She developed an interest in quilts in the 1970s and began decorating her home with them. She worked against the exclusion of quilts from the art world and the diminishment of women's art as "
women's work", and advocated for quilting to be taken seriously and treated just like any other art form. Zegart was an early leader of quilt documentation in the United States. Zegart, Eleanor Bingham Miller, and Eunice Ray came together in 1981 to found The Kentucky Quilt Project, the first statewide quilt documentation project in the United States. This project grew into Kentucky to the World, which she founded in 2013 and was the CEO of until her death. She co-founded the Alliance for American Quilts (also known as the Quilt Alliance) in 1993 and led its development until 2006, and was involved in the establishment of the
Quilt Index. Her first international project was a 1987 exhibit of Kentucky quilts for the Women's Committee of the
National Trust of Australia in
Sydney. Her book
American Quilt Collections: Antique Quilt Masterpieces was published by Nihon Vogue Ltd. in
Tokyo in the late 1990s. In her latest days, she was executive producer and host of the nine-part documentary series
Why Quilts Matter, History, Art & Politics, which aired on
KET (Kentucky's
public television station) and other
PBS stations across the United States. Zegart spoke at events for groups such as the
Rotary Club of Louisville, and appeared on KET's
Kentucky Collectibles show, appraising the value of a quilt and discussing its history with a guest. She gave lectures on topics such as "Quilts as Women's Art", "Political Quilts", and "Misperceptions versus Reality in the World of Old Quilts." She also wrote articles about quilting history, including the history of individual quilts, both antique and contemporary. In 2001, the
Art Institute of Chicago acquired Zegart's collection. Her work and legacy was highlighted in the 2008 exhibition titled
Shelly Zegart: Passionate About Quilts. == Personal life ==