Helen Godden, is an accomplished artist from Australia whose career in hand-painting textiles spans her entire life. Helen began her artistic journey by hand-painting garments during the 1980s, a trend that gained significant popularity in Australia. At the young age of 21, she transformed her passion into a successful retail business.
However, Helen's life took a dramatic turn thirteen years later when her husband suffered a severe rock-climbing accident shortly after the birth of their daughter. Emerging from a challenging three-year period, during which her husband made a full recovery, Helen found solace and inspiration through an unexpected visit to a local quilt show. It was there that she discovered free-motion quilting and realized the potential to merge her love for fabric painting with quilting techniques.
Since launching into quilting in 2004, Helen has participated in Houston competitions 16 times and has been awarded in the Painted Surface ART category on each occasion. Her accolades include becoming the first international ambassador for Handi Quilter and playing a pivotal role in introducing their machines outside of the USA. Additionally, she received recognition as Master of Innovative Artistry for her bleach-painted quilt and is regarded as a world leader in this technique.
Helen has also designed a specialized foot for long-arm machines that facilitates yarn couching in free motion. Over the past 16 years, she has consistently achieved success at Houston competitions, walking up to the winners’ podium each time.
As an esteemed educator, Helen shares her unique style of fabric painting and quilting globally and has garnered over 70K followers who admire her work.
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