Although I am a bit late to finding what my word would be for the year, I have finally settled on JOY. I want to find joy in my quilting. Joy in my family. Joy in my day-to-day life!
What’s YOUR word for the year?
Category Archives: Family Therapy
My Latest Actress
One of the most-rewarded UIL events at the school in our little town is the One-Act Play (OAP). Unfortunately, it’s also one of the least recognized UIL events where sports is king (and queen) in Podunk, Texas…and those of us who have children who participate in OAP are pretty darned glad they have been able to keep OAP when nearly all of the other fine arts have been eliminated due to budget cuts. We had a winning band a few years back, where 16 band members played their hearts out at a contest and brought home the ‘top dog’ trophy for their hard-earned efforts. But alas, band is not a sport (not even the marching band) so it was really easy for the school board to dump it. Our children now have theater, choir (that has only three junior high students in it) and art as their only fine art electives. This is a huge rant in our household…so, I will reign myself in and get on with the reason for this blog post – our creative actress!
Our oldest daughter was involved in OAP for three years – and loved every single minute of it. She earned her first award in her senior year and could not have been more excited! And we were very excited for her!
And now, we get to our second child/daughter…who earned awards at every single OAP festival and/or contest the OAP company participated in last year; even though she was not the main character in the play. Amazing actress! This year, the OAP performed “Blythe Spirit” and although the company put on an amazing play, it did not advance to the next competition level.
DD#2 played the role of Madam Arcarti, the eccentric medium and clairvoyant. And if there was ever a role for this girl to play, this one had her name written all over it! Here are a couple of photos of her from their dress rehearsal:
And even though they did not advance past Zone, she also earned a precious medal – All Star Cast at the Zone competition:
The challenge now is up to the director who is already pouring over scripts in hopes of choosing another winner for next year!
My Favorite Birthday Photograph
Our youngest daughter turned 13-years-old on March 10th. I posted a ‘nice’ photo of her on Facebook…but this photo below is my all-time favorite as her laugh is very contagious!
Our Laughing Birthday Girl
Our kids are our entertainment…and we were definitely entertained by this candid photograph!
Vintage Quilt Completed
This beautiful quilt, guesstimated to have been made in the 1930’s, was *really* hard to let go of! Absolutely beautiful.
But not mine. WAAAAHHHHHH!
I’m not even going to try to explain the relationship with the owner and myself, but suffice it to say she was married to a cousin for many years and she will always be part of our family because of it.
But this quilt is still not mine!  WAAAAHHHHHH!
I wrote about this quilt here, which should give you a better understanding of what the original quilt top involved. And below is the finished quilt (still stunning and STILL not mine!):
And this is the label I attached to the back of the quilt:
I put it in the mail to my cousin last week…and she should have it soon. I was so very happy to finish this quilt for her and I hope she treasures it as much as it should be treasured…but, it’s still NOT mine! hrumph
Quilting for Memories
I have written about this quilt a few times before…here and here. And will have one more post about it once I finish whip-stitching the binding to the back of the quilt. But, this whole quilt-making process deserves attention. Each part of the process is enjoyable to me and as I hand-stitch the binding to the back of the quilt, I pray for the recipient. Bingo! Multitasking at it’s best!
Meloney gave me the completed quilt last week and I have been savoring the near-final completion to get the binding done. But, I cannot pass up the beautiful cabbage roses that Meloney quilted on the quilt:
And here is a bit more of the top of the quilt, with the quilting completed:
One very special quilt for a very special local lady. The memory quilt is embodies LOVE. I know my friend will love and cherish it for many years to come.