Celebrating Quilting Excellence with Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting 2022 Readers’ Choice Award Recipients
Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting Readers’ Choice Awards 2022 Winners
We are thrilled to announce the winners of the first annual Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting Readers’ Choice survey, where nearly 2,000 dedicated members of the quilting community cast their votes for their favorite quilting products and brands. As you can imagine, the competition was fierce! The results are now in and we are excited to reveal the top contenders in each category.
For a full listing of winners and to learn more about the survey*, don’t miss the printed insert in the January/February 2023 issue of Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting Magazine.
Congratulations to all of the winners listed below (click on each category to view the winners)!
Sewing and Quilting Machines
Quilters are loyal fans of their machine brands! Whether you are a beginning quilter or a seasoned pro, you are lucky to have so many wonderful sewing and quilting machine brands to choose from.
Best Domestic Sewing Machine for Beginners
Best Domestic Sewing Machine for Quiltmaking
Best Midarm or Longarm Machine for Finishing
Quilting Fabric, Thread, and Notions
Quilters are obsessed with the tools of their trade – fabric, thread, and notions – and for good reason! The products we use are essential to creating beautiful quilts and handmade heirlooms. Whether you are just beginning to build your stash or have enough to last a lifetime, you’re sure to find a favorite brand among those listed below.
Best Brand of Solid Fabrics
Kona® Cotton by Robert Kaufman Fabrics
Bella Solids by Moda Fabrics
Riley Blake Designs™
Best Brand of Print Fabrics
Moda Fabrics
Riley Blake Designs™
Robert Kaufman Fabrics
Best Brand of Pre-cut Fabrics
Moda Fabrics
Riley Blake Designs™
Robert Kaufman Fabrics
Best for On-Demand Custom Fabric Printing
Spoonflower
JOANN MyFabric (Customizer)
ArtFabrics
Best Thread for Piecing
Aurifil
Gutermann
Coats & Clark
Best Thread for Quilting
Best Quilting Needles
Cutting Tools
From the simplest pair of scissors to the most complex cutting system, a quilter’s toolbox is likely to contain many options for cutting quilt fabrics with accuracy and ease. Read on for our readers’ preferred brands of cutting tools.
Best Die-Cutting System
AccuQuilt® Go!
Brother ScanNCut
Cricut® Cuttlebug
Best Scissors
Gingher®
Fiskars®
Karen Kay Buckley
Best Rotary Cutter
OLFA®
Martelli®
Quilters Select®
Best Cutting Mat
Rulers and Templates
Accuracy in measuring and marking fabric is a key to creating perfect patchwork. Our readers chose their favorite rulers and templates from a comprehensive list.
Best Rulers
Creative Grids®
Omnigrid®
Quilter’s Select® Non-Slip Quilting Ruler
Best Templates
Shop ‘til you Drop
Quilters not only love fabric; they also love to shop for their favorite brands from well-stocked retailers. Where do they shop? Read on for their favorite online and brick-and-mortar stores!
Best Online Store for Fabric
Missouri Star Quilt Co
Fat Quarter Shop
Hancock’s of Paducah
Best Online Store for Selection of Precuts
Missouri Star Quilt Co.
Fat Quarter Shop
Keepsake Quilting
Best Online Store for Quilt Supplies
Missouri Star Quilt Co.
Fat Quarter Shop
Keepsake Quilting
Best Chain Store for Quilting Supplies
JOANN Fabrics
Hobby Lobby
Michael’s
Best Chain Store for Fabric
JOANN Fabrics
Hobby Lobby
Walmart
Best Independent Quilt Shop
Quilted Joy
Missouri Star Quilt Co.
Jordan Fabrics
Best Kits
Quilting Software
Quilters are dedicated designers with a working knowledge of how to use software to its best advantage. Read on for a list of winners in this category.
Best Quilt Design Software
Electric Quilt EQ8
Baby Lock Pro-Stitcher
Brother’s Advanced Quilt Design
Best Longarm Software
Baby Lock Pro-Stitcher Premium
APQS Quilt Path
Gammill CreativeStudio
Best Digitized Quilt Designs
Handi Quilter
Urban Elementz/Patricia E. Ritter
My Creative Stitches
Irons / Ironing Accessories
Ask any quilter: an iron is an essential tool, and a great iron makes all the difference! Ironing surfaces and accessories are also important tools for the dedicated quilt enthusiast.
Best Multi-Purpose Iron
Rowenta
Oliso® TG160 ProPlus
Black & Decker
Best Mini Iron
Oliso ®M2PRO Mini Project Iron
Clover
Rowenta
Best Ironing Board
Best Ironing Surface
Sonoma Wool Company 100% Wool All Natural Pressing Pad
June Tailor®
The Gypsy Quilter
Best Pressing Spray
Batting and Interfacing
Often what you can’t see – the batting and stabilizers – can make all the differences. Readers know that quality stabilizers and batting can make all the difference.
Best Cotton Batting
The Warm Company®
Quilter’s Dream® Cotton Batting
Hobbs Heirloom® Premium Cotton Batting
Best Wool Batting
Quilters Dream® Batting
Hobbs Heirloom® Wool Batting
Hobbs Tuscany Wool Batting
Top Polyester/Blend Batting
Hobbs Heirloom® Premium 80/20 Batting
Quilters Dream®
The Warm Company®
Best Fusible Web
Pellon®
Steam-a-Seam 2® by Warm Company®
HeatnBond® by Thermoweb
Best Stabilizer Product
Cruise and Learn
Looking for the best quilt show, exhibit, retreat, or vacation in the near future? Read on for reader recommendations.
Best Quilting Cruise or Tour Company
Country Heritage Tours
Quilt & Cruise
Quilt Seminar at Sea
Best Quilting Retreat/Workshop
Missouri Star Quilt Co. Retreats
Stitchn’ Heaven
Handi Quilter Retreats
Best National Quilt Show
AQS Quilt Week
International Quilt Festival, Houston
Original Sewing and Quilt Expo
Best Regional Quilt Show
Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show
The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show
Smokey Mountain Quilt Fest
Best Quilt Museum/Exhibit
The National Quilt Museum
International Quilt Museum, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Missouri Quilt Museum
Quilt Furniture and Essentials
Readers love designing their sewing spaces with fine sewing furniture and top-of-the-line accessories. Read on for their recommendations.
Best Sewing Table/Cabinet
Koala Studios Sewing Cabinets
Horn of America
Bernina Sewing Studio
Best Quilt Frame for Mid- or Longarm Machine
APQS Standard or Deluxe Table
Handi Quilter Studio 2
The Grace Company Continuum
Best Sewing Chair
Koala Sewcomfort
Arrow Hydraulic
Janome Sewing Chair
Best Light Table
Daylight Wafer
Riley Blake®
Cutterpillar
Best Thread Rack
June Tailor®
Dritz®
Martelli® RNK Easy Access Thread Rack
Best Light or Lamp
OttLite®
Daylight Company
Bendable Bright Light™
Top Five Quilt Pattern Designers
Angela Huffman
Bonnie Hunter
Tula Pink
McKenna Ryan
Kim Diehl
Best Quilty Gifts
Missouri Star Quilt Co.
Riley Blake Designs™
Moda
Best Book Publisher
Martingale®
C&T Publishing
Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns by Barbara Brackman
About the Reader’s Choice Survey
*The Readers’ Choice is not a scientific survey or an editorial analysis but democracy-in-action. This program is run by the Golden Peak Media sales and marketing. The voting was conducted via online ballot. Readers were notified of the ballot through direct emails and online advertisements linking to the ballot across Golden Peak Media’s network of websites. The ballot consisted of 50+ categories encompassing machines, tools, fabric, thread, retailers, patterns, educational resources, destinations, and personalities. In total, dozens of firms were listed on the official online ballot and voters were also given the option of writing in any firms not seen listed; a number of companies received votes via the write-in option. Ultimately, the goal was to make the voting as inclusive as possible.
I started out at the age of twelve on a Singer Featherweight portable . Mom had turned in Nana’s ancient Singer treadle housed in a wooden cabinet. How I would LOVE to have that now! Anyway, my sister, Joan, a college student, got to take the lessons and she taught me what she learned. I took to it like a duck to water and Joan used to joke that I had surpassed her. For me, it wasn’t a so much a matter of talent as an innate perfectionist streak. Being a perfectionist is a bit of a curse and I’ve learned over the years to judge wheat does or doesn’t need to be perfect, such as, children’s play clothes vs a Mother of the Bride dress. 😉