Quiltfolk in Winterset

Few people in Winterset know that Quiltfolk, an Oregon-based company, maintains a studio on the second floor of the Iowa Quilt Museum.

The Iowa Quilt museum occupies a storefront on the south side of Winterset’s town square. You can just glimpse the 100-year-old tile work in the entryway floor.

Fun Fact: the museum’s building was the J.C. Penney Store for over 70 years. The children’s department on the mezzanine was where my generation of local moms bought their kids’ snowsuits and pajamas in the 1980s.

Quiltfolk’s relationship with Winterset began in 2017 when the company’s entrepreneurial owner, Mike McCormick, visited Madison County (twice). At the time, Quiltfolk was a fledgling publishing company with, so far, only a single issue of its unique magazine in print—Issue #1, Oregon. Now, seven years later, Issue #31, Oklahoma, is en route to subscribers.

Instead of patterns for quilts alternating with advertisements for sewing machines and cotton fabrics like most quilting publications, Quiltfolk’s perfect-bound pages are filled with gorgeous photography and stories about people who quilt (i.e., quiltfolk). Each volume features a different state or region. In 2017, Mike came to Madison County to lay the groundwork for Issue #2—Iowa. We became instant friends.

Apologies, but Quiltfolk’s Iowa issue is out of print.

Soon my daughter Mary Fons (herself a nationally known quilter and writer) was penning articles for Quiltfolk magazine—described in its promotions as a keepsake quarterly. Mary became Quiltfolk’s editor in chief in 2018, writing, editing, and coordinating the editorial team’s jaunts to Louisiana, Vermont, and Nevada, among other parts of the country. Now, she’s a creative director at the company.

Quiltfolk’s product line has expanded to include beautiful books, products for the home, and amazing online classes, including in 2022 Patchwork & Prose, a year-long workshop live-streamed from West Yorkshire, England. Students (around 1000!) designed patchwork and appliqué blocks inspired by their favorite novels and nonfiction titles. I was both a student and a featured guest on one of the monthly sessions. Below are the blocks I made for two of my favorite novels, Frankenstein and The Scarlet Letter.

My Frankenstein block expresses the monster’s loneliness and isolation. For my Scarlet Letter block, I used a hand-dyed fabric for the background. The “A” is solid red cotton, which I hand appliquéd. (Block size: 10 x 12 inches)

In 2023, Quiltfolk’s space above the museum became the video recording studio for a three-episode series Mary and I co-hosted called Finishing School. We taught viewers how to adopt 100-year-old, abandoned quilt tops and prepare them for quilting. We gave tips on acquiring sets of abandoned patchwork and appliqué blocks and turning them into awesome quilts for people to use and love.

Quiltfolk Studios, on the second floor of the Iowa Quilt Museum.

The most recent event for Quiltfolk Studios was a writers’ retreat that drew participants from all over the country (California, Colorado, Texas, Pennsylvania, and New York, among others). Instructors Mary Fons, Frances O’Rourke Dowell, and Lauren DeLuca guided students in writing exercises and in one-on-one sessions, inspiring them to write their quilt stories.

On their first night in town, participants enjoyed a private screening of “The Bridges of Madison County” at the Iowa Theater.

Quiltropolis, Winterset, Iowa 50273, is home to all manner of quilty things!

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, a group of journalists and authors writing from and about the great state of Iowa. Access all of us here.