Dear kindred stitcher,
My name is Katie and I am so lucky to be surrounded by embroidery threads every day and Cottage Garden Threads nonetheless. Imagine if, just like me, you could have Cottage Garden Threads right at your fingertips for when inspiration strikes. Let me be your CGT fairy and show you exactly how I can make your wish come true and all the while, stitching beautiful botanical stitcheries and playing with Liberty of London fabric.
The CGT Field Journal quilt came to be from pondering how I was going to put 150 Cottage Garden Threads of all different colours together into one quilt. The first thing that popped into my mind was Liberty of London Fabric. I love working with Liberty and the way all different prints and colours come together to give that quintessentially Liberty feel. I knew this would be the way I could bring 150 colours together. This is a sample of the quilt block that will be repeated with different stitcheries and fabrics to make a queen size quilt.
I love the vintage appeal of liberty and one of my favourite past projects was using Liberty and vintage doilies. I collect vintage doilies and when I hold them in my hands I wonder who stitched them, when, what was happening in the world and what were they thinking? As stitchers, we stitch our thoughts into fabric, just like writing in a journal. If our stitches could speak they would tell of the highs and the lows that everyday life brings, the little things that when looked back upon become the big things, our worries and our joys. What if we were to record just a few of these things alongside our stitching? What story would our stitches have to share? Imagine how wonderful it would be to read the thoughts of stitcher’s past, in their handwriting and see what thoughts they stitched into their work. Things they would have considered the small, un-noteworthy things, like the date, what they were listening to or who they were chatting to. It gives me goosebumps.
I wanted to create a club using Cottage Garden Threads, Liberty of London fabric, vintage inspired stitcheries and journaling. This is how the Field Journal club was born. A field journal is a notebook used by artists, explorers and botanists to take notes and sketch their findings and observations from nature. They wouldn’t leave home without it. Are you like me and never leave home without a little project to sneak in a few stitches in those quiet moments of life? A few stitches while waiting for a Dr’s appointment, while catching up with a friend over a cup of tea or coffee at the café, in the car when having to fill in time between going from A. to B? Sometimes, these are the only moments in a day that I get to put thread to needle. They are small moments of mindfulness that are just for me and as they say “A stitch in time saves nine”.
Your Field Journal will be a covered A5 binder that you can make to fill with journal pages so at the end of the club, you will not only have your beautiful quilt and projects, you will have their story too. You can make a matching zippered pouch too which is big enough to hold everything you need to pop in your bag and stitch wherever you go, yet small enough to fit snuggly inside the cover of the journal when you want to keep them together. There are three options for the matching Field Journal and Zippered pouch.
The spine, corners and lining of the Journal and the corners of the zippered pouch are new aged muslin, a gorgeous fabric with a time worn look and feel. The cover of the journal and the lining of the zippered pouch are made from coordinating Liberty fabrics with the front and back of the zippered pouch featuring two stitcheries and English paper pieced Liberty fabrics.
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Brown -
Red -
Purple
When you join the Field Journal club, each month you will receive:
- 4 Cottage Garden Threads variegated 6 stranded embroidery thread.
- 4 pre-printed botanical stitchery designs on hanky linen (4” finished)
- 4 6 ½” x 6½” pieces of Liberty fabric.
- 4 journal pages with a stitch guide, colour photo and a section for journaling (Journal prompts will be provided in month 1)
The RRP per month is $45. Club and postage prices may vary between stockists.
Optional Field Journal and zippered pouch kit contains
- Pattern and materials for the Field Journal
- (excludes A5 binder which is a Bantex 2 ring binder that can be purchased at newsagents or office supply stores)
- Pattern and materials for Zippered pouch that fits snuggly inside the Field Journal.
- 8cm polished timber hoop
- Exclusive Field Journal thread kit containing 9 new CGT threads which are stitched throughout the club alongside the 150 signature range threads.
The RRP for the Journal and Zippered pouch kit is $160. Kit and postage prices may vary between stockists.
If you choose not to make the Field Journal and zippered pouch, the exclusive thread kit and timber hoop are available for individual purchase. You will need the exclusive thread kit to stitch alongside the threads you receive each month regardless of whether you make the journal and pouch or not.
The RRP for the Field Journal exclusive thread kit is $63. 8cm hoop is $8.80. Product and postage prices may vary between stockists.
The entire duration of the Field Journal club is 37 months, broken down into 12 month subscriptions. At the end of 37 months, you will put together a queen size quilt. Every 6 months, there will be a bonus project to complete such as a cushion, bag or sewing accessories. Each stitchery design does not use a full skein of thread so you will also have 150 threads in your collection. If you would like to opt out at the end of any 12 months, there will be enough materials to make a smaller quilt. The skill level required for the stitcheries is intermediate. An example of stitches used is back, stem, chain, buttonhole, satin, seed, French knot, bullion knot, detached chain.
I can’t wait to get started on this journey with you and see your Field Journal, quilt and projects come together.
Xx Katie