Still Life with…Quilt?

Linda Zimmerman is a blogger, designer, seamstress, activist, wife, mom, and artist.

But her art isn't easy to define or explain.

A lifelong Madison resident who is married to her high-school sweetheart Scott, Linda makes quilted art, an exquisitely beautiful form of art that uses fabric as its medium and manipulates color as well as paint or pencil could.

"Some people call it fiber art," she says. "They use all different kinds of fibers, which are manipulated, rusted, discharged, batiked, and dyed. And you can do all of that together, or you can create your own fabric, as well."

Because art quilting is hard to define and because of its close relation to conventional quilting, it often doesn't get much respect in art circles and is as a result often called by a variety of names, including "fiber art" or "textile art."

"It's our perception that the 'art' part of it is not taken seriously," Linda says. "Don't get me wrong, traditional quilts are beautiful."

But art quilting is different: "There are no rules," she says. "You can express yourself with fabric any way you want, really."

There are several ways to make quilted art, including fabric collages (cutting and sewing multiple unique pieces of fabric together multiple times until the quilt has the desired look); discharging and rusting (tying black fabric and bleaching it); rusting fabric to give it color patterns; and Linda's own technique, painting and threading fabric, then using the "fabric collage" technique.

When Linda isn't busy making art, she is blogging about making art.

"We post things we've made or designed," she says. "It's a critique group, but most comments are positive."

Linda also offers private lessons and teaches at the Guilford Art Center. She has also been running a camp for local children and adults for two years.

"I call it 'the fiber art camp,'" she says.

The camp is run as though the year is 1850 and participants learn to sew by hand, "flower pound" (which involves dying fabric with flowers), and make bread and butter, mittens, and a small quilt.

Linda holds degrees in fashion design and textiles and has exhibited extensively. Her work has been published in Creative Quilting and hangs in the collection of the Smilow Cancer Hospital. She was also one of 55 artists chosen to be part of the permanent collection at the International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska.

Surprisingly, Linda is self-taught.

"My mother did not sew," she says. "We did not own a sewing machine."

Rather, Linda's journey began when her aunt won a sewing machine at a state fair.

"I said, 'I want to learn to sew,' and I did, through trial and error, when I was 11 years old," she says. "And I just loved it. Back then, I made clothes for myself and I just never really stopped."

Linda later went on to get a degree in retail and merchandising, as well as a B.S. in home economics. She later started her own children's clothing company, The Curtis Collection.

When Linda began making quilted art three years ago, she immediately took to it. In fact, the very first piece she created-a journal quilt, named for its 8 ½ x 11 size-was chosen for publication in Masters: Arts Quilts.

With the exception of a short time away during and after college, Linda has lived in Madison all her life.

"We grew up here. We love it here," she says.

According to Linda, she and her husband particularly love the beach.

"We spend as much time as we can at the beach," she says. "We walk on the beach all the time, ride our bikes along the beach. We try to shop locally. We love the library and the book store!"

When Linda isn't working on her art, she is volunteering once a week at New Haven Home Recovery, a non-profit that provides services and shelter to women and children in the New Haven area.

"It's my other passion," she says. "Everything is about preventing homelessness and rapidly re-housing families."

Linda, who says she keeps in touch with some of the families that have left the shelter, has been working with both adults and children at Home Recovery, making handmade quilts and felt toys.

"Depending on the season and what they want, we make different things," she says. "Everything is hand-done and I try to make sure every child creates something with me."

She has been volunteering at Home Recovery for more than two years and also sits on the board.

"These [art and Home Recovery] are my two passions and I just love it," she says.

To see more of Linda Zimmerman's work, visit her blog at zimmermandezigns.blogspot.com.

To nominate a person of the week, call Sunny Bosco 203-245-1877, ext. 6146 or email s.bosco@shorepublishing.com.