Marianne Fons and Liz Porter met in a beginners' quilting class in Winterset, Iowa, in 1976. After the class, they started a quilters' club, and as they learned skills together, people asked them to provide workshops on how to quilt.

They've always worked together to teach their classes to boost their confidence, especially early on when they were just learning themselves.

Together, they've written more than two dozen books over the years, and Quilter's Complete Guide is one of their most successful. They continue to write and teach, travelling the world to workshops and quilting symposiums.