We will meet in the Grand Entrance foyer of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2RL. for a guided walking tour around selected galleries of this world-renowned museum, focusing on objects that illustrate the history of European textiles from medieval times to the 20th Century. We will look at a mixture of hand-made domestic needlework, the works of noble ladies from the 16th to 18th centuries, the hobbies of the Georgian and Victorian middle classes, and a selection of commercially made pieces, and consider the relationship between amateur and professional work over the centuries. During the tour we will encounter 13th century religious embroidery, a 14th century quilt, Elizabethan and Jacobean whitework, coloured silk embroidery and raised stumpwork, medieval knitting, crewel work, needlepoint and woven tapestries, patchwork, samplers, blackwork, 18th century silk needle painting, woven silk fabrics, 19th century Berlin work and and art needlework. This is a friendly, chatty stroll through the museum, suitable for enthusiasts and also for anyone who knows nothing of the subject, but just wishes to see some wonderful historic textiles!