June 2014 | Go-Go Kim

sewing + social media + so much more

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

What's In the Box?

This box...

the one with the lock, that came from Afghanistan from the boy that left last October.


THIS AWESOMENESS!!!!

Last December Penny Barnes, the wonderful owner and quilter at Pb & J Studio, Ireland quilt tour guide and all around FABULOUS lady sent me a message on Facebook.  She warned me that I would need a tissue...

Yes.... So yesterday you saw my posts about spending the day getting crafty with the second graders where our youngest son John teaches. We set up a photo booth and did silly pics and decorated a wooden frame to look like a snowflake, gifts for the parents. After putting away the paint and glitter we had a little chat about patriotism. Second graders don't know a lot about that word. But, they do know about people serving in the military and some have even had family members serve. For our final project, each of the kids were given a piece if white fabric to draw a "thank you" picture with fabric markers, thanking a special soldier I told then about who,is currently deployed to Afghanistan and away from his family. I explained that their fabric pictures would become a part of a quilt that I would be sending to this young man. I wanted to share with you some of the drawings I'm looking at this morning....
No! OMG really...I DO need tissue!!!!!



Seriously, if you ever see this woman...HUG HER!!!! TELL HER HOW FABULOUS she is!!!! I love her!!!!




Here were some of the photos she sent to me




This one is very special  "This is Keighly....she has cerebral palsy and I was told we wouldn't recognize anything she made....but she was so excited to participate so we just traced her hand...."

Penny's son John is a school teacher at Otter Lake Elementary School and has the most incredible group of kids. Penny had a great time creating this surprise for a soldier, but not just any soldier...MY SOLDIER...they were making a quilt for Michael!

Needless to say, I was speechless! Penny sent me this message...
"xox I think it will make a great surprise for your son...so shhhhhh....no telling. But I just had to share this morning...."

I needed a BOX of tissues!

She shipped off the quilt to Michael and he was COMPLETELY overwhelmed! He loved everything about this treasure. We were lucky enough to have Facebook messages and so we were able to talk about somethings if he happened to be online. We decided that sending something to the kids from Afghanistan would be fun for them. So Michael wen to the a Baazar that the locals had on base and bought some treats for the kids.

Mr. Barnes made this video reading the letter from "Soldier Mike" to his class :o)







And this one is a HOOT, where he shares what "Soldier Mike" sent to the class.  I was rotfl!  Kids are awesome!  I think it is very cool how he makes this a unit study.  I wish Adam were going to be in his class next year!





Michael LOVES these kids!!!!!  I do too!!!!


So we were able to get the box opened and this is what was inside...

This quilt was such a great comfort to Michael so far away from home.  Made with love by people he did not ever meet that will stay in his heart forever!


These are the met precious blocks ever!


Penny's quilting is perfection!


Thank you Mr. Barnes and all of your second grade class for sending Michael this gift from the heart to let him know how much he is supported.


I do apologize for how long it has taken me to get to this.  I honestly did not realize how difficult this deployment was for me.  The boy will be coming home next week.  We will finally get to lay eyes on him and count that nose as being home.

The support I received was above and beyond what I ever could have imagined.  I could not have made it through without so many loving generous people.  I am possibly the most blessed person in the world.

THANK YOU!



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Saturday, June 14, 2014

SEWjo Saturday

We are now officially into Summer vacation with the kids out of school and already wanting to know what I will be doing for them next!  Aye aye aye!  I do have some fun things planned for them but they may have their own opinions about that one ;o)  Movies, pool, tennis, DC, sewing...

For me...I am playing with some Liberty of London creating a new fun tutorial to be out the end of June.  WOOT WOOT!

Last summer I made the Lovetag Quilt.  LOVE Liberty of London!!!!


And I had all of these lovelies left over.  So, when I was asked to create something new, I jumped at the chance!



I am also trying to learn EQ7 for Mac.  I have some great ideas and am hoping to be able to get them on here to help my brain out.


I cannot wait to see what you are working on this weekend!!!


This week the incentive prize is an Aurifil sample set that includes every thread weight for you to LOVE and a mini charm pack of Valori Wells FANTABULOUS Quill for Robert Kaufman.   



Let's get our SEWjo (sewing mojo) going!  This link up will be open the WHOLE WEEKEND to give you LOTS of time in case you need to do silly other stuff like make dinner or driving your kids somewhere and then there is always making sure you have good lighting. The things we all have to go through...sigh ;o)

To participate in the party please... 
1. Share a project from this past week or TODAY!!!  Link it up from your blog or, if you do not have a blog, your Flickr photos. It can be a  FABULOUS finish or a WIP ( any progress is always good)that you are working hard to get off your sewing table!

2. Share a link back to SEWjo Saturday somewhere in your post. I would be over the moon if you grabbed the button and shared that too ;o)

3. Share some love with some of the other posters!!!!  Visit some of the linked up photos and get inspired by other quilty friends' work. And please leave some sunshine in their comments! Let's support each other!  


Congratulations to Bethany for winning the link up incentive prize!




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Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Nested Churn Dash Hop! Summertime and the Living is EASY!

Wowie WOW WOW!

When I first saw Jane post this block I thought AWESOMENESS!  Then looked at it three or four times to see if it was even something I could do.  Then she announced a pattern and I was over the MOON!  I was honored to be asked if I wanted to participate in a blog hop for the Nested Churn Dash...OH HECK YES!!!



This was the one of the fastest blocks I have ever put together!  I will be making a full quilt this summer when things are too hot to go outside and the kids just want to sit and read.

I decided to make mine into a pillow to match the Katie Jump Rope quilt that I made with Rachel on her Postage Stamp Quilt Along.  It is just perfect!

I fussy cut the center square, I have a thing for fussy cuts and think they belong anywhere you can find a place to put them! This one is a Munki Munki one that I swear is me ( non stop chatting) and the in house engineer.  I showed him last night and he laughed a little too quickly and too hard so I think I was pretty spot on ;)



I did find that writing the colors that I was going to be using in the different sections on the pattern  helped me to keep it all straight .  I need all the help I can get ;)



Last night I did a whole ton of free motion quilting with my Bernina and some 50wt Aurifil.  I used two layers of Pellon Nature's Touch.  I went crazy and just played.  This is a whimsical fun pillow to be loved and I really just wanted to have some fun with the quilting. Pillows are a great way to practice new free motion quilting techniques since there is not so much to try to wrestle.

I am pretty sure this pillow will just be found here this summer...where it should be...


Being loved :o)

I hope you will try this fun and really simple block as a quick summer project.

Please visit all the other fun and talented bloggers in this amazing hop!

June 10th - Kim Niedzwiecki - http://www.gogokim.blogspot.com.au
June 11th - Pat Sloan - http://www.blog.patsloan.com
June 12th - Lissa Alexander - http://www.modalissa.blogspot.com
June 13th - FatQuarterShop - http://www.fatquartershop.blogspot.com.au
June 16th - Frances Newcombe - http://www.bellybuttonsboutique.blogspot.com
June 18th - Sherri McConnell - http://www.aquiltinglife.com
June 19th - Sara Lawson - http://www.sewsweetness.com
June 20th - Amy Smart - http://www.diaryofaquilter.com
June 21st - Katy Jones - http://www.imagingermonkey.blogspot.com

June 23th - Making a quilt using the Nested Churn Dash block.
June 30th - Finishing the quilt.
July 30th - Winners selected from the Flickr group.
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Saturday, June 7, 2014

SEWjo Saturday { What thread weight for what project and an Aurifil incentive prize}

Good Morning!!!!!  I hope that everyone has had an amazing week of lots of time to have fun with projects!

Sewing has not been in the cards for me much this week. I hurt my arm on Tuesday afternoon and ended up with a stupid splint.  Not the best way to get stuff accomplished.  I am hoping to change that today with a trip up to see my friend Kelly Ann :o)  She owns Kelly Ann's Quilting  in Warrenton, VA.  Her cute shop and has more fabric selections and fun than I may be able to handle today.  She is hosting a sew in for Quilts of Honor East.  I am gonna go hang for a few hours and see what I can get accomplished.

In my mail this week was something very exciting and it will be the incentive prize this week!

AURIFIL sample packs!

Some of you know and some of you may not know that I have been working for Aurifil the past two years as the social media and quit guild donation coordinator ( the other reason I am so behind in projects).   I am lucky enough to be able to have access to fun thread items like this sample pack of all the weights of thread ( and a spool of the floss).  I specifically asked for this set because I think it is the best way for people to be able to see and feel the difference in the weights of the threads in person.


I will not go into the fine details of how the thread is made, Alex is the master of discussion when it comes to thread production.  He will be on the road ALL SUMMER giving very intimate lectures at local quilt shops sharing all the behind the scenes how these threads are made explanations.  Check with your Local Quilt Shop and see if he will be stopping in ;o)

I want to keep this simple and just let you know how I choose and use in my sewing room.  Very creative friends are coming up with new uses all the time so feel free to try something new and exciting!  the possibilities are always endless!!!!

Starting from the left:
50wt( orange top) is the number ONE piecing thread for flat seams and wonderful for quilting when you want the stitches to melt into your quilt.

40wt (green top)  My GO TO thread for everyday sewing, garment and bag sewing and perfect for quilting with more of an impact.

28wt ( gray top) this is really my favorite for quilting.  I do not have enough of this one in my sewing room. It glides through the machine like butter and it also fabulous when used as topstitching.

12wt ( red top) Want quilting with a WOW factor?  This is your thread!  You can use this thread in your domestic home machine ( mine is a Bernina 440 QE) by using a larger needle like a topstitching or leather needle and using 40wt in the bobbin.  Depending on your machine you may need to adjust the tension, I did not have this issue.  This thread can also be used for beautiful embroidery and lovely hand quilting.

Aurifloss LOVE this so much!  This floss is so beautiful and perfect for any hand stitching projects you may have. Six strands of perfect cotton floss that can be separated. Can also be used for hand quilting and best of all...the adorable wooden spool!


12wt wool ( red top) this is a dream to use in hand stitching.  Lovely matte finish and  perfect to use with either wool projects or in any of your embroidery projects.  I have not tried this one on my machine but I know that many people have done so successfully :o)


Each come with all the information you need to make the right choice when choosing your project.


MAKO ( cotton) 40 wt ,  the color number 2884 and the small spools of 40 wt hold 150 metres of thread


I will be giving one sample set away for the incentive this week :O)



Let's get our SEWjo (sewing mojo) going!  This link up will be open the WHOLE WEEKEND to give you LOTS of time in case you need to do silly other stuff like make dinner or driving your kids somewhere and then there is always making sure you have good lighting. The things we all have to go through...sigh ;o)

To participate in the party please... 
1. Share a project from this past week or TODAY!!!  Link it up from your blog or, if you do not have a blog, your Flickr photos. It can be a  FABULOUS finish or a WIP ( any progress is always good)that you are working hard to get off your sewing table!

2. Share a link back to SEWjo Saturday somewhere in your post. I would be over the moon if you grabbed the button and shared that too ;o)

3. Share some love with some of the other posters!!!!  Visit some of the linked up photos and get inspired by other quilty friends' work. And please leave some sunshine in their comments! Let's support each other!  

This week random winner!!!!!!






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