As a child, I never appreciated Art Deco. I grew up in a naval family, and we spent a lot of my childhood living in Forces Married Quarters, many of which were built in the 1930s; I associated the style being surrounded by unrelieved magnolia walls (you weren't allowed to paint them any other colour), and being cold (the houses were big and airy, but had no central heating). All this changed in one day when my husband Chris and I had the chance to visit the New Zealand town of Napier – packed with gorgeous 1930s buildings painted in a rainbow of mid pastels – and I suddenly realised how fabulous Art Deco could be!

I designed this quilt as a homage to Napier. It combines two of the favourite styles of Art Deco designers: geometric shapes (inspired by the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922), and stylised flowers and leaves (inspired by Mayan artists and craftspeople).