May 2015 at the Hill Country House

We had a really busy long weekend in the Hill Country! It was a gorgeous weekend with a few rain showers scattered throughout.  My husband spent many hours with a pressure washer, a brush, and enough Clorox to float a boat!

 Before

After

I planted some Cinco de Mayo rose bushes (a Mother's Day gift! I LOVED the ones I had at the other house) along with some Coreopsis, Ginger, Hydrangeas, and a Loquat tree. That also meant pulling out the overgrown plants that were in those beds. I left some lavendar that smelled so good I couldn't pull it despite the fact that it has grown toward the sidewalk and not the flower bed. 

(The lattice will be removed, but right now it is keeping the deer from eating the plants in this area! Most is fenced.)

My husband installed a drip system on the plants so we can keep them alive during the hot summer. Mulch will be next, but we ran out of time!

I cleaned up a $50 thrift shop secretary and moved it into the corner of the living room. 

Before

After

We ordered ceiling fans for the living room. We ended up going to a specialty shop to find what we had in mind, namely fan blades of real wood and not "contact paper" wood look or plastic. They'll be here in about two weeks.

 We ordered granite for the pantry (cream with a gray throughout that coordinates with the gray in the kitchen). It will be installed in about three weeks. We also ordered a sink and faucets for that area.
 AND, I painted and glazed the cabinets in the pantry.

First of two coats of base paint.

This photo is from the island cabinets, but the glaze in the pantry is the same. For some reason, I failed to get an after photo!

All that work and I still managed to stop by a thrift shop for a quick look. I found these little tea cups for 99 cents each! I bought 13, which was all they had.

Things are moving along! 

Wake Up to Kona ! My Day!

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! 

                 

January 20

More Stars in Comanche

You are here! - Buzzing and Bumbling

Quilting Quietly

Grammie Q’s

The Quilted Cat

The Quilting Queen Online

Lauraluvsloons

                                      Sew Incredibly Crazy


                                  

Fall Color Inspiration in South Texas!

Fall is in the air, and although the trees in south Texas do not give us the show of color seen elsewhere, don't feel too sorry for us! We have gorgeous sunsets! I took this photo from my front yard. The stripes in the sky are not a trick of photography. They were really there in the sky and extended all the way to the horizon behind me.(Colors are different on different monitors, but this sunset was brilliant orange!)

I love to find color inspiration in nature. Can you see these colors used in a quilt? I also try to notice just how much of a color you see in relation to other colors. For example, there is only a small amount of the rich orange in the photo above, but quite a bit of soothing blue and cream. Here is what I pulled from my stash that could be used. I may never even make a quilt form these, but if I did, I think it would be beautiful.

Oops! Sugarplum says, "Wait a minute! There's something on this fabric. Just let me move it!

 

There! got it!

Look around at all the inspiration outside and see if you can find something to inspire your next color scheme! 
 

                                             

Fall Inspiration and a New Quilt Project

I'm very often inspired by the colors in nature. I don't think we can improve on what God puts together for us to enjoy!

 I have a lot of zinnias in my flower beds that are in different stages of growth. Some have just come up from seed and some are dying back. The dead ones are gray. The fresh blooms are red-orange (my favorite color!)

I went out this morning to take some photos and this little butterfly landed on the very flower I was about to photograph. Just as I snapped the picture, he opened his wings, as if on cue! 

I happen to be working on some squares that are in red-orange and shades of gray. These are only squares at this point and can be laid out to form a zig-zag.

I am using scraps of different grays  for the small squares. I no longer have a design wall, so I've had to lay these out on the floor to look. 

I have in mind that this might be a good quilt for one of my sons. (Okay, J, B or D! If you ever read my blog this is a chance for you to put your two cents worth in! Is this masculine enough for you?)

Here are some other red-orange and orange flowers in my fall garden:

Chrysanthemums

Ixora

Orange Bougainvillea

Lantana

We don't have beautiful fall leaves here in South Texas, but the flowers are beautiful!

What Inspires You?

From the Dick and Jane book I read in First Grade.

My idea of what the world experienced as "autumn" or "fall" was from the books I read as a child. I grew up in San Antonio, Texas. We don't have colorful falls here. We have gorgeous springs in years with good rains and you wouldn't believe the waves of color from wildflowers you see then in fields and roadsides. Our autumns are not spectacular.
I often saw these glorious colorful scenes and wondered what it would be like to actually experience them. Then when I was grown and married, we lived where the falls were beautiful! Still, my ideas of "fall colors" have been shaped by books. 
Here are a few autumn color schemes I matched up from books I have on my shelves. The fabrics were in my stash.

Anno's Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall

From A Year of Birds by Ashley Wolff

We Look and See, by Scott, Foresman and Company

Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans

From Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

Where do you get most of YOUR inspiration? (You don't really have to answer that, but it is something to think about!)
I'll see you on October 8th -my day to show my Leafs Me Happy blocks!
Until then.....
 

Update on the House Painting

 A while back, I promised an update on the house painting. It was very windy then and we were having trouble getting the painting done as a result. Well, then the wind died, but with it came triple digit temperatures! It was 105 here yesterday! Not painting weather! We still have a little bit to finish, but not anything most people would notice. When the weather cooperates, we'll finish. Here are a few pictures of what we've done. 
I've posted before and after photos. Some of you will like the before better, but I just didn't like the pinkish cream with the rock color, which is mainly gold and rust. It doesn't matter. I don't think we would repaint it if we hated the color!

Before

After

Before (we have started painting here on the side)

After

Before

After