Here we are in August and that means the Orkney Arts and Crafts big summer exhibition is over. A big thank you is due to all our visitors who enjoyed the exhibition and told us how much they appreciated the displays and loved seeing the creativity of Orkney residents exhibited in such a wonderful space.

We appreciated such comments as “The best craft exhibition I have ever visited”, and “What a wealth of talent there is in Orkney”. Clearly our visitors were smitten with the products made using ‘Skills from the past.’…. for… ‘Products for the present’ as we had many sales of our items. So here’s a big thank you to the folk from far and wide who bought something from the exhibition.

In a way. sadly, the end of the exhibition also signals the passage of summer. We are now heading towards autumn but visitors continue to come and we are still seeing liners arriving almost daily. Heading into ‘show week’ there will be further opportunities to see some of Orkney Arts and Crafts skilled artisans at Dounby Show and County show. There will also be more one or two day craft fairs during August and September, early October and then it will be time for all the Christmas fairs and bazaars during November and early December.

Autumn in Orkney can be a wonderful time. The season often has some of the best weather… at least until the equinoctial gales at the end of September and though the summer flowers are passed, many road-side verges are still alive with colour from the quantities of orangey red crocosmia. Obviously not native, a garden escapee, it thrives in some areas and really adds that ‘pop’ of colour as one drives along.

Although the DragonLady is all about fabric, yarn and thread, one of this year’s successes has been costume jewellery with miniaturised pictures of earlier DL embroideries and felt-work under glass as cabochons for pendants, bracelets and bangles. It has been possible to revisit some of my very first textile pieces and folk have loved the novelty. I think more will have to be made available for subsequent fairs. Small embroidery hoop pictures have also done well.

Having taken down the exhibition I now have to do a stock-take to see what needs replenishing before I attend any craft fairs. I do have a few new pieces which weren’t ready in time for the exhibition but I’m sure just from re-packing everything there is now a need to get stitching again.

Happy autumn everyone.