Thursday, February 4, 2010

Specialist quilting talk - 6 February 2010

http://www.briefingwire.com/pr/specialist-quilting-talk-by-jann-olsson-the-quilter

Check out my media release!

http://www.briefingwire.com/pr/jann-olsson-launches-new-exhibition

and

http://www.trinityvalley.org.au/calendar/recent.php

10792 quilt



The reason? This quilt is comprised of 10, 792 individual, hand cut, hand sewn and hand placed hexagons. Three miles of thread! It took me 14 months of work to do and became increasingly addictive. I started off small but enjoyed the process so much that I kep going and it is a king sized quilt. The beauty of such small squares was the mobility - I could carry a small tupperware box with my supplies and do it on the road. I took 500 overseas and quilted my way around the UK.

I enjoyed doing this so much that I started my second quilt two days after completing this one.

kaleidoscope


This is a slash and whack style quilt made from one fabric, cut, mixed and re-sewn together. What can't be seen clearly, are the fairies that swirl around the blocks. This was another commission that I did for a client.

Stained glass





After traveling to Europe and seeing some of the amazing stained glass in the churches, I decided to make my own version of a stained glass window. This was purchased by a family living in the Channel Islands.

The black and white rag




There was a popular tune when I was younger called "The Black and White Rag" and this quilt is a reflection of this song. It is hand quilted with large treble clefs and contains many images of music on a variety of fabrics. Collecting the fabric though took me at least 18 months searching up and down the coast of Australia for suitable fabric. Having strong relationships with many fabric shops meant that they kept key samples for me to peruse.

Rain forest chiracuso


I recently travelled to the Daintree forest in Far North Queensland looking for ideas. As an artist, I find that I am always drawn to colours and patterns and the Daintree was inspirational for me. This quilt is a Queen sized piece and it has been done in a simple half square triangle which brings out the depth of colours in the forest.

Commissioned - Traditional Qulit



This quilt was commissioned by a European expat who returned to Australia from Amsterdam. She was looking for a muted soft coloured quilt that would compliment her furnishings and she wanted to help choose the fabrics herself. We did a number of shopping trips to determine the colour scheme and then I combined the pieces in the pattern that she had admired.

The size is for a king-sized bed and even thought the colours are a bit soft for my liking, I have since sold another one in a similar vein.

The show - cont.



The Quilt Show



Recent Exhibition 2009







Some images from my recent exhibition in Brisbane.

Design Wall














This is how I place up my blocks on my design wall. You need to make sure that you have good lighting and space to stand back so you gain perspective.

The wide view



















This picture illustrates the way that each section or flower is a separate quilt. I have pinned this up on a board and purposely left gaps so that I can plan which way to lay out the colours. This is the best way as you can stand back and get a better perspective of the way the colours compliment each other. Each flower also has been hand quilted.

Tulips...up close!














This quilt is a different style of quilting - it is a quilt as you go - this means that each individual flower is its one unique and separate quilt. This was done this way to illustrate technique.

Tip toe through the tulips














This is a shot of me which was used in a recent Queensland publication. I had a show in Brisbane which featured my work. More photos of the show to follow.

Hexagon Quilt














This is me in front of a half inch hexagon quilt - all handmade of course! This one is still a work in progress but is available for sale. Only someone who really values hand made art would appreciate the work involved however.