On election day, sausages were cooking on barbecues across the region and votes were being tallied, but inside Mooroopna’s O’Brien’s Hall, 60 people were laughing, catching up and cross-stitching.
At the centre of it all, Laura Bradbury was directing traffic, stopping the chatter for announcements and getting some cross-stitching of her own done.
Cross-stitching is a centuries-old type of embroidery where people follow patterns using coloured fabrics.
Ms Bradbury designed the cross-stitching “retreat” after attending one in NSW in 2019, and after two years of cancellations and confusion over border closures, she finally managed to pull friends, family and people she’d met online into a room.
“We’ve got people from South Australia, NSW and Tassie, and a lot of Victorians,” she said.
“It's been great to catch up with people I haven't seen in years because of COVID and also meet a bunch of new people I've met online but haven't met before.
“I learned when I was a little girl and then stopped during high school, but a few years ago Mum just had something laying around and just picked it up and kept going.
“Then I posted it on Instagram and realised there's this huge online community for cross-stitching.”
Ms Bradbury said she was a bit nervous organising the event but in hindsight could have had more people involved, and was aiming to get it back next year.