Blogiversary Giveaway Winner

It's been a week since my blogiversary post and its promise of a giveaway.  It is time to select a winner.  But before I do so, I thought I'd answer the poll questions myself.

1.  Who are your five favorite designers?

My five favorite designers in no particular order are Teresa Wentzler, Victoria Sampler, Blackbird Designs, Homespun Elegance and Prairie Schooler.  There are, of course, others that I enjoy very nearly as much but those are the top five.

2.  Name your five favorite LNS/ONS.

I order most frequently from 123stitch [ONS] and from the following brick and mortar shops: The Stitchery Row [Endicott,  NY], The Needle in a Haystack [Alameda, Ca], The Silver Needle [Tulsa, Ok] and The Corner Shop [whenever I make it up to Wiscasset, Maine ... it's been a while so I don't know if this shop still exists]

3.  Name your five favorite stitching themes.

Again these are listed in no particular order: Quakers, dragons, samplers [vintage and contemporary], Autumn, Christmas.

4.  Other then mine, of course [she said with tongue firmly in cheek], name your five favorite stitching blogs.

Blacksheep's Bit of the Web, Dani: Black Belt Stitching Wizard, Stitch Bitch, Mainely Stitching, and Karen's Handiwork.  Of course, I enjoy reading all the blogs on the reading list sidebar but if I had to pare it down to just five, these would be it ... though I might cheat a bit and add Stitching the Night Away in Illinois to make it six.

5. Name your five favorite stitching websites: these could be shops, designers, fiber/fabric/tools manufacturers, etc.
I enjoy visiting these sites: Caron, which has wonderful free charts and lots of interesting information on the fibers it manufactures; The Rainbow Gallery, also a good source of free charts and information about fibers; Kreinik, again another good source for free charts and interesting fibers; Monica Ferris, an author who writes about the owner of a stitchery shop; and finally, EGA.  I have an individual membership in the EGA and I enjoy browsing their site for useful information [tutorials and such] and their course listings ... one of these days I am going to sign up for one of the online classes.

And now, for the winner, selected using the online randomizer: #7 Calamity Jr.  I want to thank everyone for participating in my little survey,  I will be spending some pleasant hours exploring the sites that have been shared in the comments.  I hope all the participants in this very unscientific survey will also be visiting some "new-to-them"  sites.