Quick Poll - Favorite Quilting Personality

Quilters get their "fix" any where they can. Between buying supplies at their local quilt shop or their not so local favorite online store and going to quilt shows put on by many guilds, quilters still look for more how-to's and who-is-doing-what through TV and internet shows. In the past ten years, many personalities have emerged as being the front-runners in quilter's hearts and minds.

In July 2010, we asked our website visiters who their favorite TV Quilting Personality was and the winner was clear. Out of 413 submissions, Pat Sloan won with over 44% of the vote followed by Eleanor Burns with 14%.

Pat Sloan has carved a niche using many forms of contemporary media. Between her numerous friends on her Facebook Page, her Creative Talk Radio show, and her diverse forum, websites and blog, Pat gets her message of creativity out to many quilters.

Pat started sewing as a child by making doll clothes and continued to sew clothing for herself until she discovered quilting. She has been quilting now for over 15 years. A few years ago, she started teaching and then decided to put her ideas into patterns.

Pat now runs Pat Sloan & Company located in Fairfax County, Virginia. She really enjoys designing patterns and seeing what other quilters do with my patterns. In addition to publishing her own patterns, Pat designs patterns for McCall's Quilting, McCall's Quick Quilts, American Patchwork & Quilting, Quilters World, Create & Decorate, and the Fons and Porter magazines.

Pat has designed several fabric lines with her favorite fabric company, P&B Textiles. She also loves working with her book publisher Leisure Arts and has done more than 15 books.

Eleanor Burns, best known for her "Quilt in a Day" series, books, patterns, and company, was our visitor's second favorite. Over thirty years ago Eleanor Burns introduced her first "Quilt in a Day" book, beginning a quilt making revolution. She invited all types of sewers to participate in an age-old tradition using her unique style; a diverse combination of cutting and sewing applications which replaced scissors and templates with rips and strips, bringing rotary speed to patchwork. She also introduced an incredibly rapid stitching system, applying the method of assembly line sewing to piecework. Her concise, step-by-step directions were easy to grasp, allowing anyone to be successful at making a quilt. Eleanor Burns gave quilt makers techniques that compacted months into merely a day, a quilt in a day. Today, as she continues to passionately devote herself to nurturing and motivating thousands of want-to be quilters with needed self-confidence, her name and techniques have become synonymous with quiltmaking.

Eleanor is also no slouch to social media with her friend count exceeding 3000 on her Facebook Page alone. Her quilt show can be seen on PBS, Quilters TV, QNN TV, RDFTV, and The Quilting School.com

Other favorites include Mark Lipinski, Alex Anderson, Ricky Tims, Marianne Fons, Jodie Davis, and Liz Porter. Many visitors just couldn't handle choosing between any of their beloved quilting icons with over 18% stating they "Love Them All."

No matter how they ranked here, you cannot argue that all of these quilting men and women have made a huge impact on our quilting industry.

We appreciate their tips and techniques; their drive and ambition; and most of all their creativity. We hope to see them all for many years to come.

Quick Links: