Last week I shared a few more details about our Appleton location. You also met a couple of our staff members.

Today I’d like to introduce you to the rest of the Appleton team!

Meet Cheri!

Cheri staffs the Appleton location on Fridays, though she’ll be taking a break for the summer months.

She believes she has two primary responsibilities at the shop. First, she helps our rental customers understand and complete the longarm quilting process from start to finish. Cheri also wants to provide an excellent customer sales and/or service experience.

What does Cheri enjoy most about working for The Quilting Connection? Meeting new people! She believes quilters are genuinely nice people who have a wealth of knowledge to share. You can always learn something new, and the camaraderie is wonderful!

Cheri has been piecing quilts for over 25 years. She began sewing by learning how to make clothing from her seamstress mom. That grew into making small decorative quilts. Then a tied quilt for college. Her interest in quilting continued to grow as her sons got older.

Longarm quilting came into the picture once she retired. After renting machine time from us on two occasions, Cheri purchased her own longarm in October 2019. She started quilting for others out of her home in spring of 2020. While her focus has been on edge-to-edge quilting, she is now moving into custom quilting as well!

Cheri will be married 38 years this summer. She has three sons. The oldest is engaged and plans to get married next summer.

While officially retired, Cheri keeps herself busy. She works two days a week at a local quilt shop in addition to working one day at The Quilting Connection. She also teaches classes and runs her own longarm quilting business. The challenge? Maintaining a workload that still allows the flexibility to play golf once or twice a week and socialize with friends!

Meet Luann!

Luann began working for The Quilting Connection this past February. You’ll find her in the store on Saturdays.

She tackles whatever needs to be done around the shop … assisting with quilting, preparing the fabric and machines for classes, demonstrating the machines, and providing information for potential sales.

What does Luann enjoy most about working at The Quilting Connection? The customers! (Sound familiar?) She loves seeing all the quilts and enjoys learning different ways to do things. She also appreciates learning more about the Handi Quilter machines and participating in our classes so she can sharpen her own skills.

Luann is also a very busy lady. She works full-time as an office manager for a local excavation company in addition to working here. The Quilting Connection feeds her creativity and provides variety from her full-time job.

Sewing is a passion for Luann. She has been a bridal seamstress and still produces amazing pieces of clothing! She has been quilting for about 15 years. Her first Handi Quilter was an Avanti, and her early quilting was done via pantographs.

After a while, she added the Pro-Stitcher to her longarm. Then in September 2022, she upgraded to the Forte. With her busy schedule, she doesn’t get to do much quilting at home, but she has every intention of fully enjoying her machine when she retires.

Luann will be married 20 years this year. In combination, she and her husband have four children and five wonderful granddaughters.

Meet Patti!

Patti staffs the shop when we’re short handed … and that flexibility is so very helpful!

If you come in when Patti is here, you’ll be treated to a variety of experiences.

Depending on the purpose of your visit, you may get an explanation of the longarm process, a quilting overview of a shop sample, or some demonstration and practice time on our Handi Quilter machines.

You could also get a description of our rental class for longarm beginners or information on the various Handi Quilter models … if you happen to be in the market for purchasing a longarm system.

Patti echoes that working with quilters is wonderful! She loves the organization and precision involved in quilting as well as hearing all the great ideas that quilters share.

Like Luann, Patti is an accomplished seamstress. She began making her own clothing in high school and has sewn bridal gowns, bridesmaid dresses, a mother-of-the bride dress, communion dresses and even a three-piece suit for her husband!

She was introduced to quilting by her grandmother who made charity quilts. Patti made her first quilt in 1983. For many years her quilts were tied, but in 2019 she found the shop in New London and began renting time to quilt on a longarm.

To date, Patti has made over 90 quilts. She loves the peacefulness of quilting as well as the sense of accomplishment you feel once you’ve finished a project. Quilting also gives her purpose. Following her grandmother’s lead, she donates many of the quilts she makes to charitable organizations.

Patti is married and has two daughters and two grandchildren. In addition to quilting and sewing, Patti loves to read and go camping. She and her family have several camping trips planned for this summer.

Well, that’s it for this week. And that completes our Appleton introductions.

As always, if you have any questions or want additional information, 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 10:30-5, Th & F 10-4, S 10-3).

And finally, check out all of our previous blog posts at QuiltingConnection.com/blog and our Facebook posts.

Please share your thoughts and questions with us. We love to hear from you!

Angie