"I'm Leaving - On a Jet Plane"

No quilting or sewing going on around here today!  I am packing and generally getting ready to get on a jet plane and fly to Cabo San Lucas tomorrow morning.  I am so excited....I can hardly wait!

Two of my dearest friends are I are going on a "woMANcation"!  Ann has a couple timeshares she needs to use, and she has asked Emily and I to go with her.  Ann recently lost her husband to a long and horrible disease called "Pick's Disease".  Ann is an amazing woman and refuses to sit at home and feel sorry for herself.

This isn't the first time the three of us have traveled together.  I have known them both for over 20 years  a long time, so you can imagine all the fun and travels we have had together AND with our husbands.  And do you want to know one of the coolest things about the three of us??  We all quilt!!  How fun is that?

Last year, Ann invited Emily and I to go to Florida for a week.  Em and I both jumped at the chance.  We were in!  Since it is Ann's timeshare, we just let her pick where she wants to go.  I'll go just about anywhere and so will Emily.  Ann chose Cape Canaveral, Florida.  The three of us decided to go in January, since that is the coldest and bleakest month here in Kansas.  Well, wouldn't you know it....it was also the coldest month in recent history in Florida.  For 3 beach loving, sun worshiping women, this was a huge disappointment!  But, you know what?  We made the most of it and ended up having the best of all times.  Now we look back on it and just laugh at all the crazy fun things that we DID do!!!  I thought I would share a few of the highlights!

Ann, Emily and me on the boardwalk at the beach at Cape Canaveral.
It was cold and windy!
(Emily even has a blanket wrapped around her!  She is our "cold" friend!)

In St. Augustine, Fl.
We had to stop at Walmart on the way to St. Augustine and buy our lovely outer wear.
None of us took coats!  I even bought a head/ear band with the Number 3 on it.
Is that Dale Earnhardt's number???

Ann on the beach!
We were not going to be deterred!

Ann and I went to Orlando to go to Epcot .
Emily had plans with a friend, so didn't go with us.
The day we went was cold and rainy.
Again...we were not going to be deterred!
And yes, I am wearing a Disney World rain poncho over my Walmart jacket!
Oh....did I mention that Ann's maiden name was Disney???

I got to pose with Winnie and Tigger!  A highlight of the day.
Plus, they were inside and we could get WARM!

So, tomorrow we will be getting on that jet plane and heading south!  There will be lots of soaking up the sun, shopping, swimming, eating, talking, and laughing going on.  But NO quilting!  I am taking a break.  I have been so busy with trying to keep up with all my bees, that I need want a week of non sewing.  I'm sure I will miss it and I'll be ready to jump in again when I am back home.  But for the next week, I plan to read, read and read some more (something I love but don't often take time to do).  See, that is another great thing about having long time friends.  We can be together having a great time and not say one word to each other.......for hours!  Ah...Heaven!

---Jackie 


P.S.---We have the best husbands!  Both Chris and Sid encourage Em and I to go on our girl trips.  How great is that!!

An Award - WOW!!

Thank you Staci for following our blog and awarding us with the Stylish Blogger Award. What a surprise! I follow many blogs and got so many great ideas for Christmas from them. It is so hard to stop at 8. In fact, I have my favorites and Jackie loves them too. As part of this award, we are to list 8 blogs that we enjoy and 8 things about ourselves. This is part two as Jackie already posted her things. Check out her list because I have listed some of them again!!

p.s.i quilt

oh write

lollyquiltz

quiltville

wishes, true and kind

that girl.....that quilt

catalina's cottage

lemon squeezy home

AMKreations

That was the easy part as it is now on to 8 interesting facts about me....just so you can get to know me better.

1. I love my family and being called Gigi by my precious grandchildren!! I have three now but by the summer I will have a total of five. I am friends with and enjoy being with my adult children; Derick (my son) and his wife Shannon, Brett (my son) and his wife Kate, and Tiffany (my daughter). They are all busy with school, their jobs and living life!! It is so fun watching them parent my grandkids.

2. I am in 3 Bible Studies and 3 different quilting groups. I love my extra curricular activities. Many of these friends are girlfriends of 30+ years. When we get together we talk more than we do our task at hand!! So, so fun!! We all know too much about each other to ever stop meeting together.

3. I taught Kindergarten for 33 years. Well, I also taught pre-school, middle school, and high school. I was in Kindergarten for 25 years. I love kids and appreciate their humor and honesty. I am now retired but I am still involved with children through tutoring and being with my grandkids.

4. I am a cancer Survivor!!!! A month after I retired to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, I was diagnosed. I will never forget the day I got the word. It was about 3 months after my Mom passed from cancer and I received a phone call while our family (my Dad, brother and wife, and sister (Jackie) and husband ) were on a trip in Alaska. I guess news like that is never easy no matter how you get it. It has almost been 4 years now and I feel great!! I praise God!

5. I have been sewing for 50 years. My Mom made all my clothes until I went to college. I did some sewing for my children but I love making quilts the best!! I did make a jacket for Maren (granddaughter) so I might be back to making some cute little girls clothes for a while.

6. My sister and I get together at least once a year at her cabin to sew, well, it really isn't a cabin, it is a beautiful house on Table Rock Lake. It is just us and we stay up late, sleep late, go quilt store shopping, sew, eat good food, laugh, and sew some more. It is always the highlight of the year. We always go out in the boat and just float on mattresses in the warm lake and drink our diet cokes. Talk about relaxing, this is the best. This year we met half way between where we live and got a hotel room and sewed for 3 days. It was just as much fun but not long enough. Believe it or not we even skype while we sew. We get caught up on things, show each other our projects, laugh, offer advice, talk about our grandkids, and sew all at the same time. It's not the lake but it also works!!

7. Every Friday night my husband, Jim, and I go on a date. We usually go to the movies. We have done this ever since our daughter graduated from High School (01) and went to college. We had been "gym rats" for over 12 years on Friday nights as we sat through many, many basketball games watching our children play. We love the movies and usually we see pretty good ones but every once in a while a bad one sneaks in and we leave the theatre. We have a bucket and our popcorn is $2.50 each week and our tickets are $5.00 each. We go to the early movie. The theater isn't the nicest in town but it is the cheapest!!

8. Life is good and I love it!!! Be sure to tell someone that you love them today!!

Happy Blogging!!

Luv ya, Gigi

Us Stylish?

Staci over at The Confused Quilter awarded us with the Stylish Blogger Award!  Wow, what an honor!  Thank you Staci!  

I'm not sure that either Jodi or I would consider ourselves "stylish".  We are just regular women who like to wear jeans and sweatshirts, comfy shoes, and little makeup!!!  And, we love to QUILT!

As part of this award, we are to list 8 blogs that we enjoy and 8 things about ourselves.  Since there will be two of us, this will be a two part blog.  Mine and Jodi's.

8 Blogs I enjoy:
1.  AM Creations
2.  Patchwork Palace
3.  Catalina's Cottage
4.  i like orange, too!
5.  gwenny penny
6.  let's go fly a kite
7.  lollyquiltz
8.  lovelaughquilt

Oh my goodness....there are just too many great blogs out there!  It was so hard to pick just 8.  Head over to these blogs and tell them hi!

Now on to the 8 things that you may not know about me!

1.  I have lived in Kansas my whole life,  but have traveled A LOT.  My husband and I have moved several times, but always in the state of Ks.!  We have lived in our current hometown for 23 years.
2.  I loved 4-H but hated Girl Scouts.  4-H is where I learned to sew.  My first sewing project was an apron that I had to model at the county fair.  Oh, how I did not like that because....
3.  I am super shy around a crowd of people.  People are surprised by this because I don't act shy. But trust me...I am!
4.  I met my husband when I was a freshman in high school, but didn't date him until I "met" him again at college.  We started dating in December, got engaged in April, and got married in December!  We have been married for 33 years.
5.  I was 19 when I got married, 22 when I had my first child, and 52 when I had my first grandchild.
6.  When I was around 8, I would dance around the living room listening to the music from "Sound of Music".  I thought I was the youngest Von Trapp.  I think her name was Gretel?
7.  We have built 3 houses!  One of them is a log house and is located on a beautiful lake in Missouri!  We built our first house when I was 26!  We currently live in the second house we built.
8.  When my kids were small, I raised 6 ducklings in our basement.  We lived on a pond and I thought the kids would enjoy having ducks in the pond.  I learned three things while raising the ducks:  1. Ducks made a lot of poop;  2. Even small ducks make a lot of noise;  And 3. I will never do that again!

So there you have it.  Just a small glimpse into my life!  Now, it's Jodi's turn.....

---Jackie

                                                                               

Happy Birthday Jackie! I wish I could be there to help you celebrate. Luv ya!

The House That Jack(ie) Built!

Today I am busy in my sewing room.  I need to finish up a couple "Bee" blocks.  All of the blocks are pieced, except for my Calendar of Houses Bee block.  This is a 12 month bee and we are to make a block with any kind of house in it and it is suppose to represent that month.  You can piece the block, but I love to applique, so I have been appliquéing my houses.  This month, I have my sister---GigiQuilts3!!  I have been putting off making this block, because I want it to be special and have a meaning.  I finally came up with an idea.  Here is a sneak peek at the house that Jack(ie) is building!

That's all I can show you for now.....she reads and writes on this blog!!  I hope you will like it, Jodi!

On another note, I have two dogs.  Both Beagles.  Sam is 3 and such a good dog.  He never potties in the house.  NEVER.  Winston is our puppy.  He potties in the house.... a lot!  Winston is 8 months old.  My kids and I gave him to my husband for Father's Day.  What was I thinking!!!  I absolutely HATE the puppy stage.  Winston not only potties, but he CHEWS....EVERYTHING!  He especially loves paper!  GRR! When I complain about him to my husband, his answer is always the same...."but...HE IS SO CUTE!"  I think he is secretly afraid that I am going to get rid of him.  I could never do that, but I desperately want him to grow up!!

See, I told you he was cute.  And, he DOES make me smile!

Now the reason I am telling you all this, is because my dogs have been going crazy this morning.  Just barking up a storm and running from window to window.  When I finally looked out my front window, this is what I found....

Can you see them??????  No, not the beautiful ice cycles!

TURKEYS!!!

Yuck, I do not like turkeys.  They are big, mean and leave a "mess".  And did you know that big, mean, messy turkeys can fly?  They can.  Often I see them fly onto my back deck and get into the bird feeder.  GRR!

I have to go......the turkeys are back and the dogs want out to bark and chase them.  I just have to SMILE at the fun Sam and Winston are having! 

What is making you smile today?  Sometimes it is just the little things---like dogs barking and chasing turkeys!

---Jackie

Follow-up to a Snowy Day!

Today is a beautiful day in Colorado. The sun is shining, it is cold and crisp outside, and my granddaughter came to play!! What more could I ask for on a Monday??

View out my side deck.

View out my front window.

View in our back yard of the bird and squirrel feeder.

Maren playing the cymbals!!

It's a marshmallow snack! Yum, yum!

Luv ya, Gigi

A Snowy Day

My favorite thing to do on a snowy day is to get in my most comfortable clothes and hibernate in my sewing room!! The weatherman said that we were going to have 8" - 12" in my area.....they were wrong again but what snow we did get made it a great sewing day.

My sister is in a 6 X 6 Bee. She is having her friends make a star using some beautiful paisley fabric she bought on her last visit with in Colorado. To some people she included some blue fabric and to others she included some red. The white she sent is to be the background. She sent me some fabric and I got to make my version of a star to go in her quilt. Yea!! I got the red fabric to go along with my paisley. I love red and she knows that. Thanks sis! I hope you like it and I want you to know that I enjoyed making it for you.

Jackie's star block

Siggy block for Jackie

Another bee block that I finished today was for Emily in my Calendar of Houses Bee. We make a block that represents the month and season we are in. My January block is all about cold weather, an igloo, and some snowmen sledding! It too was so fun to make.

Calendar of Houses Bee Block for Emily

Close up of the igloo!

The happy snowmen playing!!

My little siggy block. It is about 6" x 7"!

January is my turn to send out fabric for my Lovely Linen Bee. I found my cotton late in the fall and then found my linen to match. I used a tutorial I saw on Lollyquiltz. It is so fun to make and I think it will make a beautiful when I put all the blocks together. Here is the tutorial from Mrs. Schmenkman. I think this block will make a beautiful quilt!!

My block for my Lovely Linen Bee

Happy January everyone!!!

Luv ya, Gigi

Blessings

Christmas time is such a blessing. The anticipation and preparation are half the fun. I was having my whole family home....Derick and Shannon with their boys, Asher and Theodore, Brett and Kate with their daughter, Maren. Tiffany was also coming home after having finished her semester in pharmacy school. What more could a Mom ask for? After all, it had been 2 years since we had all been together.

I was sewing and finishing things even after Christmas.

A quilt for Theodore

A jacket and hat for Maren

I didn't get a picture of the jacket and hat on Maren. It was so cute and she just loved it. I will definitely post that at another time.

This is the quilt I made for Tiffany.

I also made two more quilts just like this one above for Asher and Maren. On the back of all the quilts I put Minky. Tiffany especially loved the quilt as it was made out of fabrics that she remembered from the past. (Dresses, other quilts I have made, etc) The little ones were thrilled to have a quilt just like Aunt "T's".

In the corner of each quilt I embroidered their name.

I made many other small projects and gifts for my friends and family. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures taken of them. I am going to do a better job of that next year.

With the family together we just had to take some pictures. We were so glad that we took pictures the first day we were all together because there are always unexpected events that can happen. Tiffany was sick on Christmas day and ended up in the hospital with pneumonia, exhaustion, and dehydration. She was one sick girl. (I guess this is what Pharmacy school does to you at the end of semester finals.) We missed our extended family Christmas party and 4 days of her time with her brothers and their families was lost. Asher and Theodore ended up the last two days of their visit throwing up. I hope that is not too graphic but it was hard as they were about ready to fly home to Florida. Oh my, life in the Wyss family is always an adventure. An adventure that is filled with love, support, and even surprises!!

Again I say to you, "What more could a Mom as for than to have her family all around her?" Life truly is a blessing even in the unexpected adventures that we share together as a family.

Brett, Kate, and Maren

Shannon, Derick, Theodore and Asher

Tiffany with Asher

Gigi & Papa with the grandkids!!

The Wyss Family

2010 has been a great year. We are looking forward to 2011 and adding 2 new little ones to our family. Yes, we are truly blessed!!

Happy 2011 to you and your family!

Luv ya, Gigi

What I have been up to!

Christmas and New Year's are over and I am ready to sew!!  I got all my decorations put away yesterday and I cleaned my sewing room today.  I am in several bees, so I need to get busy making blocks.  I can't wait!  It will be so fun.

Here are just a few things that I made before Christmas for gifts.  Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of everything I made.

Gifts for my granddaughter---Parker!

Santa Bag
A knock off of one seen at Pottery Barn

Santa Mug Rug
Pattern by Jodi at Pleasant Home

Reversible Christmas Bib
Pattern by Karen Rellaford

Gifts for my wonderful sister---Gigi

Sewing Machine Cover
Pattern by Candice at Sparkle Power

Hexie Caddy
Pattern by Penny at Penny's Hands

I had so much fun sewing for my granddaughter this year.  I hope to sew for her for years and years to come.

My daughter, Carisa and granddaughter, Parker!

Over the New Year, my husband and I were in Colorado with all our kids.  We had such a wonderful time all being together and having a late Christmas celebration.

The whole gang.

My husband told me recently that this is his very least favorite time of year.  (He is a golfer!)  It is cold and dreary out and he misses his golf.  I can just imagine what it is like.  I would hate it if I couldn't quilt for 3-4 months!  My reply to him is that this is one of my favorite times of year for the same reason!  (Don't get me wrong....I love, love, love SUMMER!!)  I love it that the weather is now cold and dreary!  All I want to do is stay in, hibernate in my sewing room or snuggle under a warm quilt with one of my hand projects.  I'd better get busy....I have a lot of projects to start and finish before summer comes!  Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!