My dream is to pass on the memories
Throughout my life, crafts and personal creativity have had a special significance. And that is what I want to pass on: the experience of creating something that is unique to your family. Something that will become part of your shared history going forward.
My dream is to pass on the memories
Throughout my life, crafts and personal creativity have had a special significance. And that is what I want to pass on: the experience of creating something that is unique to your family. Something that will become part of your shared history going forward.
It began in my childhood
Some of the most pleasant and meaningful memories I have from my childhood are the moments spent doing handicrafts with my mother, grandmother, and stepmother. These were moments of intimacy and conversation as they taught me to embroider, knit, and crochet.
I remember the feeling of being able to create something myself, and 100 ideas popped into my head. And even though it mostly amounted to pin cushions and Christmas ornaments, the feeling stayed with me.
Later in life, during a long hospital stay, my mother knitted the most amazing blanket. To pass the time, she bought a whole bunch of yarn, and every day she knitted a patch with the highlight of the day.
Big and small events were immortalized in the blanket: my birthday, the day the library cart came by, the day the physical therapist visited. One day, she thought about her brother’s chickens. Other days, she knitted traditional patterns such as female symbols and trolls – or flowers inspired by her boyfriend, the gardener Torben.
Finally, it was all crocheted together into the most beautiful patchwork bedspread, which has forever immortalized this period in our family history.
The quilt for my daughter
Inspired by my mother’s blanket, I wanted to give my own daughter a homemade and personal blankie that she could wrap herself in and play with. My daughter is from China, and I wanted to unite her Chinese childhood and history with her Danish one.
When we were in Shanghai to bring her home, I bought silk, which I embroidered with meaningful and personal motifs perfectly suited to her: the embroideries from her Chinese children’s clothes, her Chinese and Western zodiac signs, the family pets, and other small images that together tell her and our story. It was a huge labor of love to create this quilt, which is cherished by all and remains a treasured family heirloom to this day.
Give a personal gift to a child in your life
Choose from more than 100 embroidered designs and create your own personal gift – for your grandchild, for a christening, for someone you care about… To the delight of everyone!
Actually, I can’t draw
The memories from my childhood, my mother’s blanket, and the quilt for my daughter: All of this laid the foundation for MinEgen.
I am actually a trained physiotherapist and have worked as such for many years. But when I was in my 40s, I trained as a textile educator, and for many years the idea of MinEgen has been simmering. There was just one small challenge:
I can’t draw.
Of course, I could have hired someone to draw the motifs for the embroidery. But that wasn’t what I wanted. There is also something liberating about expressing yourself artistically, regardless of whether you have a talent for it or not. So instead, I enlisted the expert help and educational support of the talented art teacher Christina Bruun Olsson. Christina encouraged me to draw freely and gave me some guidelines on how to create a coherent line in my motifs.
For months, I sat and drew and drew, and little by little I found my own style with an unpretentious, humorous, and slightly childish touch. A universe emerged of characters and mythical creatures, plants, animals, vehicles, and buildings. All kinds of motifs to choose from when you put together your personally embroidered gift.
