Embroidered peonies

This afternoon I met my friend Merry and we went to the Peranakan Museum to see the latest extra exhibition there about Nyonya Needlework. Merry is a docent there and I used to be a docent there.The Peranakans are a special group within the populations of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. They're the offspring of marriages between seafaring/migrating Chinese men and local women, mixing the cultures and habits of these different peoples. Their women are called nyonya and they were supposed to be very good at embroidery and beadwork. Until the early 1900s young nyonyas were not schooled much, but they did have to learn how to be excellent at needlework and cooking. The detail of this bedspread from Penang is a great example of their jewel toned silk embroidery. Here's my link , if I might call it that, with today's Flower Friday twist of technology. Modern technology won't be able to produce such exquisite embroidery, nor can the modern technology of my camera show you just how these flowers shimmer and change light/colour with every move you make around them. The patience to make this kind of work must have been enormous.

All the while I have been concious of the fact that today was the cremation of Elizabeth in Perth(Scotland) and that my friend Isla was there organising it and Valerie was attending. I hope everything went well. I used to bring Elizabeth stuff like embroidered pillows from Singapore and I think she would have liked this exhibition. So these peonies are my tribute and farewell from afar for her as well. She would certainly have loved the one in the extras with all it's amazing needlework in gold thread