Wisconsin Public Television recently aired a documentary in homage to Nancy Zieman, aka Sewing with Nancy. Seems like she's been on tv for most of my life. She started her tv show in 1982. I didn't really start watching it until the early 2000s when I started quilting. That was also a time when I had a professional career, and a family, and little time for myself in between. Sewing, quilting, and otherwise nurturing my creative life was how I got back to myself. As Alice Walker says : “Whenever you are creating beauty around you, you are restoring your own soul.” Saturday mornings, I would tune in with my notebook in hand, taking notes on her projects and techniques--especially all the shortcuts for quilting, but even practical things like how to install a zipper, too. I bought several books like the Landscape Quilting series and I Love My Feet (all about the various sewing machine feet). I learned a lot from Nancy Zieman, and I am grateful to her for sharing her knowledge so patiently and clearly in my living room.
She lived just down the road in Beaver Dam, WI. I'd been to her
Nancy's Notions store a few times, especially when I needed to stock up
on sewing machine needles. Though sometimes it was just as easy to order from her catalog. According to the documentary, Nancy's Notions began on her dining room table with 10 items on a 1-page order form, and from there it blossomed into the business it became. When she taught or demoed projects and techniques, people wanted the tools she was using -- and thus began Nancy's Notions.
She came a few times to our
local Quilt Guild to speak and present. She was always happy to do it. She sponsored that big Quilt Expo in Madison. I had
no idea she had so many health problems later in life.
When I had heard of her death in 2017, it was one of those moments when the earth shakes. I felt like I'd lost a great mentor and teacher and friend. And the world had lost someone kind and caring.
She was an unlikely tv personality because she had Bell's Palsey when she was a kid, due to an ear infection when she was a toddler. It left her face partially paralyzed. As you can guess, that was a difficult thing to overcome -- people always judging her before really knowing her. It was a hurdle she worked hard to overcome. And she did it -- marvelously! One episode she even brought on a Neurologist (doctor) who could explain to her audience what Bell's Palsy was. They no longer had to be curious about it. She was a teacher first and foremost, and her classroom happened to be a television audience.
Thank you, Nancy Z. You made the world a better place. Sigh!
Nancy Zieman: Extraordinary Grace
- You can watch the whole program on Passport if you are a regular subscriber to WPT.
- Or wait for them to re-run it live on your own PBS station
Preview for the documentary
These days, you can watch Sewing With Nancy on multiple channels and across the internet including on
- YouTube
- Create TV
- Public Television
- and online at nancyzieman.com.
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