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Celebrating Quilting Excellence with Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting 2022 Readers’ Choice Award Recipients

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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

Janome
Baby Lock
Brother

Best Domestic Sewing Machine for Quiltmaking

Bernina
Baby Lock
Janome

Best Midarm or Longarm Machine for Finishing

Handi Quilter
APQS
Gammill

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

Aurifil
Superior
Guterman

Best Quilting Needles

Schmetz
Groz-Beckert
Klasse®

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

OLFA®
Omnigrid®
Martelli®

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

Creative Grids
Bloc Loc
Marti Michell

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

Missouri Star Quilt Co.
Shabby Fabrics
Keepsake Quilting

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

Rowenta
Reliable
Sullivan’s

Best Ironing Surface

Sonoma Wool Company 100% Wool All Natural Pressing Pad
June Tailor®
The Gypsy Quilter

Best Pressing Spray

Mary Ellen’s
Faultless®
Niagara®

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

Pellon®
OESD Stabilizer
Sulky

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.

Join the Conversation!

  1. 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. 😉