It's Travel Thursday--Royal School of Needlework, V & A Museum and The National Gallery

I spent a lovely afternoon taking a tour with Jessica, a graduate of the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace, the former home of King Henry VIII. The School has a very small section in the Palace and could use a little more room! Their collection comprises 60,000 pieces plus of embroidery of all shapes and sizes. We saw a tiny fraction of that collection that was displayed on the walls and saw work in progress on both new and preservation of old pieces. There were ladies on our tour that come once a year. Wish that could be me! The staff was anxiously awaiting the UPS truck for a delivery of material for a commission piece for Dover Castle. Have my fingers crossed that you get the commission work finished!

As you can see below, it was a little too early for the magnificant gardens, but they were getting ready for the season.






























The next day the Herbal Husband and I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum in the morning and the National Gallery in the afternoon. Here are a couple of pictures from the V & A collection of textiles. Truly another amazing collection of embroidery!