Meet the people who work behind the scenes of your favourite craft magazine. You see their work every month – now find out what makes them tick.

MARIANNE ROBERTS – Editor

Marianne Roberts has been Editor of Australian Patchwork & Quilting for almost four years and has recently taken up the role of Editor of Beautiful Country Crafts. It's her job to find all of the amazing projects that fill each issue, as well as to make sure the different facets such as photography, design, project instructions, advertising and the stories are ready on time. "Creating a magazine that I've enjoyed for many years is so satisfying," she says. "As is making it the best magazine it can be and working hard to bring it all together with the help of a lot of talented people."

Marianne came from a publishing and printing background, which also involved copywriting and marketing, and for over a decade, her hobby has been quilting. So when the opportunity to combine her professional experience and private passion presented itself, she jumped at the chance and hasn't looked back since. "The day goes in the blink of an eye," she says when asked what a normal day entails. "It's always busy and I'm fortunate enough to be working with beautiful quilts all day, every day." A favourite role is contacting contributors, especially to tell them that their work made the cover of an upcoming issue. "It's one of the best parts of the job - it's always a pleasant surprise for them and it makes their day," she adds.

Marianne loves all types of quilt styles and techniques from traditional to modern designs -she's made over 150 quilts and always has several projects on the go! About four years ago, Marianne bought a quilting frame and long-arm domestic sewing machine so she could machine-quilt her own works, but she also does quite a few made by members of her local group for the Quilts for Keeps program at the Children's Hospital in Westmead.

KATY SCOTT – Editorial Assistant

Katy’s passion for writing is being put to good use at Beautiful Country Crafts, where she gets to pen features, brainstorm story ideas, conduct interviews and stare thoughtfully at quilts all day long.

Before moving to Sydney, Katy was the editor and feature writer of Perth wining and dining publication Menu Magazine, where she had an amazing time learning about the magazine industry as well as eating and drinking everything in sight. She has a Bachelor of Communications majoring in Film and Video and a Graduate Diploma in Communications specialising in Journalism – a definite mouthful of a qualification. She is also partway through a Master’s Degree but has put her study on hold to gain more experience in the journalism world.

Katy loves writing articles – anything from news stories and music reviews to humorous features, fun fillers and blogs – as well as subediting, web maintenance and fiddling around with images in Photoshop. When she’s not musing about all things craft, you’ll find her spending time with friends, watching movies, reading fiction novels, doting over her pet python, and plotting her never-ending quest to take over the world.