Family History – Page 25

Winners!

Posted on February 25, 2013 by TK HarrisonFebruary 24, 2013

Although I already posted this on Facebook, I wanted to dedicate a post specifically to my ~~drama queens~~ wonderful daughters! And yes, I need to toot my own horn as I was a member of the International Thespian Society when I was in high school. Unfortunately, their school does not have a Thespian group – but, to be truthful, all it did for me was I had to go through a hazing ritual of being awakened around 5 o’clock in the morning by two thespians screaming at me to get up and once I was in their auto with a pillowcase over my head, they drove us around on the back roads and then took me to the green room in our high school and put full makeup on me in the form of some soldier (still clueless who that soldier was supposed to be) and I had to wear that the entire school day. And to this day, I *still* cannot believe that my aunt and uncle left the garage door unlocked so these two guys could come and kidnap me!!!

Anyway, my two oldest are both cast members of their school’s one-act play this year, “The Color of Life”. I have yet to see a performance but think I will get a chance to do so this coming weekend.

Our oldest daughter has now been in three one-act p lay (OAP) casts and seems to be chosen each time as a character actress….she is usually the mom or aunt or the matriarch of some family. An integral part of the play but not really noticed for awards.

Interestingly enough, our next oldest daughter was not chosen to be in the original cast, just in the company (lights, understudy, assistant stage manager, etc.). Then the unthinkable happened and the gal she was an understudy for didn’t make the grade in one of her classes so she was temporarily removed from the cast and our daughter took over her role. The young lady has since gotten her grades up, but is in the company and not in the cast. DD#2 took over her role more than halfway through the practices and has obviously made up for lost time as this was the role she wanted in the first place!

This past weekend, the OAP crew performed at the Wimberley High School Lone Star Theatre One-Ace Play Festival in Wimberley, Texas. It’s a great event, put on by a much bigger school than we have in Medina – but, they did separate out the schools based on their state classifications (one-A, two-A, etc.). Their own director gave them a 7 out of 10, so she was pleased but saw room for improvement.

The plays at this festival aren’t “ranked” by winners and such, it’s put on more for the opportunity to have qualified judges critique your play to help get each OAP company ready for UIL competions. They received only a few critiques, so just a few things to work on.

But, the biggest surprise for everyone in the cast and company came when DD#2 was chosed as an All Star Cast award! That is HUGE, especially since she has just a supporting role in the production. She must have NAILED her performance and made a big impression on the judges. And, she was the only one in our little school who received that prestigious award! One other young man in their cast received an honorable mention for the All Star Cast and their lead character received the overall best actress award (rightly deserved). All of us were amazed and excited about this award. And for the sake of not wanting to hurt any feelings, I made sure DD#1 was okay with me saying these things about DD#2 in such a pubic way. She is just fine with it, and even mentioned she had very happy tears for her sister when she was called up for the award.

DD#2 with her All Star Cast Award

My two “drama queen” daughters – sharing DD#2’s award

We should all be proud of our children, but this mom is especially proud that I have both right- and left-brained children who can go from being winners in a one-act play and turn around and do chemistry or math equations in their heads!

A Quilter’s Table – Happy Birthday! Table Runner

Posted on February 18, 2013 by TK HarrisonFebruary 11, 2013

Setting a birthday table for a special birthday person is a must!!! In our house, everyone has to wear the birthday crown for at least one photograph – though I will admit to wearing mine through the grocery store one year because it was my birthday and I had to get groceries before going to church, where I wore my crown with a special young lady who shares a birthday with me (I had made her a crown, too). We have enough numbers in our immediate family that we don’t feel the need to have big parties with our kids. They get gifts from all over, friends and family alike. They receive gifts of what they need and/or want and usually some money from those who love them across the miles.

The birthday person in our house gets to choose their favorite meal to eat for supper as well as what type of cake or pie they want. Hence, the beginning of each birthday celebration is once again around the table!

Here is a special birthday table runner that I will pull out for each birthday in our house. Side note – none of my girls like pink, hence the more sedate pastels but this mom likes pink so the background of the blocks are a very light shade of pink:

Birthday Cake block – appliqued

Gift Package block – appliqued

Birthday Table Runner!

A Quilter’s Table – Halloween Table Runner

Posted on February 14, 2013 by TK HarrisonFebruary 11, 2013

Once again, Halloween shares the day with the religious holiday of Reformation Day in our house. Not so easy to combine those two holidays in a table runner so I will make two – one for Halloween that will sit on the table for most of October and then a special one for Reformation Day that will sit on the table on October 31st.

Here is a spooky fun Halloween table runner design:

Witch Block – Paper Pieced

Pumpkin block – Paper Pieced

Halloween Table Runner!

And here is the table runner I will make for Reformation Day:

Cross Roads – pieced block

Cross With a Cross – pieced block

Reformation Day Table Runner!

One final quilted free holiday table runner tomorrow!

A Quilter’s Table – Memorial Day and Independence Day Table Runner

Posted on February 13, 2013 by TK HarrisonFebruary 11, 2013

Since Memorial Day and Independence Day bring out the patriotic in Americans, a table runner for these holidays could be the same since red, white and blue are the predominant colors for both holidays. I know other countries who use the same colors for their flags, but feel free to create your own country’s flag to make this table runner.

This is the Stars and Stripes quilt block.

And this is the Memorial Day and Independence Day table runner!

Stay tuned tomorrow for another quilter’s table holiday free table runner!

A Quilter’s Table – Easter Table Runner

Posted on February 12, 2013 by TK HarrisonFebruary 11, 2013

Although it is harder and harder to entertain folks with my multiple sclerosis (noise and chaos send me on a dizzy roller coaster and being on my feet to cook makes my feet, legs and back spasm), I still like to set a pretty table – even if it’s just for our immediate family and my mother-in-law or foster mother in attendance. I have four table runners we put in the center of the table for everyday use, and a couple of really cute ones for Christmas use – but nothing for the rest of the holidays! I think, in between the quilts I am making, I will put together some other holiday table runners for more colorfun fun at our dining room table.

Since the next holiday is Easter, I’ll start with a table runner for that holiday. Just to be clear, Easter is about our Risen Christ as well as the bunny, in our house. Hence, I’ll combine the two significant events for a fun table runner and if you want to change it because you do not celebrate one or the other (the bunny or Christ), you can just make your table runner with all one block or the other. You can also add blocks to make your table runner longer or add even more blocks to make a tablecloth. The possibilities only end with your imagination!

Here are the two blocks I have chosen to use: