KwaZulu Natal Quilters Guild

Saturday 27 October 2012 saw the year end meeting of the KZNQG in Durban.   Its always a good time to catch up with quilting buddies and do some early Christmas shopping, not to mention Teacher gifts!  The sales table, raising funds for the 2013 National Quilting Festival, had some great bargains, even little Christmas cakes!  Here are a few pics of the day:

The always colourful Amafu fabrics

The Peppa-Jo table...how good do those cupcakes look?

More Peppa-Jo goodness

This amazing clown was raffled off by Sew Together to raise funds for the Bobbi Bear Foundation - thanks Sue! 

Her new owner aptly named her 'Pfaffie.'  She goes to sewing classes prepared for anything.  Just look at the details:

Cute right?  The KZNQG start again next year in February.

Thank You...Again!

I was pleasantly surprised when I was reading my KZNQG newsletter and saw a write up on Peppa-Jo's blog launch.  It mentioned that there was a free pattern to download as a thank you for all the support you have all given me over the years.  That was a few months ago and it has since closed, but I am happy to re-open it for again for all those that missed it first time round!.  So enjoy it until the end of June!!!

How to Save the Image

Place your cursor over the image.

Right click on your mouse

From the menu that displays, select the Save Picture As option.

Browse to where you’d like to save it.

Press Save.

if you have any trouble, simply mail me at peppa.jo.patterns@gmail.com and I will send you a pdf version of the pattern:)

   

Happy stitching!!

Alternative Inspiration

As a quilter and patterns designer, I am always looking out for new ideas and new inspiration.  Mine usually comes in the form of my cats, my garden and various quilting magazines to name a few.  We are all differnet though, and differnt things inspire us.  Thats why when my daughter sent me the links below, I just knew I had to share them:

The first one is quilts inspired by the Large Hadron Collider.  For those outside the science loop, like me, the Large Hadron Collider  is the world's largest and highest-energy particle collider.  Its built by Cern and is underground somewhere near Geneva, Switzerland.  You can read more about it here if you are interested.  The quilts reminded me of the beautiful circular quilts I saw at KZNQG last year .  They inspired me to buy the 10 Degree Wedge Ruler which I am hoping to put to good use soon! There is a great book on working with this tool called Quilts Without Corners by Cheryl Phillips.  Anyone want to buy me a gift?  (nudge, nudge, hint, hint family!)

Check out these quilts inspired by the 8-bit versions of the Super Mario Brothers games.  My kids and I used to play this game on those ancient cassette game consoles and it was always so much fun and brings back fond memories!!

And there you have it, some alternative inspiration and proof that you can find a good idea just about anywhere you look!

KZNQ This Saturday!

Don’t forget! This week Saturday, March 3rd, is the first KZNQG meeting of 2012. Sadly Peppa-Jo won’t be at the March gathering. After an eventful week of exploding geysers and a family emergency, I’m unfortunately not going to make it. Remember that you can still get your Peppa-Jo fix through the blog or my store on Khayali! Also, check back later this week for an exciting post and giveaway!

See you then:)

Tips and Tricks for Buttonhole Applique

I LOVE buttonhole applique...always have, always will!  I love the simplicity of the technique and the way the stitching outlines the shapes.  I guess thats my graphic design background shining through:)

Demo Table

My in-progress example

Anyway, when the KZNQG ladies asked me to do a demo at the last meeting, I picked my favourite...buttonhole applique:)  For those of you who know and love the technique like I do, here are my handy hints for buttonhole applique:

Peppa-Jo's Tips and Tricks for Buttonhole Applique

• Use a nice sharp needle.
• Always sew anti-clockwise.
• Use good quality embroidery thread.
• I prefer to use 1 strand of thread; it seems to give a neater finish but thats only my preference.  You should try with 2 strands and see what you prefer.
• Keep your stitches evenly spaced and the same length.
• Use good quality applique paper to avoid the irritation of fabric lifting while you are sewing.  I usually buy mine from the Tollgate Guild.
• Plan your picture well before hand.  Number each piece and take note of which pieces slot under each other.  Number 1 should be the piece that goes on first and so on...

• Don't be afraid of small shapes, just make your stitches smaller.

And there you have it!!  Happy Stitching:)

On a personal note, my son and I have taken on the HUGE task of painting the inside of our house!!  If Peppa-Jo is quiet this week its because I am exhausted and covered in paint!!  Luckily we only have two more rooms to go:)

For Your Viewing Pleasure...

I thought I'd post a couple of the pics from the KNQG meeting the other day.  So for your viewing pleasure, here are some peeks at the Peppa-Jo table and the demo I ran:

The New Look Peppa-Jo Display

Cupcakes (and Nearly Nothings) for Sale!

The Christmas Corner

New Display Stands

Other Bits and Pieces

Buttonhole Applique Demo - Stay tuned for a post on this!!

And there you have it!!  As you can see, I tried something new with the display this month (courtesy of my talented husband).  What do you think?
We have an exciting feature coming up next week and some new Pattern pics so make sure you check back soon:)

Peppa-Jo at the KZNQG

Peppa-Jo at last years meeting

Yup, it’s that time already!  On Saturday 22 October 2011 the KwaZulu-Natal Quilters Guild holds its last meeting of the year.  I can't believe that this year is almost at an end, can you?

The last meeting of the year is always full of Christmas cheer!  It’s the perfect place to stock up on Christmas gifts for your quilting loved ones....even if that happens to be you! *wink

Come visit Peppa-Jo and browse our table full of joy.  I'll also be launching three brand new Nearly Nothings so be sure not to miss out!

And finally, to add to the Christmas cheer, Peppa-Jo will have an On Sale table for those of you wanting to use up your unwanted change on something special. 

I can't wait for this one!

Hope to see you there!