In 1985, Grace Bagley made a comment to her son Jim that led to the founding of a new business. “Jim, I believe there is a market for a better quilting frame.”   Grace worked for a quilt shop at the time, and received many inquiries on the subject, but had nothing good to offer.

Jim’s creative wheels began turning and soon he was manufacturing quilting frames. The quilt shop where Grace worked, Mormon Handicraft, began selling the frames on consignment. With Jim’s engineering and workmanship, combined with Grace’s salesmanship, the frames popularity began to take off.

First production of the frame, aptly named the GraceFrame™, began in the garage of Jim’s father-in-law. Other stores began stocking the no-baste frame, and it wasn’t long before it became necessary to find a larger manufacturing space. In 1990, The Grace Company moved its operations into a 7,000 square-foot building.

As the Grace Company grew at a steady pace, Jim began hiring an office staff to handle the ever increasing day-to-day responsibilities.  Prior to that time, they were handled by Jim, his wife and sometimes their children.

   
Jim consistently made improvements to the frame’s design, always sourcing superior materials for his products.  As the company continued to grow, the product line expanded to include the tilt-able frame called the Z44 and a scaled-down version the EZ3.  In 1998 the Grace Company introduced the unique square hoop know as the GraceHoop2. Seeing a need in the sewing machine industry for a quilting frame, the Grace Company entered the machine quilting frame market with the original GMQ.  The machine frame product line has since expanded to include the GMQ Pro, the Little Gracie II, the Sturdy-Lite and most recently, the new Next Generation Quilting Frame.

Jim’s desire to create products that are unique and innovative to the market has driven the Grace Company to expand its manufacturing processes to include plastics, metals, woods, and electronics. 

In its 20th year of business, The Grace Company now operates out of a 40,000 square foot facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, employing 50 full-time staff members.  The Grace Company has become the number-one producer of wooden and metal home quilting frames and hoops.