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Global Schwalm Sampler – Update (19)

Here are six more unique embroideries from the Hong Kong contributions.

If the contributions shown in Update 18 were rather typical Schwalm embroidery, in this update one will see freer and more individualistic designs.

Some of the pieces are impressive with perfect embroidery. Unfortunately, the photographs cannot fully show the subtlety and accuracy of the stitches. It is a special experience to be able to view them in person.

For the time being, you have to be content with the pictures, but perhaps at some point you will have the opportunity to take a personal look at the finished sampler.

#60
Kristen Kong

#61
Sandy Lam

#62
Maggie Fung

#63
Anthea Ling

#64
Jamie Chan

#65
Tracy Fan

You can see more contributions in Update (18).

Global Schwalm Sampler – Update (18)

Now on to the grand finale: I recently received a package from Hong Kong with 36 (!) carefully packed embroideries.

Mimi Chan is a perfectly trained embroiderer with body and soul. She passes on her enthusiasm to young people through free lessons. She teaches her great skills in courses for adults.

When she found out about the Global Schwalm Sampler project, she encouraged many of her students to participate – both beginners and advanced embroiderers. They all did their best.

Of course, I can’t present all of these embroideries at one time – that would go beyond the scope of my blog posts. Little by little, I will show them all – in the order in that I opened the individual packages.

Due to another lockdown in Hong Kong, Mimi had to temporarily close her studio again. The work that had been started had to be completed on one’s own at home and then laboriously collected throughout the big city. Since time was of the essence, many embroideries did not include a reason for the chosen motif.

What is in all the small and large packages?

Have fun exploring the wunderful contents, looking at the diverse design ideas and discovering all the interesting embroidered details.

#54
Elaine Chiu

#55
Vincci Ko

#56
Toni Lam

#57
Kennes Young

#58
Anna Chan

#59
Laurels Lung

You can see more contributions in Update (17).

Global Schwalm Sampler – Update (17)

Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic has overshadowed the issue of climate change a little, but global warming still looms large.

Today all over the world, many trees are being destroyed from both natural disasters such as storms or floods, fires, and the beetle plague and man-made disasters such as the slashing and burning of large swaths of rain forests.

Australia experienced disastrous forest fires this year as a result of drought and heat.

#52
Ann Kennon from New South Wales, Australia created a small embroidery in response to the bad fire season of her home.

She wrote: “My inspiration of this embroidery is the horrendous period of catastrophic bushfires we experienced in Australia, particularly in my state (New South Wales), over our Spring and Summer. Eucalypts are the iconic Australian forest tree, and the total destruction of eucalypt forest in my state was many millions of hectares, with much of that in national parks. This devastation is very distressing, and although there is regeneration occurring, it will be many years before our forests look once more as they should. As well, there were many millions of animals and birds destroyed as well, which is heart-rending.

In the mid 1990s I created a small embroidery in response to a very bad fire season at that time. The enclosed embroidery is another such response, and is of eucalypt tree leaves and seed pods. Eucalypts, of which there are many species, are known locally as “gum trees” and the seed pods as “Gumnuts”.“

#53

Nicola (Nikki) Fairhurst, from the United Kingdom sent a beautiful, more traditional design with hearts and tulips arranged around a circle. Originally embroidering Canvaswork, she graduated top of her class from the Future Tutor course at the Royal School of Needlework. Schwalm whitework has been added to the subjects that she teaches.

She wrote: “In my design the hearts are linked together around a circle – as we all need to work together around the world to help defeat the Covid pandemic. I included Tulips as a reference to the part of England I spent most of my childhood – South Holland in Lincolnshire. In spring the fields are full of colour because of the tulips and daffodils that are grown commercially in the area.”

You can see more contributions in Update (16).

Global Schwalm Sampler – Update (16)

Elisabeth Erdmann from Germany, with contribution 13, has already contributed a very beautiful, Schwalm-typical embroidery to the Global Schwalm Sampler.
Now she has donated two more appealing pieces. She chose small and particularly tall designs, which she embroidered differently. The special sizes are excellent for assembling the sampler because they make it much easier to connect pieces without gaps.

#50

#51

You can see more contributions in Update (15).