit into any one group very well. Of course, not being part of a ring meant it would be hard for anyone to find my little blog, but that was okay--I enjoyed chatting with the people whose blogs I'd found through the webrings, and they often paid back the visit. After awhile, it seemed like I was getting a little more company and that was fun.

Of course, over the years, blog surfing became easier. Widgets were developed to allow us to post blogrolls in our sidebars with links to other blogs. The best, I think, are the ones that include photos, don't you? More often than not, they entice me into visiting new blogs.

And speaking of "new" blogs, there are TONS of quilt blogs now, aren't there? I'm afraid I've become a little bit overwhelmed with the variety--I just don't know where to start, but more importantly, I don't know where to STOP, and then suddenly it's 2 a.m. and I have to get up for work in five hours! Yikes!

The absolute best thing about visiting quilt blogs--if I had to pick only one thing--is the inspiration that's found in seeing what other people are doing.

I'd like to pick your brain about quilt blogs and I know the best way to get you to leave a comment is by bribing you, so here's the deal. You tell me about your three favorite quilt blogs--the less well known the better because I already KNOW about Bonnie Hunter, Happy Zombie, various designers, etc. I'll randomly pick a commenter, and that person will win a little something. I'm not sure what that little something will be yet--I'll have to look around and see what I have, and it might be something like a pattern or two or some charms--something fun but not hugely valuable. I'll see what I have to offer as a prize and post a photo tomorrow (Sunday's post) and then I'll draw a winner Sunday night to be announced on Monday's post. And maybe we'll all find some new inspiration in blogs we didn't know about before. Kind of like I did when I discovered webrings.