Lost all configurations when deactivated and switched to Twenty Fifteen

I was trying to isolate an issue with another plugin so I deactivated all plugins and reverted to the Twenty Fifteen theme. Unfortunately when I reactivated and switched back to my theme, all of the widgets I had configured with this plugin disappeared. They were not even in the Inactive widget area.

Is there a setting or something I can do to ensure that my widgets stay configured if I need to deactivate (not delete) this plugin or switch themes again?

Thanks

https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/genesis-featured-page-extras/