(Radio Iowa) – An eastern Iowa company that offers innovations for the quilting industry is marking its 50th year in business this week with a series of events, give-aways, classes and celebrations. Melissa McAfee, president and owner of Nolting Manufacturing, based in Hiawatha, says they make what are known as “longarm” quilting machines, which are a big help for individual home quilters all the way up to the industrial level.

“Doing a large quilt like queen size or king size, it can be really difficult to try to have consistency in your stitches and the way it looks and a lot of fabric to try to get through that small area,” McAfee says, “whereas your longarm actually is on a big frame, and you walk with it. You have it all set out so your machine moves versus your fabric moving.” A series of 14 classes are being offered for novices and experts in a range of quilting-related topics.

“We have classes starting here on Tuesday, throughout the whole week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday classes, and we have some free, some paid classes,” McAfee says. “They’re all on our website, www.nolting.com, and we’re going to be having some cake and lots of specials on our longarms.” While it’s predominantly something women do, McAfee says plenty of men are involved in quilting, especially from the technology side. Plus, she says quilting isn’t just for grandmothers, either.

Nolting Pro – Longarm Quilting Machine (Nolting image)

“When I first purchased the business in 2019, the overall quilting market was about $4.2 billion,” she says. “A market survey just came out showing that in the next year or so, it’s going to be up to a $5-billion market, so it is growing, and it’s growing fast.” The company was founded in 1974 by Fred Nolting, who designed and engineered the longarm quilting machine.