Ruth Smith MA, trained as a teacher at Goldsmiths College. What began in early childhood as a passion for coloured threads developed much later into the practice and study of embroidery. After taking the City and Guilds embroidery courses at the Southampton College of Art in the 1970’s, she taught embroidery there and elsewhere for over twenty years. Her interest in the history of the craft led to an MA degree at the Winchester School of Art in 1992 and work as a volunteer and consultant to the Hampshire County Council Museums and Archives Service. Ruth is a life member of the Embroiderers’ Guild and gives talks and workshops to branches. Her current interest is in the festival dress of China’s Miao and Dong minority peoples in Guizhou Province, SW China. Collaborative research based on Gina Corrigan’s textile collection led to the publication of ‘Miao Embroidery’ in 2005 and ‘Textile Techniques’ in 2007. Since then she has produced two practical project booklets, ‘Folded Secrets’.