The sewing machine is whirring, a podcast is playing and I'm in my happy place.
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I'm making a garment for myself and navigating a particularly tricky curved seam. I get to the end but, alas! My bobbin thread has run out.
I'm used to making my own clothes because it brings me joy and enables me to create a wardrobe that is bespoke in every way. But this time, I'm making a garment to be scrutinised by the judges at the Canberra Show Crafts Expo.
The expo attracts hundreds of entries across a myriad of crafts, from knitting and needlework, to lace and Lego models.
Ann Toet is the section head for the crafts expo. She oversees 19 chief stewards and up to 300 volunteers. She also organises sponsors for prizes and finds expert judges for each craft.
"I took the job on knowing that it was going to be a huge thing to organise," she says.
"But I love crafts so much and I love promoting it and I teach a bit as well. I'm just so into craft that I didn't want to see it fall in a heap."
Setting up for the show started on Wednesday, with volunteers getting display cabinets out and setting up tables ready for competitors to drop off their makes on Sunday.
The expert panel of judges will come on Sunday afternoon to pick out the first-, second- and third-place winners in each class.
They also have the task of selecting the champion and reserve of each craft. Each of these winners then face off against each other until the champion of champions is crowned.
Last year an impressive piece of jewellery took home the top prize.
The judges whip out their magnifying glasses to examine every fine detail, from the quality of materials and tools used to the presentation of the piece.
The women - and a few men - involved in the show have, nor surprisingly, a deep passion for craft.
You might think the competition is high-stakes, and for some it is, but the vast majority of entrants just want to share their skills and creativity with others.
Toet herself does many different crafts, including spinning, dyeing and weaving yarn, crochet, knitting, basket weaving, paper crafts, felting and making things out of recycled materials.
"Initially, I think I liked the winning, but these days I don't mind whether I do or not," she says.
"I just want to have things in there to show - things that you can make and just to encourage people to have a go and try different things."
The popularity of different crafts ebbs and flows over the years. This year, the crochet section is by far the hottest ticket, with 139 entries. Hand knitting is not far behind with 96 entries.
Each year, Toet and the chief stewards review the categories to keep them up to date with demand. For instance, decorative and folk art has been swapped out for the new category of art techniques this year.
"After last year we had nine entries in decorative and folk arts," she says.
"This year, we have 64 in art techniques, then I suddenly had this problem of how am I going to display all these things? I had to rearrange my floor plan."
Craft can be a solitary activity done in the peace and security of the home. It can be meditative and restorative after a difficult day. There is something deeply satisfying about painting, stitching, gluing and beading to your heart's content, until you have an item that is utterly bespoke.
But there is also a thriving community of crafters who love nothing more than gathering together to share techniques and stories.
Sue Chapman is putting the final touches on her mixed-media wall hanging to suit this year's craft expo theme - earth, wind and fire.
"The mixed media is fun. I like working with that because it's a bit more diverse," she says.
"You can use paint in different mediums and you don't have to go in straight lines or go to a pattern or anything like that. I find that rather fun."
She's vice president of the ACT Textile Arts Association, which has about 50 members who meet monthly. They work on projects to support charities - muffs for dementia patients, for example, or bags for women's personal care items for Share the Dignity. Members also gather for "stitch and chat" groups on the northside and southside, and host workshops on techniques, from eco-dyeing fabrics to Indian kantha stitching.
Chapman is the chief steward of the textile arts and millinery section and will be putting in several entries herself.
"I'm not out to compete, really. I'm out to make the section look interesting and appealing, that is my aim," she says.
"It's certainly not to win or to have the best item there."
The walls of her home are decorated with pieces she's made, or were gifted to her by friends. Her love of Japanese textiles and sashiko embroidery comes through, as does her creative use of felting, patchwork and recycled materials.
Her sewing room and separate craft room are brimming with WIPs (works in progress) and a few UFOs (unfinished objects) but the creativity and warmth is palpable.
"I take on too many things, I'm afraid, and something new comes up and I start to do it," she says.
"I love being creative. So I think that's the best thing for me, the satisfaction of something that I have completed and that I've enjoyed doing that's different from things I've done before."
On Monday morning at Maitland House in Hackett, the Embroiderers' Guild ACT gather for a morning of gossip and stitching. Many of the members enter the Canberra Show in several different crafts.
Last year's theme of high tea inspired Juliana Knight to make a hand-felted hat with an array of afternoon tea treats perched upon it.
Sharon Burrell is known for taking out the grand champion title year after year with her fine stitching, including vivid thread painting techniques.
A three-dimensional cauliflower stitched by Gail Haidon, which took out grand champion another year, looks almost good enough to eat. It was made with hundreds of French knots in a charming example of stumpwork embroidery.
Chief steward of needlework Janet Pearce says the show is a chance to build a community and keep traditional crafts alive.
"It's showcasing what people can do with a needle and thread. And I think that some of those skills are lost and people are so time-poor these days that they can't sit down to do it," she says.
"They get on their phones instead and play games, but it can be very relaxing and it can also be a dissociation of what is happening in the world."
Crafters often have an emotional attachment to their work; Pearce recalls an entry from the show of a very large canvas stitched in a non-traditional way.
"It looked very beautiful. It had bits of wool incorporated in it and it just sort of made it more 3D," she says.
"I was asking the lady about it and she said she started when her husband was diagnosed with cancer ... it was sort of a journey for her.
"I said, 'do you find it sad when you look at it?' And she said, 'no, because he helped me choose the colours and he's there with me. And this bit was a bit I unravelled from one of his ties'.
"It evoked happy memories, rather than the awful journey from diagnosis to when he finally passed away."
When the show opens on Friday, all competitors, including me, will be able to see their work on display and find out who has won a shiny ribbon. The stewards and many of the craft associations will be on hand to talk to visitors.
"Most people admire other people's work and think, 'oh my goodness, I couldn't do that in a pink fit.' Or 'I'd really like to have a go at that, can you help me?' There's an atmosphere of camaraderie and helpfulness," Pearce says.
The craft expo head will get a short break before preparation for next year's show. This starts as early as April. Toet says it's all worth it.
"One of the things I've enjoyed is seeing the joy on people's faces when when they win, especially in the disability section.
"Seeing people's emotions and seeing how keen people are to work towards the show every year and how they look forward to it, it's fun."
- The Canberra Show is on from February 24 to 26. See www.canberrashow.org.au/