Isla’s decades of craft

A living treasure of the Royal Geelong Show is gearing up for her 91st crack at entering the much-loved Homecrafts Competition.

Isla Adamson, 99, has been entering needlework, knitting, jams and preserves, dolls and plenty more into the event extravaganza since she was just a little girl.

This year marks a significant milestone for the former Homecrafts competition coordinator who not only makes history with her number of entries but will soon celebrate her 100th birthday.

The Bannockburn resident’s love for needlework all started when she was a young girl at state school, this set up a pathway for her to continue her passion for years to come.

“It’s been a part of me all my life.

“We had a teacher who used to come in on a Friday and teach the girls fancy work and whatever they called it in those days.

“I started knitting because my grandmother taught me. I’d sit in front of a stool, and she’d show me how to do it… I started that when I was about four and a half.

“When I left school, I joined the embroiders guild in Geelong and I learnt all this fancy stitching with drawn threads and weaving.”

Mrs Adamson said making patterns in her needlework brings her the most joy.

“I like when you start on it, and you get a centre and you build up your patterns of what you’re going to do.”

She has been in the Country Women’s Association for over 60 years, serving as president and secretary at groups including Mount Moriac and Geelong.

 

Mrs Adamson only recently stepped away from the group, after what was closing in on 70 years of service.

Her success at the Royal Geelong Show has been mind-blowing, with a full scrap book dedicated to her prize certificates.

This paved the way for her to start running the Homecrafts Competition at the show for many years.

“For me, there’s a lot of thirds and seconds in there, along with some firsts.

“I’ve always just loved being a part of it.

“Because of my work with the embroiders guild and the number of techniques I learnt, it gave me plenty of confidence to be able to run the homecrafts at the Geelong Show.

“Now I couldn’t do it because I’m not familiar with computers, I used to just do it all in writing. So there you are.”

 

Mrs Adamson said key to her longevity has been her love for homecrafts, a constant in her life over the years.

“The years just keep going by!

“I suppose continuing to keep up with my interest has been some part of still being here.

“My love for farming has also been key, as we used to have chicken farms and so on. There was always something to do on the farm.”

The 99-year-old plans on again going to the Royal Geelong Show on a few of the days to check out the judging and see what’s going on.

A taxi or two will help to deliver the local treasure to the place that has brought her so much joy in her close to 100 years on the planet.