We’re Passionate about Affordable Quilting

Our Start

Connecting Threads is a team effort. From our stylist, to our designers, to our in-house quilters, to our buyers, and of course, our Vice-President, Karen Johnson, everyone is working with one goal in mind- to provide you with the soft, quality fabrics at an affordable price.

After years of buying fabric and threads from US distributors, Connecting Threads’ President Bob Petkun and Karen made the decision to start building our own fabric and thread lines. We start with super-combed cotton that’s spun and woven according to our exacting standards and finished with our own top secret formula to create a flawless, smooth, silken surface. You need to touch our fabric and threads only once to see it’s almost too good to be true.

Our Fabric Manager and stylist, Teri and our designers Katie and Melissa work together to create fabric collections that are inspired by everything from vintage wall paper to high end fashion, all with an eye for making sure the designs and colors balance and complement each other. Then it’s our quilt designers turn to take the fabrics for a test run. If they don’t like an individual fabric design and don’t want to design with it, we toss it. It’s that simple. Once a fabric collection meets our quilt designers high standards, they start the pattern design process, creating a quilt that we package as a kit for you. All of our quilting patterns are tested at least twice to ensure that the directions are clear, concise, and easy to follow. We never charge for cutting or kitting because we believe that convenience shouldn’t cost extra. After all, our whole goal is to make quilting affordable again!

Our Commitment To You

We not only have high standards for our products, we have very high standards for the International manufacturers we choose to work with. Bob, Karen or Teri have visited each of our manufacturers’ factories personally to ensure that their facilities and labor practices are in line with both Connecting Threads’ and our customers’ expectations. If you’d like to visit our manufacturers, please e-mail or call us and we will connect you with a factory representative.

Our Facilities and Our People

Connecting Threads and ConnectingThreads.com are a division of the Crafts Americana Group, a privately owned business. Crafts Americana Group's three divisions (Connecting Threads, Knit Picks, The Artist's Club) employ approximately 80 people in two locations.

The Owners

Bob and Kelley Petkun enjoy working together in the business. Bob is President and responsible for marketing and finance. Kelley is Creative Director and responsible for product development and building our relationship with the quilting community.

Management Team
Bob Petkun, President
Kelley Petkun, Vice President and Creative Director
Karen Johnson, Vice President - Connecting Threads & Artist's Club
Tina Birch, Vice President - Knit Picks
Carla Salazar, Vice President - Finance and Administration
Marci Hansen, Vice President - Marketing
Brent Matson, Director of Information Systems
Mike Wakeland, Director of Software Development
Kara Tripp, Director of Operations
Brenda Ericson, Director of Customer Service

Headquarters

Connecting Threads is headquartered at 13118 N.E. 4th St., Vancouver, Washington 98684. Corporate offices can be reached at (360) 260-8900 or faxed at (360) 260-8877. We do not have any products for sale at our corporate office, but we do offer free shipping on all web orders over $50. To speak with customer service, call 1-800-574-6454 anytime between 5am and 6pm PT Monday through Friday, 6am - 3pm Saturday.

We also love meeting fellow quilters. If you’re going to be in the Portland, Oregon area, please give us a call at 1-800-574-6454 between the hours of 8am and 5pm PST, Mon-Fri to arrange to visit our headquarters at 13118 N.E. 4th St., Vancouver, WA, 98684.

Distribution Center

Our distribution center is located in Columbus, Ohio at 1250 Boltonfield St, Columbus, OH 43228 in order to enable us to keep shipping costs low by shipping from the center of the country.

Our Manufacturing Partners

Connecting Threads has very high standards for the International manufacturers we choose to work with. Executives from Connecting Threads have visited each of our manufacturers' factories personally to ensure that their facilities and labor practices are in line with both Connecting Threads' and our customers' expectations. Specifically, Connecting Threads works only with manufacturers who:

• Institute management practices that respect the rights of all employees
• Provide a safe and healthy work place
• Promote the health and well-being of all employees
• Oppose the use of child labor
• Have an active role in the positive development of their local community

We are so confident of these excellent conditions that we welcome any of our customers to visit these sites personally if ever in the area. Please contact Customer Service to get more information.