Sometimes influences and chances conspire so that two people are creating the same thing at the same time, say the Wright Brothers and Richard Pearse all getting off the ground within a short space of time but on other sides of the world. It can be that there was a unifying influence or they all just thought of the same thing at the same time. This quilt could be said to be the result of a perfect storm of inspirations. While I was stitching away in one little corner, I had no idea that there were so many others doing the same.

I started this quilt last September, cutting strips and sending them out for friends and have recently had the chance to stumble upon the Liberated Amish Get Together hosted by the lovely Lazy Girl Tonya . It could be an opportunity for a down hearted sigh, thinking that I was the only one doing this, thinking that I was being uniquely creative only to find, I wasn’t. Instead it is an opportunity to say, “Isn’t it great?”. I’m not the only one and there is till so much more to discover.

I had been inspired by the cover of Gwen Marston’s “Liberated String Quilts”, my mother’s 1980’s collection of Roberta Horton books, especially “An Amish Adventure” and then spurred on by the opportunity to have a selection of blocks made by my ANZAC Bee friends.

The quilt along was similarly inspired by the works of Gwen Marston, but also takes in liberated letter piecing and appear to have been spurred on by the publication of Liberated Quiltmaking II earlier this year.

Now I’m left with a quilt top that still has me buzzing. There is also a long list of possible inspirations to look up and hunt down, knowing that they are guaranteed to appeal. With a both diverse and shared influences, we have ended up in the same place. I’ve discovered people who are just as fired up about the possibilities as me, a truly perfect storm.

I hunted through 5 recipe books before finally finding the right recipe, all because I saw the dish and thought it would be great for making tarte tartin. For a while it looked like the apple was just not going to caramelise and that someone might eat all the pastry dough but we got there in the end.

The southerlies have set in. Sometimes keeping warm means the tracksuit pants you forgot at the bottom of the drawer and a big blanket, other times keeping warm is an excuse to dress up. Over the weekend, while the sun was out, I was fortunate enough to stumble across the vintage car club waiting to take part in the Arbour Day parade. These ladies know how to keep warm with a smile.


These outfits and cars come out when the occasion permits – Art Deco Weekends in Napier, Vintage Car Rallies and Heading to the Local Car Museum with friends. The partners were standing around admiring handy work and wax jobs.

The accessories just add to it –

Hats with delicate beading

And crochet gloves that make my heart skip a beat. Crochet and I don’t get along, but these gloves have me reconsidering, if only to practise such delicate feather stitch.

However, when it comes down to it, it’s the smile that makes the outfit.

Sometimes it feels like I haven’t completed anything for myself in a while. When this circus fabric arrived on my doorstep from the Cat Taylor's destash I wanted to make something with it IMMEDIATELY. I had planned to make the top in an evening. I had to throw a Saturday morning in there too. I wasn't complaining as the weather was perfect for a little sewing in the sun.

Enough words - here's the process and end product: