Hello from Marianne Fons!

Welcome!

Readers interested in Midwestern and small town perspectives will find a lot to love in Reporting from Quiltropolis whether they care about quilts or not. “Quiltropolis,” my personal nickname for Winterset, Iowa (pop. 5455), is the county seat of Madison County, home of the famous bridges, birthplace of legendary movie actor John Wayne, and where I live.

Millions of American quilters know me as the longtime cohost of “Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting,” nationwide on public television—first alongside Liz Porter, and later with my daughter Mary Fons. For decades, I traveled the country, lecturing and teaching at national conferences and for local quilt guilds. I met thousands and thousands of people.

The quilt is to America what the kimono is to Japan. Quilts are iconic textiles—beautiful, valued, and precious—that are deeply enmeshed in our history.

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