Today I was editor

After being so happily distracted by the imminent birth, and subsequent arrival, of my first grand-baby for the past month, today I relished the experience of getting back into my editor of Down Under Quilts and Down Under Textiles mode.

At present I am just putting the finishing touches on Down Under Textiles. I cant tell you how excited I am!

And, then in the afternoon, I had the breathing space to refocus on the next issue of Down Under Quilts. More on that later. Meanwhile, let me remind you how great issue 138 is ... not only is it one of my all-time-favourite covers, the content is marvellous. It includes an exclusive review of the annual Quilt Festival in Birmingham UK - Europe's largest. A gorgeous bag pattern, and a sweet hand made quilt using paper piecing.

But, that's not all, so to find out what else is in store jump over to www.downunderquilts.com.au to sign up for your free subscription - which is only available for a limited period.

Then in a couple of weeks you can anticipate a whole new fabulous issue of Australia's first patchwork and quilting magazine.

Erica is our 'cover' girl once again with an intriguing quilt made from selvedges, plus we share many inspirational photos of other selvedge items and the instructions to make a functional shopping sack too.

One of my favourite features is Australian Designers. We introduce you to 20 talented people who are clever enough and talented enough to bring their original and unique prints to the Australian (and world) patchwork market. Then Kathy Doughty and Co, from Material Obsession share some brilliant ideas on how to include these diverse prints in your quilt making.

Lastly, today I had a meeting with the insightful MD of Bernina Australia - Greg Anderson - and his ever-so-talented offsider - Kerry Hay. It is a pleasure working with Bernina, whom have been so generous and supportive of our industry for so very long. It is refreshing to learn that they are moving with the times, and we at DUQ , DUT and CE look forward to moving on with them in 2010 and bringing our readers even more interesting and interactive content.

In case you haven't noticed, I LOVE my job! I love being a quilter, and I simply love producing the magazines. Part of the discussions with Greg and Kerry was about that passion, and how much drive and determination we put into our jobs. And we all concurred that we are privileged to work in this industry.

So, to you, my friends, thanks!