We've found a house! I am trying to wait until we actually close on it to post pictures. We should close on either Friday or Monday, depending on when some work is completed. The house is in the Texas hill country, which is an area we have loved for a long time.
The house is on a hill and has a nice view of the hill country from just about any window. (The pictures on this post were taken last year and are not from the house. ) You will also see deer grazing freely on anything they find! I love watching them, but will have to confine my flower beds to a fenced area! (I'm going from bad to worse. So many people thought I meant "horse", I switched the pictures around. Now it looks like I think the horses are deer! I'm going to quit while I'm ahead!) Best of all......I will have a large sewing/quilting room! It will probably be one of the last rooms we work on, but it will be wonderful having a big space!
We are going to take our time updating the house. I'll show before and after pictures of our work. I plan on spending most of the budget on really quality purchases, then filling in by finding second hand furniture and sewing my own drapes, etc. I'll share this with you, too. Perhaps my successes and failures (and I'm sure there will be some!) will help some of you out in some small way. For example, I've already purchased a really quality leather sectional. It was on clearance at Ethan Allen because someone ordered it and then changed their color scheme. It was EXACTLY what I had in mind and although it had just come in and was in perfect condition, it was marked half price! Even at that, it was expensive, so I will need to search Craig's List for some side chairs that I can upholster. (I've never done that! Do you think I can?) I hope you'll stick around and share in my adventure! Can you tell I'm excited? P.S. - Please join me in the Don't Let the Door Stop you blog hop that is going on now. I will be posting my contribution on February 5. You can follow the entire hop, in conjunction with the She Who Sews hop, by going to Sew We Quilt.
Today is my day to "Shine" in the Wake Up to Kona Blog Hop! Actually, there are many of us shining in this hop and I think you will be inspired by all the pretty quilts and projects made from Kona Solids.
I used the fat quarter bundle of Sunrise solids. These colors are so beautiful and cheerful, how could I do anything but enjoy working with them! They are such good quality and so pretty! I used Aurafil threads to do my quilting, of course!
These colors reminded me of the Cinco de Mayo roses I used to have. (I actually still have one that I will take with me to a new house!) They start out bright orange and go through reds and pinks as the flower opens and fades.
If you've followed me for very long, you know I love to add words and verses to my quilts. I embroidered a verse on the bottom and right side border on this quilt: "The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy." Psalm 65:8. (I balanced the design by placing prairie points at the top and left side borders.) Here is my "sunrise" quilt in the golden light of the setting sun.
I had so much fabric left over, I also made a "puff" or "biscuit" quilt using some of my leftovers. I embellished it with a few stuffed flowers.
I also received Amanda Murphy's book Color Essentials, Crisp and Vibrant Quilts. Although I didn't make a pattern from the book, there are many in it that I'm sure I will make in the future. The book is very inspirational. I now have two new colorful quilts I can use somewhere in my new house! Update: For those of you wondering where we are in the "getting back on our feet" process after the fire, we have a contract on a house. I will be posting about it after we close, which will be very soon.) My thanks to Mdm. Samm of Sew We Quilt and to Carol of Just Let Me Quilt for putting this great hop together! In my mind, you can't go wrong when you're dealing with cheerful colors! Be sure you visit the other blogs in the hop today!
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