the outcomes that matter

creating an encouraging community

Here in our small country town, it’s show week. Over the last few days, the sideshows have been rolling in and every time we drive past, the children look with eager anticipation to see what rides have arrived. Along with the rides though, once we’ve consumed our weight in fairy floss and been to look at the chooks and watch the shearing, one of our favourite things to do is wander through the pavilions and check out the talent of the local makers.

As a local, I have four decades of pavilion viewing under my belt. I’ve watched a friend finish binding a quilt in the high school quadrangle at lunchtime, to hand over to her mum to drop off while we headed off to double maths (always the worst at the end of the day). I’ve seen the veggie stands overflowing with comically large produce, and handicrafts cabinets filled to capacity. Over the last decade especially, the displays have gotten smaller and smaller, and I can already predict the Monday morning comments in the local Facebook groups. Invariably, there’s a flood of people whining about the poor turn out, that there wasn’t much to look at, why were there empty shelves. Also invariably, the comments kick off “well, how much did you enter?”. I’m sure the answer would surprise nobody.

This morning, I loaded up the car with kids and projects, entry forms and gold coins, and headed into town to drop off our offerings for this year. Last year, I had a bumper list of entries for my first year entering - I basically walked around my house and picked up every project finished in the twelve months prior. Walking away with a handful of ribbons and prize money that left me with a net profit of aproximately fifty cents, I swore I would work on one project a month specifically with the show in mind.

Life, of course, had other plans, and not only was I not as productive in 2024 as the year prior, but the things that I did make weren’t show-type projects. There isn’t a class for art journals and book binding and collages and blog posts. This year’s meagre offerings totalled just four - five if you count the one I forgot to take with me, six if we count the jam I entered on behalf of my big uni kid.

Five little entries - and yet it’s still five more than the Monday morning critics. Five entries to help fill the shelves. Five entries that have me doing the trek the makers before me have been doing for 150 years, along the dusty back driveway, finding a spot under the large gum trees, chatting to school friends and scout friends and past girl guide leaders and teachers from primary school. It’s a rhythm etched in the history of our town, where the past echoes with every step across the pavilion. I don’t even care about the ribbons (much. I’m not that altruistic that I won’t admit to a wee thrill when I see those little white cards).

For me, it’s about being part of a community, part of the story. It’s not about showing off, it’s about filling those pavilions, honouring the work of the stewards of today, and of the past, that have worked to create an annual event to entertain the town. It’s about being engaged and active in this town where we have chosen to live. We don't exist in a vacuum - the town needs its people as much as the people need the town. If all we do is take and take; take a job, take the entertainment, take the sports on offer and the facilities on offer, and never give anything of ourselves back, it makes for a soulless town that quickly dwindles and loses our best and brightest - something small towns struggle with at the best of times.

It can be easy, even as an entrant, to write off these little projects I offer up, as nothing really important, not in the scheme of what needs to happen to keep a community running, not in the scheme of what our family does to contribute to our town. Between my husband and I, we have four community groups we serve on the executive of, currently, that is. There’s another five littered across our pasts, that we’ve served for and then moved on, for various reasons. Another two I help out on a more casual basis. My parents are part of Rotary, and CWA. Being active in the community is a core part of our family’s values. We do a lot, because we believe in supporting our community.

And yet I think as simple as they are, as insignificant as they are, the projects I dropped off this morning matter almost as much as the bookwork for this committee, or the social media for that committee. Those executive committees matter, absolutely. But in a more intangible way, helping to fill the pavilions matters too. It’s a morale boost, it’s a sign of a vibrant and engaged community, and yes, it keeps the Monday morning moaners something to look at. It is a chance to say “I did my share”. And for me, that’s more valuable than the chance to earn my prize money back.

Crafting. It’s a community service.

(And yes, once again, I’m aiming to complete a project a month to enter in next years show. Maybe I need to keep a tally in my stack once a month for some accountability!)

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ON MY CRAFT TABLE THIS WEEK

It’s been somewhat quiet in the craft room this week but I did manage to get a couple of pages done for 100 Days, and after casting off and blocking a shawl in time to get it in the show, I’ve started winding up a warp for my next weaving project.

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IN OTHER THINGS THIS WEEK

The low crafting this week isn’t just a case of me being slack, I promise - it was homeschool renewal week! Here in NSW, our registration periods can be for up to two years (after the initial twelve months for new applicants). For me, my registration was due for renewal this month, which means I’m not only reporting on our activities and the children’s progress for the past two years, but also planning and programming for the next two years I’m wanting to register for. Instead of crafting, it’s been a lot of paperwork and pulling crates of work from the container and flicking through two years of diaries and records and reading lots of syllabi. I did manage to get to an author event though, after I got all that done, and came home with two new books, so we’ll call it a win, and Miss14 has been busy making croissants from scratch.

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INSPIRING ME THIS WEEK

Loving these mini improv patchworks // two months to Easter has me getting in planning mode // simple + cute metal ornaments that have me thinking of new ways to use old things

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It’s been a busy week, that’s for sure! Some stressful (homeschool rego!), some cup-filling (author talks and finished projects), so I’m looking forward to a quiet-ish weekend (in and around scout commitments), making some progress on my 100 Days project - I’m only needing to do today’s page and then I’m up to date!

I am so excited to see this project coming together - my 100 Day goal is to work every day on two different series of works. One, you may be familiar with; “Feels Like Home”, the first piece of which I shared the development of right here on Substack. the spread you can see above is the beginning of piece two.

If this is where we leave you, have a crafty week! I will be continuing to share snippets of my project here and on insta. For paid subscribers, read on for more about these pages and the stories that are guiding me