“For me, it’s all about connecting with like minded souls,” says Lisa Hoefler Bongean, quilting superstar and owner of Wisconsin’s Primitive Gatherings. “I grew up with all brothers, and I have all sons and grandsons. My world is filled with men. To find a common thread with women who become my quilting sisters is special.”
Inspired by those threads of connection, in 2020 Lisa decided to upgrade her longtime quilt shop in Menasha, Wisconsin (near Appleton)—which included a stand-alone retail space, a couple of nearby houses used as a retreat center, and not-as-near rented warehouse space—to a complex of striking modern farmhouse-style buildings on 10 acres in rural Larsen, population 300. There, all of Primitive Gatherings’ endeavors—including a wool-dying kitchen, kitting department, and print shop—reside under the same roof…