Biography
Marianne Fons
Marianne Fons is well known to quilters everywhere who watch "Love of Quilting" nationwide on public television. After hosting hundreds of episodes with Liz Porter, she's currently appearing alongside her daughter Mary Fons. As a founding editor of the popular magazine Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting, Marianne has written and edited thousands of pages of quilt instructions. With Liz Porter, she authored Quilter's Complete Guide, one of the best selling quilting books of all time.
On her own, Marianne was Iowa winner of the 1986 Great American Quilt Contest with her Lady Liberty Medallion. Her quilt World Peace won Best Overall Workmanship at the first-ever international quilt competition, Quilt Expo Europa in Salzburg, Austria, in 1988.
Currently, she serves on the advisory board of the International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a national volunteer, she assists the Quilts of Valor Foundation, (www.QOVF.org) co-producing with Iowa Public Television a documentary about the non-profit foundation that has coordinated the presentation of over 50,000 quilts to American combat veterans.
Marianne lives in Winterset, Iowa, the county seat of Madison County, home of the famous covered bridges. Her husband is Mark Davis, and her daughters are Hannah, Mary, and Rebecca Fons.
On her own, Marianne was Iowa winner of the 1986 Great American Quilt Contest with her Lady Liberty Medallion. Her quilt World Peace won Best Overall Workmanship at the first-ever international quilt competition, Quilt Expo Europa in Salzburg, Austria, in 1988.
Currently, she serves on the advisory board of the International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a national volunteer, she assists the Quilts of Valor Foundation, (www.QOVF.org) co-producing with Iowa Public Television a documentary about the non-profit foundation that has coordinated the presentation of over 50,000 quilts to American combat veterans.
Marianne lives in Winterset, Iowa, the county seat of Madison County, home of the famous covered bridges. Her husband is Mark Davis, and her daughters are Hannah, Mary, and Rebecca Fons.
Mary Fons
Mary Fons is a professional writer and performer based in Chicago. She currently co-hosts "Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting" nationally on public television with her mom, Marianne Fons. Mary is also the creator, co-producer, and host of Quilty, a little online show born from a big desire to ignite new passion for the American quilt. Visit www.heyquilty.com for more on the show.
Mary has performed professionally on stages from New York to Los Angeles since 2001 as an actor, solo artist, slam poet, and Neo-Futurist. She holds a BA in Theater Arts from the University of Iowa, is a founding member of Chicago's Gift Theater Company and in 2010 was a Driehaus Foundation grant recipient. As a freelance writer, her work has been published widely online and in print since 2005. Her essay about Madonna is being published by Soft Skull Press in the forthcoming anthology, Madonna & Me (2012)
For more on Mary, visit www.maryfons.com
Mary has performed professionally on stages from New York to Los Angeles since 2001 as an actor, solo artist, slam poet, and Neo-Futurist. She holds a BA in Theater Arts from the University of Iowa, is a founding member of Chicago's Gift Theater Company and in 2010 was a Driehaus Foundation grant recipient. As a freelance writer, her work has been published widely online and in print since 2005. Her essay about Madonna is being published by Soft Skull Press in the forthcoming anthology, Madonna & Me (2012)
For more on Mary, visit www.maryfons.com