This past week I had the distinct pleasure of working with Nancy Zieman. While I have always been a fan of Nancy’s I never realized the extent to which her grace and knowledge have influenced the sewing world.
In case you’re reading this and you don’t know who she is, Nancy has been appearing on PBS for many decades. She has a show about sewing and all things sewing related. This show has been watched by millions of sewists all over the world. She is world renowned.
When I arrived at her studio she was there by herself, busily working with a pattern that she was drafting. She creates and modifies patterns for McCall’s pattern company. This is no small feat. Getting patterns to fit and make sense is an amazing art. It is one thing to create a quilting pattern, but garments have to fit people of multiple shapes and sizes. She is truly a master of this. I asked her if she used design software, and she assured me that she was old school, and did it with paper and pencil. There were numerous pieces laying about that were truly done on paper with a pencil.
Many young sewists and quilters are famous as a result of instant posting of blogs and projects all over the internet. But, I have yet to meet or see anyone with the extent of real knowledge that Nancy has.
In addition to being knowledgeable, she is beautiful and gracious.
So, on the first day in her studio, we worked feverishly on samples to be presented on the show. I had come somewhat prepared prior to this day with samples that I had made, but she perfected what was to be presented.
I was there to present various quilts from my latest book, Rainbow Quilts for Scrap Lovers on her show. The following day, we went to Madison to the PBS station to film. What an experience that was!
Here she is standing in the filming studio. It was so exciting to be able to work with her.
Here’s one of the quilts that we presented. It is called “Aromatic Rings”. This is made from squares. Truly. Each piece is made from a 5 1/2 inch square. Honestly. Every single piece in the quilt starts with this. This is a photo in the studio where they were photographing it.
Here is one of the camera men taking a photo of the quilt.
Here’s the set. It was so interesting to see everything that went into taping a show. This set is about to be changed. They will be updating the set to make it brighter and more modern. It was quite lovely as it was. Many people seem to thing that they are taping right in Nancy’s house. It looks very warm and inviting.
The show will be aired later in the year. I don’t have an exact date, but the DVD will be available in August. Which means, it will be available at Quilt Expo in September.
I am so thankful that Wisconsin can claim Nancy Zieman as it’s own. She truly is the real deal.
