Love of sewing led Olsen to quilt
By Saranac Hale-Spencer
EAST BERNE Carolyn Olsen learned to quilt about 12 years ago and hasnt stopped. One of her latest creations is entered in the Vermont Quilt Festival show and contest, to be held in Essex Junction on June 29 through July 1.
This year’s entry is a quilt that she made for her 4-year-old grandson, Andreas, said Olsen. The main fabric has trucks and tractors, framed by solid colors. "It’s real, real bright," she said.
Shes won a second place prize in the Vermont show before, she said, as well as taking home prizes from other national contests.
"I’ve always loved to sew and I’ve always loved fabrics," she said of what drew her to quilting. Lately she’s developed from traditional quilting into art quilting, she said. Art quilts are "highly individual," Olsen said.
A researcher for the state health department, Olsen retired from her job a couple of years after she learned to quilt because she needed more time for the craft, she said. Olsen is part of Q.U.I.L.T. Inc. [Quilters United in Learning Together], a local quilting guild.
Olsen will be one of nearly 200 entrants in the contest, which is to be judges by three national quilting authorities.
