The woman sits on the small cold brick wall, leaning on her hands and tilting slightly forward, scanning the crowd. Her jacket is discretely patchworked in muted shades of olive green, her trousers black corduroy with elastic side bands and her shoes sensible walking boots. Across her chest is her red body sling bag, where she keeps her glasses, her notebook and pen with the pink candy stripe and pink and white feathers erupting from the top, her purse and her mobile phone. She has recently discarded her backpack in favour of the new body sling bag that she feels is more secure, while at the same time leaving both hands free to conduct the business of the day. She has come to taste, to handle, to learn about and perhaps to buy the latest products and techniques in the quilting world. She is waiting for the Craft Show to open and to meet friends with whom she intends to share the experience.
In August of each year the Craft Show comes to Canberra. It sets up at EPIC (Exhibition Park in Canberra), opens its doors at 10am on Thursday and for 4 whole days skillfully separates thousands of Canberra crafty types from some of their wealth, while at the same time entertaining and educating them in the latest in crafty wares and ideas. By a combination of shrewd marketing, latest products and a well designed and by now familiar format this show makes itself an economic success for its producers while at the same time leaving customers believing that although they have paid a $10 entry fee, bought their lunch, spent up on gadgets and other things they didn’t know they needed till they got here, they have actually got something for nothing.
The Craft Show has many faces, which by now, as the show has been coming for several years, are familiar to customers. The show feels like a group of old friends, come on their annual visit and ready to bring their hosts up to date on all the latest news and gossip. The first task for customers is to plan the day and to enter the door prize competition. This involves checking out the free workshop schedule, making sure of the lunch facilities, signing up for any of the paid workshops, dropping the door prize entry form into the box and finding friends as pre arranged.
The program of free workshops is enticingly described in the show promotional literature and many customers have already decided which ones they will go to. These workshops are delivered for the most part by business owners who provide attendees with insider information on the latest products and techniques in their field. Often these are a ‘how to’ on using particular products or an introduction to the latest book. The woman in the olive green jacket is seated at the back of Workshop Number 1 – Perfect Your Points. She is listening intently and utters a small sshhush to a couple of young mothers with babies in strollers, who are talking quietly in front of her. She can’t hear properly and she would love to be able to produce a precision Mariner’s Compass which has eluded her for years. She raises her hand and asks the auburn haired presenter the cost of a full set of Perfect Points. “Come to the store, after the workshop, and I’ll show you a complete set; I didn’t bring it with me this morning,” answers the presenter. “And you will probably find my book useful also,” she says as a well thought out afterthought.
The workshops run all day and are very well attended. Some are standing room only. But these activities are offered merely as a pre cursor to the main event, the main hall.
The main hall is filled with business fronts. Here on sale is everything the eager crafty type could want from the latest fabrics and quilting gadgets, to sewing machines, rubber stamps, software to take the drudgery out of creating, tools like scissors and thimbles, magazines, paints, brushes, ribbons, beads and patterns.
Often a shop is staffed by the creative genius behind the store. This could be the quilter herself (usually but not always of course a woman) who has previously secured her market niche by her energetic creative ideas and work and has now decided, often with a partner, to turn her beloved idea into a business.
Take for example, Esther. Esther comes from a town in country Victoria. About 10 years ago she was struggling with how to perfect her points in a Mariner’s Compass block she was working on. Failure! Again! And Again! The points would not meet. Struck late one night with the perfect solution – a plastic template would do the trick - she didn’t wait till morning to turn her idea into reality. At the next Victorian Agricultural Show, Esther won first prize in the quilting section for her, by now famous, Helping Eddie Find His Way quilt, which included, of course, a Mariner’s Compass block with perfectly matching and meeting points. Now, after several magazine feature articles, the obligatory book Perfect Points – You too can sew a precision Mariner’s Compass and successful negotiations with the Bendigo Bank, Esther and Eddie have set up a shop called Perfect Points where they sell not only the Perfect Point series of templates, but a growing range of other gadgets that Esther and others are now obliged to produce. Esther’s, and Eddie’s, future is now secure. They travel the country, selling their gadgets, and in between shows they work in the converted garage at home, Eddie managing the lucrative online and mail-order business, Esther feverishly thinking up new gadgets to supplement the range. Quilters are a hungry lot and need to be kept supplied with the latest in precision aids. Precision is much prized in the quilting world and is placed almost on a level with aesthetics by some. The Perfect Partner for Perfect Points will be released in time for next year’s Sydney Show. Details are still under wraps; competition is very fierce in the world of quilting gadgets.
Perfect Points is located toward the back of the main hall. Esther is there, having just completed one of her free workshops, Perfect Your Points, and there is a healthy crowd jostling to get her attention. She is focused and business-like, her once bright and unruly red hair now a rich auburn cut in the blunt style with bangs kept back with sterling silver slides. Her half-moon reading glasses hang folded quietly from a chain around her neck, a silver pen rests behind one ear. She wears smart navy linen trousers and a white open-necked linen shirt with the Perfect Point logo which her son designed in his Graphic Arts course at the local TAFE, embroidered tastefully in red over her left breast. She is affable and chatty with the customers, taking the time to answer questions as she takes the money and passes over sets of Perfect Point Templates. “Do you need a bag for that?” she asks, looking pointedly at the calico bags hanging on each side of the store, for sale, and printed with the Perfect Point logo. She knows she’s on a winner here as Canberra is very environmentally aware and Canberra customers can so easily be nudged into buying one of these, “Especially”, she explains seriously, “as the next time you shop here, if you have the bag, Perfect Points will give a 5% discount on all purchases.” These bags have proved a great bread-and-butter item, almost outselling Perfect Points themselves, and 12 months is a long time, ample time really to lose the bag and so the promise of a 5% discount has proved in fact quite a cheap one to make. When asked how she finds to the time to create her beautiful quilts with perfectly matching points her standard reply is that she manages somehow. Recently, she has noticed her mind wandering a little when the question is raised; her eyes glaze over and she sees in her head that elusive quilt with the flowing lines, glorious colours and not a perfect point in sight. But the mad mood passes, her eyes focus once more and she moves onto the next paying customer.
Most customers want to talk to Esther; some have questions about the workshop and some just want to know her because, you never know, some of the creative genius might rub off. The woman in the olive green jacket is in the crowd hoping for a word, her credit card clutched in her hand waiting her turn a little impatiently. There are so many more workshops to attend.
This is not Eddie’s time, just after the workshop. He hovers at the edge ready to accommodate the less pushy, those in a hurry, or those interested more in the product than the genius. He doesn’t mind. He knows his place. He passes his hand slowly over his now shiny head and pats down the unruly hair right at the back and wonders when he can next stroll out for a cuppa.
A cuppa can be purchased at several places at the Craft Show. The most popular is a huge room set out with a cafeteria style line of glass cases and benches and large round tables and chairs, usually to seat about 8 to 10 people. Quilters are often gregarious and hunt the show in flocks. They need to have lunch together to pass on essential information about workshops and to show off their purchases. An olive green jacket is hanging over the back of a chair at a table of colourfully dressed women who are talking excitedly and passing purchases around the table for all to see. Quilters love to share. The owner of the jacket moves carefully to the table carrying a tray of cappuccinos and lattes in polystyrene cups with sugar in slim paper tubes and accompanied by little wooden stirring sticks. The coffees will pep them up for the afternoon’s activities. There is much for quilters to do here at the Craft Show.
The day continues in a whirl of workshops and shopping. Sometimes there is an exhibition, which is an added bonus. Last year it was the Canberra Quilters annual exhibition. Other people’s quilts are essential fare for quilters. They provide endless opportunities for discussion, for criticism, for inspiration. This was an excellent alliance for the Craft Show as it was bound to draw in many potential customers who may not have gone to the Craft Show but would have wanted to see the Quilt Show.
Late in the afternoon the woman in the olive green patchwork jacket strolls out of the doors and looks at her watch, squinting slightly in the sun from which she has been shielded for most of the day. She smiles a goodbye as one of her friends hurries past. She uses one hand to pat her red leather body sling bag looking for her mobile phone, finds it and dials with one hand in a practised manner. Quietly she issues her instructions, ends the call and places the phone back into the bag. A few minutes later a car pulls up at the door and a man in a mustard coloured hand knitted jumper eases himself out of the driver’s seat and helps her to load her bags and packages into the back of the safety yellow hatchback which is so handy for piling in purchases made on days like these. The last bag in is a calico bag and as he slams the hatchback closed he glimpses a bright red logo which reads Perfect Points – the Home of Precision.
In August of each year the Craft Show comes to Canberra. It sets up at EPIC (Exhibition Park in Canberra), opens its doors at 10am on Thursday and for 4 whole days skillfully separates thousands of Canberra crafty types from some of their wealth, while at the same time entertaining and educating them in the latest in crafty wares and ideas. By a combination of shrewd marketing, latest products and a well designed and by now familiar format this show makes itself an economic success for its producers while at the same time leaving customers believing that although they have paid a $10 entry fee, bought their lunch, spent up on gadgets and other things they didn’t know they needed till they got here, they have actually got something for nothing.
The Craft Show has many faces, which by now, as the show has been coming for several years, are familiar to customers. The show feels like a group of old friends, come on their annual visit and ready to bring their hosts up to date on all the latest news and gossip. The first task for customers is to plan the day and to enter the door prize competition. This involves checking out the free workshop schedule, making sure of the lunch facilities, signing up for any of the paid workshops, dropping the door prize entry form into the box and finding friends as pre arranged.
The program of free workshops is enticingly described in the show promotional literature and many customers have already decided which ones they will go to. These workshops are delivered for the most part by business owners who provide attendees with insider information on the latest products and techniques in their field. Often these are a ‘how to’ on using particular products or an introduction to the latest book. The woman in the olive green jacket is seated at the back of Workshop Number 1 – Perfect Your Points. She is listening intently and utters a small sshhush to a couple of young mothers with babies in strollers, who are talking quietly in front of her. She can’t hear properly and she would love to be able to produce a precision Mariner’s Compass which has eluded her for years. She raises her hand and asks the auburn haired presenter the cost of a full set of Perfect Points. “Come to the store, after the workshop, and I’ll show you a complete set; I didn’t bring it with me this morning,” answers the presenter. “And you will probably find my book useful also,” she says as a well thought out afterthought.
The workshops run all day and are very well attended. Some are standing room only. But these activities are offered merely as a pre cursor to the main event, the main hall.
The main hall is filled with business fronts. Here on sale is everything the eager crafty type could want from the latest fabrics and quilting gadgets, to sewing machines, rubber stamps, software to take the drudgery out of creating, tools like scissors and thimbles, magazines, paints, brushes, ribbons, beads and patterns.
Often a shop is staffed by the creative genius behind the store. This could be the quilter herself (usually but not always of course a woman) who has previously secured her market niche by her energetic creative ideas and work and has now decided, often with a partner, to turn her beloved idea into a business.
Take for example, Esther. Esther comes from a town in country Victoria. About 10 years ago she was struggling with how to perfect her points in a Mariner’s Compass block she was working on. Failure! Again! And Again! The points would not meet. Struck late one night with the perfect solution – a plastic template would do the trick - she didn’t wait till morning to turn her idea into reality. At the next Victorian Agricultural Show, Esther won first prize in the quilting section for her, by now famous, Helping Eddie Find His Way quilt, which included, of course, a Mariner’s Compass block with perfectly matching and meeting points. Now, after several magazine feature articles, the obligatory book Perfect Points – You too can sew a precision Mariner’s Compass and successful negotiations with the Bendigo Bank, Esther and Eddie have set up a shop called Perfect Points where they sell not only the Perfect Point series of templates, but a growing range of other gadgets that Esther and others are now obliged to produce. Esther’s, and Eddie’s, future is now secure. They travel the country, selling their gadgets, and in between shows they work in the converted garage at home, Eddie managing the lucrative online and mail-order business, Esther feverishly thinking up new gadgets to supplement the range. Quilters are a hungry lot and need to be kept supplied with the latest in precision aids. Precision is much prized in the quilting world and is placed almost on a level with aesthetics by some. The Perfect Partner for Perfect Points will be released in time for next year’s Sydney Show. Details are still under wraps; competition is very fierce in the world of quilting gadgets.
Perfect Points is located toward the back of the main hall. Esther is there, having just completed one of her free workshops, Perfect Your Points, and there is a healthy crowd jostling to get her attention. She is focused and business-like, her once bright and unruly red hair now a rich auburn cut in the blunt style with bangs kept back with sterling silver slides. Her half-moon reading glasses hang folded quietly from a chain around her neck, a silver pen rests behind one ear. She wears smart navy linen trousers and a white open-necked linen shirt with the Perfect Point logo which her son designed in his Graphic Arts course at the local TAFE, embroidered tastefully in red over her left breast. She is affable and chatty with the customers, taking the time to answer questions as she takes the money and passes over sets of Perfect Point Templates. “Do you need a bag for that?” she asks, looking pointedly at the calico bags hanging on each side of the store, for sale, and printed with the Perfect Point logo. She knows she’s on a winner here as Canberra is very environmentally aware and Canberra customers can so easily be nudged into buying one of these, “Especially”, she explains seriously, “as the next time you shop here, if you have the bag, Perfect Points will give a 5% discount on all purchases.” These bags have proved a great bread-and-butter item, almost outselling Perfect Points themselves, and 12 months is a long time, ample time really to lose the bag and so the promise of a 5% discount has proved in fact quite a cheap one to make. When asked how she finds to the time to create her beautiful quilts with perfectly matching points her standard reply is that she manages somehow. Recently, she has noticed her mind wandering a little when the question is raised; her eyes glaze over and she sees in her head that elusive quilt with the flowing lines, glorious colours and not a perfect point in sight. But the mad mood passes, her eyes focus once more and she moves onto the next paying customer.
Most customers want to talk to Esther; some have questions about the workshop and some just want to know her because, you never know, some of the creative genius might rub off. The woman in the olive green jacket is in the crowd hoping for a word, her credit card clutched in her hand waiting her turn a little impatiently. There are so many more workshops to attend.
This is not Eddie’s time, just after the workshop. He hovers at the edge ready to accommodate the less pushy, those in a hurry, or those interested more in the product than the genius. He doesn’t mind. He knows his place. He passes his hand slowly over his now shiny head and pats down the unruly hair right at the back and wonders when he can next stroll out for a cuppa.
A cuppa can be purchased at several places at the Craft Show. The most popular is a huge room set out with a cafeteria style line of glass cases and benches and large round tables and chairs, usually to seat about 8 to 10 people. Quilters are often gregarious and hunt the show in flocks. They need to have lunch together to pass on essential information about workshops and to show off their purchases. An olive green jacket is hanging over the back of a chair at a table of colourfully dressed women who are talking excitedly and passing purchases around the table for all to see. Quilters love to share. The owner of the jacket moves carefully to the table carrying a tray of cappuccinos and lattes in polystyrene cups with sugar in slim paper tubes and accompanied by little wooden stirring sticks. The coffees will pep them up for the afternoon’s activities. There is much for quilters to do here at the Craft Show.
The day continues in a whirl of workshops and shopping. Sometimes there is an exhibition, which is an added bonus. Last year it was the Canberra Quilters annual exhibition. Other people’s quilts are essential fare for quilters. They provide endless opportunities for discussion, for criticism, for inspiration. This was an excellent alliance for the Craft Show as it was bound to draw in many potential customers who may not have gone to the Craft Show but would have wanted to see the Quilt Show.
Late in the afternoon the woman in the olive green patchwork jacket strolls out of the doors and looks at her watch, squinting slightly in the sun from which she has been shielded for most of the day. She smiles a goodbye as one of her friends hurries past. She uses one hand to pat her red leather body sling bag looking for her mobile phone, finds it and dials with one hand in a practised manner. Quietly she issues her instructions, ends the call and places the phone back into the bag. A few minutes later a car pulls up at the door and a man in a mustard coloured hand knitted jumper eases himself out of the driver’s seat and helps her to load her bags and packages into the back of the safety yellow hatchback which is so handy for piling in purchases made on days like these. The last bag in is a calico bag and as he slams the hatchback closed he glimpses a bright red logo which reads Perfect Points – the Home of Precision.