January 2014 | Go-Go Kim

sewing + social media + so much more

Thursday, January 30, 2014

I'm in stitches...Kitchen Stitches !

About a year ago the sweet people at Martingale asked if I would like to take part in a cool new collaborative book.  Not a quilting book but a kitchen sewing book.  As luck would have it, two weeks earlier I had an idea for a project that I was working on and so I sent a pic and asked, " How about this one?"

They said YES! Really, in a book...ME!?!

Kitchen Stitches is a great book filled with very useful, easy and beautiful that can be used to spruce up your home, to make as gifts and there are some stash busters too.  I am always looking for those stash buster projects.


Martingale is hosting an INCREDIBLE giveaway on their blog that includes 14 copies of Kitchen Stitches AND PLUS one grand prize: a $100 gift certificate to ShopMartingale.com!!! 

 I think I forgot to mention the tips video clips!  The short videos will be little tips that the creators of the patterns use not only for the book projects but in our everyday sewing. I hope mine is helpful!





These are my project contributions ( I am doing a HAPPY DANCE)



The line up for contributors is also very impressive.  Go visit some of their inspiring blogs!!!!

Natalie Barnes
Lindsay Conner
Melissa Corry 
Jenifer Dick 
Amy Ellis 
Linda Turner Griepentrog 
Kim Niedzwiecki
Kari Ramsay 
Missy Shepler 
Rebecca Silbaugh
Amy Struckmeyer
Heather Valentine 
Jackie White


So go visit Martingale's blog to enter for your chance to WIN some book goodness!!!

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Sunday, January 26, 2014

How much is TOO MUCH? { life with scraps}

Over time I have accumulated fabric.  In the beginning it was mostly children's prints since I was sewing mostly for babies but then I discovered Heather Ross and Denyse Schmidt and that is where my real stash began and my scraps!

So, how much is too much?

If you are a scrappy quilter it is a good thing to have many fabric scraps to choose from. I love scrappy quilts like the scrappy Courthouse Steps Quilt. There is not a repeat fabric in any of those blocks. I LOVED making it.



When pulling fabric for the Baby Love quilt I realized how terrible my stash had become.  It was not working for me, I was fighting with it.  It has been a long time coming but in the past four or so months I have not had the time or energy to keep the disaster at bay. It took me forever to go through ALL the piles to find what I needed. When I had the quilt top completed, I folded and fabrics and placed the correct scraps in the correct bins...IT WAS AMAZING!  So I did what any crazy quilter would do...I went into my sewing room and started DUMPING all the fabrics on the floor to sort through them.

**** WARNING****
*You may want to cover your eyes, this is NOT a pretty sewing room photo*


This is my sewing room TOSSED!  It was easier for me to just yank everything off the shelves, throw it down on the ground and sort through it.

I put my piles O Pellon in the corner for safe keeping and then went to folding and sorting.

 By this afternoon, I was here.  I have some colors sorted and stored properly.  I still have many to do but am pleased with the progress I am making.



My collections that I want to try to keep together are on this smaller shelf.  I still have Heather Ross to go through. She may get her own spot ;o)

I had to enlist help at the end of the day to tackle the biggest job.  I had five bins of scraps that have been accumulating for over four years...

We already had to upgrade to larger bins for the blue and green scraps and we have a ton to go...YIKES!



The best part of all of this is I am also going to be destashing. I will not be selling or trading but I will be having a series of giveaways.  The one caveat is that you are a friend ( follower) here on my blog. This is a sample shot of some of the giveaways. There is TONS of great fabric here that is not getting love and I believe ALL FABRIC should be loved!



So stay tuned for news on the giveaways. They will hopefully be this week, if I can get the weather to cooperate.


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Friday, January 24, 2014

Baby Love quilt top finished!

The little joys in life are so AWESOME!  I am so happy I finished the Baby Love quilt top and am so hopeful that I will be able to have it quilted this weekend!

Katy was such a good sport today in the snow and bitter cold! It was only 26 degrees and she forgot her gloves!


We took a bunch of shots and then I realized that she was holding the quilt top upside down...OOPSY!!!! She is still giggling so I think it is okay :o)


Adding this to the awesome 

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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Good preparation for the snow and LOVING my Local Quilt Shop

I always seem to have food in my house ( if there is ever a TLC show for food hoarding...I am your girl), so I never really become panic stricken when I hear of "inclement weather".  I have decided inclement weather really just means that your children and husband will be home for many days in a row when you have actual sewing planned and postings to do and then you cannot because well, the husband and children are home...IN YOUR SPACES!


Anyway, I did notice that whenever the weather turns "inclement" I seem to be out of sewing items.  So, I decided to make my way to one of my two Local Quilt Shops, The Crazy Cousin and stock up on the real necessities!

I cannot wait to try the Supreme Slider and the Bohin pins ( LOVE their needles for hand binding) The fabrics somehow just JUMPED into my cart and are going in the baby quilt ( except for the purple)!!! I am SET!


Did you know that THIS Saturday January 25th is I LOVE my Local Quilt Shop day?  Go say howdy, pick up a few items and help support your local experts and your local economy!


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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Little bits of this and that for a baby boy quilt!

I have been fortunate enough to have made some connections to people in my life that have lasted for over thirty years.  There is one particular group of friends that I met when I was in high school ( when I bothered to show up) that I have reconnected with over the past few years. A small group of misfit/ brianiac guys and a few girls ( I was one of the girls and fit in more with the misfit category)  who would go to IHoP to drink from the never ending coffee pot ( seriously don't say in unless you mean it), smoke djarms and Dunhill cigarettes, and listen to bands at cool clubs in Atlanta that are now nonexistent.  Now I sit at a sewing machine, drink green smoothies and coffee, and stalk blogs, LOL!

One of these amazing people was very clever boy in persuading most stunning girl to marry him and they had a beautiful girl a few years ago. I made some bibs from my Best Bib on the Block tutorial for this princess and am happy to say they are still being used!  Right before Christmas I heard the wonderful news that they had added to their family with a baby boy.  I cannot imagine having a baby at the age I am now ( nearing 50) and so I applaud their bravery.  I would be falling on my face tired!

I had to make something for this new little guy so I asked for color suggestions from the new mother and I think we decided upon yellow and gray. I say I *think* because she shared the birth announcement with me and I LOVED the combination and kinda may have decided that was IT!  I started off with three or four fabrics and then went happy rogue scrappy! By the time it is finished I have no idea how many fabrics there will be but I do know I have quite the mess to tidy up!

Do you think he will LOVE it?


Accuquilt  sent some new dies in November for me to play with and I really wanted to try a snowball quilt.  I have never made one and I am ALWAYS up for trying something new!  I will be writing more about the dies in my finish post...they are so very FABULOUS!

I did have so much fun going through the scrap bins and revisiting fabrics I have not seen in what feels like FOREVER!



Only a few more rows to complete and then I will be doing a simple quilting with either yellow or gray.  I need to get that Aurifil color card out and see what the best choice will be for this sweet quilt.  Yellow and gray may be the color scheme of the year, even my coffee mug matches,LOL




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Friday, January 17, 2014

Adding a photo to your Flickr Group { a tutorial}

Trying to navigate Flickr can prove to be challenging when they change things to make it easier for the user ( ha ha ha).  I decided to make a quick tutorial on how to add photos to your favorite groups so you will able to share a little more easily.



Open your  Flickr account and locate Communities on the bar.  Under the Communities heading use the drop down to find the Groups List. Select the Groups list.



The Groups List will take you to all the wonderful groups you currently belong to.  Here are a few that I am lucky enough to see when I visit Flickr :o)  Click on the group you wish to share your photo(s).  I am going to select Aurifil Thread.


When your page pops up look next to the group title and there is an +Add Photos button. Click on that button.


This page will appear and you are almost done!  Simply click on the photo(s) you wish to share. You can share six at a time. For this example I selected ( the photo in pink) my 2013 December Aurifil Designer Block of the Month by the FAB Pat Sloan!  The photo(s) you choose will appear in the "Your Selections" box to the right of the screen.



The final step is to hit the "Add To Group" button at the bottom of the "Your Selections" screen.

and BAM! There it is in your favorite group!



Hope this will help you to be able to share your wonderful creations without creating a headache!
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Thursday, January 9, 2014

Falling Leaves Mini {Free Tutorial}

This Falling Leaves mini was one I designed about two years ago.  It was for a magazine that went bankrupt and well, I never saw the magazine or the sample of this sweet quilt again.  I did find out on Instagram three days ago that it was actually published and someone MADE IT!!!!  If anyone happens to have a copy of Modern Quilting issue 2 that they are willing to part with I would be very grateful.

Anyway, since I did not get to share the joy there...I am sharing it here...with YOU!  Y'all are my favorite people to share sewing stuff with anyway!!!!

Looking back at the pattern from two years ago that I submitted I think I have improved on the original. I have gone back into the photo archives and have found many more photos to share for the sewers, like me, that need that good visual to help it all make sense.






To make the mini you can use a favorite fabric line { I used Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley} or it is a great stash buster. It does not require a lot of fabric and can be finished in a matter of hours. If you are looking for a nice quick sewing finish, this is a wonderful project. Minis are also fantastic for trying new techniques without committing to an entire quilt. This sized quilt can be hung on a wall or used as a favorite mug rug for your tea or coffee and biscuits.  


The finished size of this mini is 10 inches square All the seams are 1/4in

The fabric requirements are as follows: 
20 1.25 in print fabric 
20 1.00 in print fabric 
16 1.00 in solid fabric
4 1x2 in pieces solid fabric 
4 1.5x 2 in pieces print fabric 
4 2x6.5 inch pieces solid fabric 
2 2x11 inch pieces solid fabric 
2 2x8 inch pieces solid fabric
Binding and backing are your choice

Take your fabric pieces and place them in the design you would like. I tried to make mine as random as possible.

Start by sewing the 1.25 inch print squares into groups of four which makes the center block. To do this, line the wrong sides of two pieces together and sew. Take two more squares and repeat. When you have these two completed, line the two sets up, wrong sides facing, making sure that the centers line up and sew. Repeat this process until you have the four sets. Set these to one side.



Next are your nine square blocks 

{tip} I found that it was much easier to manage the smaller pieces to have one long solid strip and chain stitch the squares. You should do what you are more comfortable with. This helped me to have straighter stitching :o)



I sewed the other side by just lining up and going but you can pin to make sure they stay put



Sew the nine square together using the 1 inch solid squares and the 1 inch print squares using this pattern:

Print, solid, print 
solid, print, solid 
print, solid, print





When the rows have been completed, connect them together from top to middle section, then middle to bottom.


When the nine squares have been sewn together move on to the next step, sewing the side pieces using the 1x2 solid pieces and the 1.5x 2 print. Simply sew these together.


Now you are ready to assemble the quilt!

Sew the rows together from top to middle, then middle to bottom.







To finish off the mini quilt top, add the sashing to the sides, top and bottom of the quilt using the 2x8 solids for the sides and the 2x10 solids for the top and bottom.


I chose to back mine in Robert Kaufman Kona Gray with a bit of the Hope Valley in the middle.


The quilting was simple lines in Aurifil 50wt. The quilt is very small and I thought the straight lines would be the best. The binding is also Hope Valley and my first hand bound quilt. 


If you have any questions about this tutorial, I would love to hear from you!  Please send me an email at mygogolife@yahoo.com 

If you make this project I would be OVER THE MOON to see it!  Please post it in my Flickr Group


Linked on 


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Friday, January 3, 2014

And there is always room for more Block of the Month fun!

Okay another collection of varied Block of the Month site for 2014!  So many choices for everyone :o)



Alyssa from Pile O Fabric has collected some of the best block for a Skill Builder Block of the Month.  The is a fee for this one but I think it will be well wort it to learn something new or maybe learn a new trick or two for something you already know how to sew.




I had to say WOW when I saw this Block of the Month.  It is Mexican Tiles in applique. Reeze from Morning Glory Designs has put together these gorgeous blocks and is offering them free for the month the are current.  They will be available for a small fee after the month is up.  This promises to produce some outstanding quilts!


If you are looking for something a little more simple and a scrapbuster ( aren't we all looking for those scrapbusters?) you may want to try the Fractured Four Patches on Northwest Quilters. These sweet little blocks can be whipped up in no time and well, I love that fast finish sometimes.



And the last one for tonight is a Civil War Quilts Block of the Month.   The start date for this BOM is Jan 25.

"The theme Threads of Memory refers to the Underground Railroad. Each month you'll get a block named for an important place in the story of the network that assisted slaves on the road to freedom. We'll explore true stories of people who lived in slavery, escaped on the "Liberty Line" or helped the fugitives."



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Are you ready NOW!?!

I love January and all the Block of Months that come out of the woodwork to tempt ( I am pointing at Pat Sloan here...temptress!) and tease us into wanting to make 500 NEW quilts when we already have at least seven that we did not finish from last year ( maybe a bit of an exaggeration...or not).  The unfinished ones are for the Kitchen Sink quilt we were planning for all along.  Shhhhhhh...that is my story and I am sticking to it!

I saw them coming down the pipeline starting in early December and knew that I would try to round up some for you to start your New year off sewing with a BANG!


One of my favorite all time sites is Free Quilt Patterns.  They host an INSANE amount of free patterns to blocks, quilts and other projects. This is pretty much one stop shopping of the freebie quilting world. If you have not visited this incredible resource, now is the time.


I saw this block yesterday by Pat Sloan and about died!  FABULOUS...right!?! It is from the 2014 Mystery BOM hosted on Free Quilt Patterns. did I mention this pattern is FREE?  There is also a Flickr group to join along and make some new friends.



Fat Quarter Shop is doing a Block of the Month with a cause!  The Wishes Quilt Along  is to benefit the Make A Wish Foundation.A beautiful quilt and a very worthy cause! There is also a Flickr group for fun and support for this BOM too!

"The Wishes Quilt Along will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Donate to the Wishes Quilt Along Donation Page for the use of each free pattern. Fat Quarter Shop and Moda Fabrics will match up to $10,000 of donations raised. And to top it off, we will auction off our Wishes Quilt Along Quilt at the end of the program, and 100% of the proceeds will go to Make-A-Wish!" 





Aurifil Designer Block of the Month 2014 has shared it's AWESOME design team!  What a great group of fun people to spend some time sewing with!  This year there is the added bonus of Natalia Bonner giving free tips on machine quilting ( I know I need some, how about you?).  The added bonus for this BOM group is that if you join the Aurifil Flickr Group and post your finished current BOM, you are automatically entered for the chance to win a large spool collection of Aurifil thread.  YES PLEASE!




I will be posting more to come and then some fun quilt alongs that I think are really special! 

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I am here to PUMP YOU UP!

Are you READY!!!!???!!!!

( photo not mine... borrowed from IMDb)

I have been busy pumping iron to get my energy back up ( I am currently No-Go Kim) after finding out that I am iron deficiency anemic...WTH!  I had been tired...not the normal mom is running around, I am a single mom until the in house engineer is out of school ( nine more months of that madness...please say a prayer for me) but the OMG I feel like I am in my first trimester of pregnancy tired...arse dragging...no amount of coffee would help...lead in my veins tired.  It started in October, I saw my running times go from 10min miles to 13 min miles and was gasping for air.  I thought , okay, I am over doing it.  I will just relax a bit, nap after the third cup of coffee and hope for the best. The best did not happen and the running did not happen and the sewing is now behind ( but getting caught up).  By the time my nails were peeling off and my hair was falling out I knew it was time to ask what the HECK was happening.  My dear friend Tracy TOLD ME that I should go see the my doctor back in October.  Did I listen, noooo...duh me!  I was too busy with going here and there and making sure everyone had food and clean undies to wear to school and work. I could have stopped all of this nonsense in Oct but I just did not make the time.  How often do we NOT make the time for ourselves even when we know deep down it is something we should do?

The message I am taking away from this is I will be listening to my body more, it knows what it is talking about and so do my friends.  If you are tired not from just being a mom or tired for more than a few weeks,  I urge you to have your iron tested.  Heck, ask to be tested in your yearly physical.  Many doctors do not run this test as a usual screen. If you have the opportunity to catch it at the deficiency stage instead of the anemic stage, you will be much happier, trust me!  This is not one of those things to mess around with and it really only takes a few minutes of your time. I  had my blood test on a Monday and the results on Tuesday.  Now I am on the road to recovery with my little green pills that after a little over week I have at least lifted the fog a little bit that had been plaguing me for the past months.  It will take time to fell 100% again and then I will have to make sure my stores are all built up too.  My plan is to be running again in two months.  We will see what my body has to say about that ;o)

Please visit the American Society of Hematology  to find out if you are at risk.

I will be posting more ( thank goodness) and have some amazing ideas and giveaways that were sadly put on hold.


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