Starting '26 by reflecting on '25 and saying THANKS!
Happy New Year!
What? It’s already February?! So sorry for my lapse in posting! Life has been a little crazy on multiple fronts and involving multiple players, so I’m getting back on track with a ‘let’s pause, reflect, and say thanks’ update.
We’ve had a chance to pull our data for 2025. It’s always interesting to see how the newest stats compare to the previous ones. Sometimes you see a trend; other times you get a muddled message. Either way it adds to The Quilting Connection’s story. Here’s our 2025 page!
2025 – The Year in Review
The Quilting Connection sells, services and rents time on Handi Quilter and APQS longarm machines … I know, you already know that! But I’m going to use that breakdown to share and reflect on our 2025 stats .
Sales
In 2025, we were privileged to have 65 customers either purchase a new or used longarm or upgrade their longarm system.
Handi Quilter captured the title of ‘most popular brand’ for the year. The ‘most popular model’ went to the Amara paired with the Pro-Stitcher Premium computerized quilting system. The Moxie XL with Pro-Stitcher Lite came in as runner up.
Of the longarm systems purchased in 2025, 47% of them were computerized with either Pro-Stitcher (Handi Quilter) or Quilt Path (APQS). And of the system upgrades, 8 quilters added Pro-Stitcher to their current system.
Thank you to all the quilters who came to The Quilting Connection to purchase or upgrade their systems in 2025!
Service
In 2025, we serviced 98 machines. That number has been growing each year, and it’s great to see! More machines receiving routine maintenance means more machines running smoothly for years to come!
Thank you to all the quilters who trusted us to maintain and/or repair their longarm machines this past year!
Rental
Renting time on the longarm machines in our Appleton and Elkhorn shops is also a big part of who The Quilting Connection is and what makes us unique!
The number of hours that renters log on our longarms continues to grow each year. In 2025, they logged over 1,450 hours using a mix of computerized, pantograph and free-motion quilting. That’s a 33% increase over the 1,080 hours logged in 2023!
When we break down the rental hours by the style of quilting used, computerized quilting takes a commanding lead. In 2025, 87% of those 1,450+ hours went to quilters using the computer software. Only 13% of the rental hours went to pantograph and free-motion quilting
To rent time on The Quilting Connection longarm machines, quilters must first take a half day Beginning Longarm Rental Class. This number stays fairly consistent each year. In 2025, 69 quilters joined those already trained to quilt on our machines.
Thank you to all the quilters who allowed us to assist them with quilting their projects on our longarm machines in 2025!
Miscellaneous
Here are a few other fun stats I’d like to share!
Have you ever wondered how many miles our staff, Rick, and I log in a year? In 2025, the total came to 5,386 miles! While our closest customer was only 1.6 miles from the Elkhorn shop, the farthest was in Edina, Minnesota … that’s 332 miles (or 5 hours) one way! Gotta’ love time on the road!
When renters come in to quilt on The Quilting Connection longarms, they can purchase their batting from us. In 2025, we sold over 630 yards of batting. That’s an increase of over 300% from the 188 yards sold in 2023! The most popular type of batting? 80/20 cotton/polyester!
And thread? We calculate a thread charge for our renters by counting the number of bobbins they use. In 2025, our renters used over 1,025 size M bobbins. At approximately 92 yards per bobbin, that’s over 94,000 yards of thread … or over 53 miles!
Now double those numbers to account for top thread too!
Finally, I’ve got to share some Quick Zip Zipper System™ stats! In 2025, we stamped and packaged over 4,500 zippers. That included over 1,300 quilt/renter zipper sets and 385 machine zipper sets. Where do our Quick Zip zippers go? In addition to throughout the US, they’re shipped to countries as close as Canada and as far away as Australia!
I know that’s a lot of numbers, but to us those numbers show continued growth … and it’s only possible thanks to all our wonderful customers!
So, whether you’ve purchased a machine from us, rented time on The Quilting Connection’s longarms, joined us for a class, or purchased other products we carry –
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
It’s you that makes us who we are!
Quilting Central Podcast Update
The Latest QCP Episodes
Julie, Cathy and I have published two episodes of the Quilting Central Podcast since I last posted. If you haven’t already, please check out:
New Year, New Quilts! Quilting Resolutions That ACTUALLY Work
In this episode we dive into New Year’s resolutions for quilters — the realistic, doable kind that help you enjoy quilting more, stress less, and actually finish your quilts.
This episode covers:
✔️ How to set realistic quilting goals for the new year
✔️ Tips for finishing UFO quilts and WIPs
✔️ Sewing room and fabric stash organization ideas
✔️ Skill-building goals for machine quilting and piecing
✔️ Overcoming comparison and quilting burnout
✔️ Making time for quilting, sewing, and creativity in busy seasons
Whether you’re a beginning quilter, an experienced quilter, or a lifelong sewing enthusiast, this episode will help you reset, refocus, and start the year feeling inspired and excited to quilt.
AND …
How to Find Quilting Inspiration When You're Stuck
Do you ever feel like you’ve run out of quilting ideas? Sometimes the inspiration well dries up, or you get "quilter's block". This is the episode to fix that!
We talk about our sources of quilting inspiration. It could be anything from hotel floor designs, someone's sweater or a manhole cover! Quilting ideas are everywhere. Plus, we talk about what to do when you’re stuck in the creative process and share examples of how we’ve drawn inspiration from other quilts.
For a complete listing of all our episodes, visit the Quilting Central Podcast YouTube channel! Be sure to subscribe and comment. We ‘d love to hear your thoughts and ideas!
Okay, that’s it for this post!
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