Fiona Carruthers made her first quilt in 1994 while recovering from an illness. After looking through books on the Amish people she fell in love with their skilled craftsmanship at matching design with vibrant colour. Quilt making was put on hold between 1994 and 1998 while Fiona completed a postdoctorate in Molecular Biology at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
She began work on this present collection of quilts upon return to New Zealand in 1998. The collection combines a love of Kaffe Fassett’s wonderful mixing of multi-patterned fabrics, Amish geometry and colour. Fiona has also experimented with rich fabrics such as pure Indian silk and French chintz.