Nancy Zieman

American author and designer

Nancy L. Zieman (née Luedtke; June 21, 1953 – November 14, 2017) was an American author and designer widely known as the host of the television show Sewing with Nancy.

Zieman was born on June 21, 1953, and raised on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. She married Richard Zieman in 1977. Zieman was always open about her condition; she wrote about it, was interviewed by journalists, and hosted a segment on her television show with medical professionals. She jokingly referred to herself as "the Poster Child for Bell's Palsy." On the air since September 1982, Sewing with Nancy is the longest running sewing program on North American television, with over 900 episodes filmed. According to her autobiography, "In terms of years, only Letterman had a longer run." Initially, the programs were videotaped in Zieman’s living room, with a camera crew of one person. In the early years, Zieman ran a one woman show, developing the scripts, making the samples, and taping the programs. Zieman was the host and executive producer since its inauguration, until her retirement due to ill health in September 2017. From the mid 1980s, Wisconsin Public Television in Madison, Wisconsin was Nancy’s partner in television production with Laurie Gorman serving as the director for the past 19 years.

Zieman lived in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin with her husband.

Zieman was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, in March of 2015. In July 2015, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Zieman continued filming her Sewing With Nancy on a modified schedule, resuming a full schedule in 2016. On September 2, 2017, Zieman announced on her blog that after 910 shows of Sewing with Nancy, she was retiring, explaining that one of her cancers had metastasized and that "additional treatments would not be helpful." Zieman died November 14, 2017, at her home. She was survived by her husband and two sons. Her death occurred just one day after the final episode of Sewing with Nancy aired.

She was named the 1988 Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year by the Wisconsin Women Entrepreneurs Association. Zieman received the National 4 H Alumni Award in 1991 and in 2014 the University of Wisconsin Extension 4 H Youth Development Program inducted her in the Wisconsin 4 H Hall of Fame. Zieman won the 2013 the Distinguished Alumni by the University of Wisconsin Stout.

Zieman published her autobiography, Seams Unlikely: The Inspiring True Life Story of Nancy Zieman, in 2014. She wrote over 40 sewing books, including The Art of Landscape Quilting, Serge with Confidence, Machine Embroidery with Confidence, Sew with Confidence, Landscape Quilts with Natalie Sewell, Let’s Sew, 10 20 30 Minutes to Sew, The Best of Sewing with Nancy, Sew Clever Bags, and 501 Sewing Hints.