Every Quiltfolk Foundry quilt begins as loose, vintage blocks or unquilted vintage tops that are finished by skilled home sewists and quilters. As we fall more and more in love with the process of finishing these quilts, we have had a feeling that others might want to try it themselves—and we were right! 

We are thrilled to announce the next component of the Quiltfolk Foundry: Finishing School, an online workshop with daughter-mother team Mary and Marianne Fons that is all about creating quilt collaborations of your own using vintage quilt blocks and tops. Create infinitely unique quilt collaborations “through space and time” by learning all the tips and tricks to finishing “orphan” quilt blocks and tops from generations past. Join teachers Mary and Marianne Fons for this three-part, on-demand course, filmed at the Iowa Quilt Museum in historic Winterset, Iowa! We are currently building our very own recording studio on the second floor of this great location—and Finishing School is our debut production.

What You’ll Learn
Each Finishing School session is approximately one hour, and, combined, will teach you all about this incredibly fun way to make your next quilt, including: 

• How to analyze an unfinished vintage top or stack of “orphan blocks” for a potential project.
• How to stabilize delicate blocks. 
• How to incorporate fabric from your stash into your “quilt collaboration.” 
• How to figure out backing and binding fabrics for adopted projects.
• How to finish a quilt sandwich five ways, including big-stitch, hand, and machine quilting.

A Note About Materials
Finishing School is a different kind of workshop, one in which you will learn a unique approach to quiltmaking. As the class progresses, you will surely want to go out and find “orphans” to work with, but to start, just bring an open mind and get ready to have an absolute blast.

Meet Your Instructors
Reunited on camera for the first time since 2018, Mary Fons and Marianne Fons are bursting to share everything they’ve been learning and loving about this unique approach to quiltmaking. Marianne has said that finishing vintage blocks into a completed quilt has “totally revolutionized” her quiltmaking process. Mary Fons, creative director of the Foundry, says that taking an abandoned project over the finish line is “an experience every quilter on the planet should have.”  

For more from Marianne Fons, and to see Fons & Porter’s® Love of Quilting magazine archive issues and patterns, please visit www.quiltingdaily.com.