Welcome back!
Breaking news!!! I am SO EXCITED about everything that’s happening with The Quilting Connection and some of the talented quilters that partner with us!!! (I planned to finish my ‘how to’ tips for completing your quilt back this post. Next time … I promise!)
What’s so exciting? Awards, new products to offer, and a phenomenal fall class schedule! Ready for the details?
Awards to Celebrate!
Earlier this month, The Quilting Connection was awarded the 2024 Highest Volume Purchases award for Handi Quilter’s Midwest region!
Rick and I were honored to accept these awards. It’s appreciated to be recognized by Handi Quilter, but even more importantly, it’s testimony to the trust and support you give us as members of The Quilting Connection community! Without you, none of this would be possible!
Thank you!!!
Now to share the spotlight!
Have you ever had the opportunity to attend AQS QuiltWeek in Paducah? The quilts on display are absolutely magnificent! Well, this year the quilter of the quilt awarded 1st Place Small Wall Quilts: Movable Machine Quilted category was none other than Wendy Fuller!
Quilter: Lorraine Stenoish Pattern: A Paradise of Birds designed by Irene Blanck
Many of you know Wendy as an award-winning quilter from the Green Bay area and instructor of our popular Free Motion classes. (By the way, check out the schedule for Wendy’s next series of classes! Just keep reading!)
And we also want to give kudos to Fabric Bash. They earned Handi Quilter’s Rookie of the Year award! You may remember that Cathy Thayer from Fabric Bash taught our Quilt Path class in early May. She traveled to Elkhorn from Nebraska to share her knowledge and talents with us!
(You’ll be hearing more from Cathy in the future, too!)
New Products to Introduce!
The Quilting Connection is proud to announce that we’re offering two new products in our stores and online!
First, we’re adding Fil-Tec’s Glide thread to our inventory. Many of you have asked for this line of thread, and we’re finally able to offer it! We’ll be stocking the large cones of Glide along with a couple of varieties of bobbins. See our YouTube video for more details!
Second, we’re adding a totally new product line. Introducing Ultimate Sewing Chair!
Ultimate Sewing Chair offers an ergonomic line of sewing chairs. These chairs are fully customizable … including adjustable lumbar support. They are made in the USA and come with a lifetime warranty on all mechanical components. Rick has already ordered two for the office!
See our YouTube video for an introduction to these wonderful chairs!
New Class Schedule to Explore!
We have got so many classes … new and repeat … on the calendar for late summer and fall! Here’s a brief introduction. More details can be found on the Classes page of our website.
Free motion classes with Wendy Fuller
As mentioned above, Wendy is an award-winning quilter, but she is also a fabulous teacher! This fall, she is offering a full range of classes to meet your free motion needs and skill level!
Advanced Free Motion (Appleton)
Tuesday, August 12, 2025
9 AM – 4 PM (Lunch Included)
If you’ve taken Wendy’s free-motion, feathers, and grids & rulers classes … or you have experience with free motion quilting … this class is your next step!
Wendy will help you learn to use the basic skills you’ve developed to combine simple designs into beautiful custom work. She’ll also guide you through a few more advanced motifs, tackle some block ideas, and deal with custom borders. Plus, Wendy will share tips and tricks throughout the whole day!
If you have a quilt top that you can’t figure out how to quilt, bring it along. Wendy will help you come up with a plan so you can return home and start quilting it right away!
Friday, October 17, 2025
9 AM – 4 PM (Lunch Included)
or
Saturday, October 18, 2025
9 AM – 4 PM (Lunch Included)
This is a small group, hands-on class designed to introduce you to a variety of free motion quilting techniques and designs. Wendy will guide you through creating/drawing designs, practicing them, and showing you how to use them in a multitude of ways to fill your quilt blocks and borders.
There will be plenty of hands-on work time at the longarm machines and you’ll go home with a finished practice sampler.
Plus, if you have a quilt top that you just can’t figure out how to quilt, bring it along. Wendy will help you come up with a plan for completion specific to your quilt and skill level.
Feathers, Flowers & Leaves (Appleton)
Friday, November 7, 2025
9 AM – 4 PM (Lunch Included)
or
Feathers, Flowers & Leaves (Elkhorn)
Saturday, November 8, 2025
9 AM – 4 PM (Lunch Included)
Wendy will share some of the popular ways to draw and stitch feathers, leaves and flowers. There are so many ways to use these motifs in overall designs, blocks and borders!
After a bit of introductory drawing, you’ll get busy practicing on the longarms!
There will be plenty of hands-on work time at the longarm machines and you’ll go home with a finished practice sampler.
And again, if you have a quilt top that you can’t figure out how to quilt, bring it along. Wendy will help you come up with a plan for completion specific to your quilt and skill level.
Ruler and Gridwork Class (Appleton)
Friday, November 21, 2025
9 AM – 4 PM (Lunch Included)
or
Ruler and Gridwork Class (Elkhorn)
Saturday, November 22, 2025
9 AM – 4 PM (Lunch Included)
In the ruler portion of this class, Wendy will show you tips and tricks for using rulers safely and effectively on your longarm to create straight lines, curves, circles and arcs/swags.
She’ll also teach you how to combine patterns to create complex-looking designs. Then you’ll learn how to adapt these designs for blocks, borders, sashings and edge-to-edge options.
In the grid-work portion of the class, Wendy will show you how to quilt using a grid-based design. This technique allows you to use stencils, marking points or piecing lines to guide your quilting. Think “continuous curves” or “orange peels,” but the possibilities are endless!
You’ll practice on the longarm machines throughout this class, and you’ll go home with a finished practice sampler.
Plus, if you have a quilt top that you haven’t figured out how to quilt, bring it along. Wendy will help you come up with a plan for completion using your new ruler and grid-work skills!
Wendy’s classes offer an extensive range of free motion techniques.
All her classes are adapted to the experience levels of the participants in that class!
Whether an experienced quilter or a newbie, you’ll leave having learned something new!
Advance Pro-Stitcher Classes with Angie
I’ll be teaching an advanced Pro-Stitcher class this fall!
Advanced Pro-Stitcher Class (Elkhorn)
Monday, September 22, 2025
9 AM – 4 PM (Lunch Included)
or
Advanced Pro-Stitcher Class (Appleton)
Sunday, September 28, 2025
9 AM – 4 PM (Lunch Included)
I’ll teach you how to place and stitch borders, turn a piece of edge-to-edge design into a block design, use the mark feature, stitch out triangle designs, and crop designs. We might even get a chance to learn the magic of mandalas! You’ll finish a hands-on project using Pro-Stitcher!
Beginning Longarm Bootcamp Class with Handi Quilter Educator Leigh Zipf
These 2-day bootcamp classes are designed for quilters that don’t currently own a longarm but want to learn all about our amazing Handi Quilter machines! This is also a great refresher class if you own a Handi Quilter but haven’t had the opportunity to use it for a while!
Special Bonus: If you buy a Handi Quilter machine or Pro-Stitcher at this event, we’ll apply the cost of this class towards the purchase price!
Beginning Longarm Bootcamp (Elkhorn)
Tuesday & Wednesday, September 23 & 24, 2025
9 AM – 4 PM (Lunch Included)
or
Beginning Longarm Bootcamp (Appleton)
Friday & Saturday, September 26 & 27, 2025
9 AM – 4 PM (Lunch Included)
This 2-day class is divided into 4 parts:
Day 1 morning covers longarm quilting basics. Leigh will explain machine and frame elements and features, how to load a quilt, and share vital facts about thread, needles and tension.
Day 1 afternoon covers sweet and simple free motion basics. You’ll learn how drawing and muscle memory contribute to free motion quilting and how to create stunning designs.
Day 2 morning covers radical rulers! You’ll learn how to handle rulers and templates safely using the ruler base and Sure Foot. You’ll see how these tools can assist you in placing designs accurately and stitching them out precisely.
Day 2 afternoon covers Pro-Stitcher basics. Pro-Stitcher is an intuitive computer-guided quilting system designed specifically for use with Handi Quilter longarm machines. It is user-friendly and simple to operate. And you’ll find the step-by-step process for each function easy and fun.
What do you think? There will be lots of learning happening!
Did you find a class description or two that are tugging at you?
Please contact us with any questions!
Then sign up and get ready for some longarm quilting fun!
I think that covers everything. We are so blessed to be able to share all these awards, new products and exciting learning opportunities with you. If it wasn’t for you, none of this would be happening. So again … thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
But I can’t sign off without sharing the current sale opportunities, so …
Sales! Sales! Sales!
Check out Handi Quilter’s current sales! You have a choice of receiving a free Accuquilt bundle or bundling a new longarm with Pro-Stitcher! Which best fits your needs?
OR
And APQS has extended this wonderful opportunity … but we still don’t know for how long!
Please contact us for more details on any or all the sales!
I’ll wrap it up there!
Please remember, if you ever have ANY questions or want additional information about ANY of the products and services we offer, please call us at (262) 723-6775 or email us at info@QuiltingConnection.com.
You can also visit us online at QuiltingConnection.com or in person at 21 Adams Street in Elkhorn, WI (usually M-F 9-4, please call to confirm we’re open) or 1017 W. Northland in Appleton, WI (W, Th & F 10-4, S 10-3).
Finally, check out our blog at QuiltingConnection.com/blog and our Facebook posts.
And please share your thoughts and questions. I’d love to hear from you!
Angie