Despite a cold front sweeping through the nation, the 2025 Local Quilt Shop Contest is off to a sizzling start! With over 1,200 stores in the running and more than 16,000 votes already cast, the competition is more intense than ever.
Quilters and craft enthusiasts are rallying behind their favorite shops, making their voices heard through votes.
In Ohio alone, nearly 60 stores have joined the contest, accumulating over 800 votes so far.
Meanwhile, Texas is setting a new record with 95 participating shops, the highest number ever recorded at this stage of the competition.
Michigan is proving to be a battleground, with three stores already surpassing 100 votes. These contenders are fiercely competing for the regional title, making for an exciting race.
One of the most remarkable stories comes from the vast plains of Niobrara County, Wyoming.
Despite being the least populated county in the least populated state, Niobrara is home to Lickety Stitch Quilts — a front-runner in this year’s contest.
This shop has consistently ranked within the top 20 international quilt shops, showcasing that even remote businesses can make a significant impact.
Another shop has already made a name for themselves in their local paper —
Always in Stitches was recently featured in the Hamilton County Reporter.
By getting their name out to the greater local community, Always in Stitches helped launch themselves into 27th place on the LQS leaderboard as of January 31, 2025.
As always, any store can submit a press release to their local news outlet to receive free promotion. Stores can find a press release template here.
The competition is just beginning, yet 75 shops have already reached 50 votes—the minimum threshold to potentially earn a prize.
As the contest continues, that number is expected to rise.
With plenty of time left in the race, there’s still an opportunity for quilt lovers to make a difference.
Every vote counts, so be sure to support a favorite local shop.
And don’t forget to spread the word—friends and family can help ensure these beloved quilt shops get the recognition they deserve!
Can’t find sew focus 😕
If your favorite shop is not listed, there’s a good chance they have not verified their shop yet. The good news is you can still vote for them! Just click “other/not listed” and you will be able to fill in the name of your favorite shop and we will count your vote towards them.
Do you have the marketing material (news paper story, specifically) in another format? It would be great to have it in .jpg, .png and .pdf. Maybe I’m not looking in the right place?
Also, where do I find the learderboard?
Thank you!
Hi Judy,
Right now, we only have the press release template available as an editable .docx. If we saved it as another format, it would not be customizable to each store and newspaper. You can always manually save the press release as a .pdf onto your computer, by filling out the .docx and clicking “save as”. You can find all the assets including the press release template at this link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1mb3t7jAVoCzvFmW9EQBior8nAr_FMNhI&usp=drive_fs
Our leaderboard can be found by pressing the menu button on the sidebar and then clicking “leaderboard”. You can also find it at this link: https://www.lqscontest.com/leaderboard/