Quilt Expo celebrates Nancy Zieman and Natalie Sewell

August 27, 2018 Susannah Brooks Leave a Comment

We’re less than two weeks away from the start of the 14th annual Quilt Expo, held at the Alliant Energy Center’s Exhibition Hall in Madison. (Get your discount advance tickets here – or consider volunteering!)

This year, as every year, attendees will enjoy several special exhibits beyond the 10-category Quilt Contest. One of these exhibits honors the legacy of two women who have been central to quilting in Wisconsin and beyond: Nancy Zieman and Natalie Sewell.

Read on for more examples of their beautiful landscape quilt collaborations!

The families of Nancy Zieman and Natalie Sewell present a special Landscape Quilt Legacy Exhibit at Quilt Expo. Nancy and Natalie were close friends and avid gardeners who held “quilting dates” using photos of their own gardens and nature scenes as inspirations for their quilts.

Though both of these artists passed away in the past year, we are honored to celebrate their collaboration at Quilt Expo.

The leaves, trees and shrubbery covering these quilts are simple motifs from landscape fabrics which Nancy and Natalie cut out, glue-basted, and machine stitched to unique hand-dyed background fabrics. They enhanced these motifs with fabric paint or pastels, and then machine quilted and bound them.

Watch a segment from WPT’s Treasured Quilts of Wisconsin special, presented by Nancy Zieman, in which Natalie Sewell discusses her artistic process.

Nancy Zieman (June 21, 1953-November 14, 2017) was an American author, designer, business woman, blogger and national sewing authority and the executive producer and host of Sewing With Nancy – the longest-running sewing and quilting program on public television. Nancy lived in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin with her husband, Richard. The couple were blessed with two sons, and three granddaughters.

Nancy helped develop Quilt Expo with WPT in 2005, and personally welcomed thousands of visitors over the 12 years she was present. She filmed many Sewing With Nancy segments at Quilt Expo, which can still be seen online.

Natalie Sewell (September 15, 1938 – July 17, 2018) was an award-winning art quilter who specialized in landscape quilting. Beginning Landscape Quilting is the final book on landscape quilting she co-authored with Nancy Zieman. Natalie lived in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband, Richard. The couple were blessed with three children and twelve grandchildren.