Tuesday, June 05, 2007

WIP Wednesday and other news......

Hi there! It's been a busy week since I updated last! We are still on our quest for a homestead, we looked at 6 houses last Friday and only saw 2 possibilities. The other houses were great houses but they were either grossly neglected or trashed by people who foreclosed or went into bankruptcy. We saw a formerly beautiful house, more than big enough for our large brood---but the people who lived there foreclosed and before they moved out they ripped out the boiler, water heater, air conditioning and all the copper piping throughout the house. They also broke windows and put holes in walls--in addition to leaving behind a HUGE mess. It was so sad. That house was on 2 beautiful acres, deep in the country on a quiet, beautiful street. DH says it would cost too much to replace everything, way out of our budget. Ah well, here is a picture of a house we may put an offer on---it's a nice house on 5 wooded acres but it's on a busy, loud road--which I really didn't want to live on, but there are enough pros to the property to maybe overlook that issue. We can have small livestock (goats, chickens) since there is 5 acres and DH would clear some of the trees for a large garden area for us. It's not my dream house---it's much smaller than I had wanted but it does have potential. The front porch is closed in and finished and would make a nice, albeit small sewing room--but it would be much bigger than what I have now! The basement is partially finished--it could eventually be a larger sewing area, maybe. Dh really likes this house, I like it--I'm still pining for the "dream house" we found and lost. We will most likely be making an offer this week, unless I find something better, which I haven't in weeks.

I got the top for the Spring Star quilt done, finally! It turned out real nice, even after all the issues I had with figuring out the measurements for the set in triangles. I found a couple yardage estimators online but they were very wasteful, especially when I wasn't plugging in the correct measurements, LOL! But after some trial and error, I got them all the right size and it looks good! Here are some pics of it:


The pictures don't do justice to the colors in the quilt, they are much more vibrant than they look. I found some fusible batting at JoAnn's, I had never heard of that before, I usually use cotton or wool and safety pins for basting so if this works well, it'll be nice to have an alternative. I haven't heard anything bad about it!! I also found a Bernina "recipe" for a hand-look machine quilting stitch, so I'm going to give that a try and attempt to machine quilt it. I've been practicing the free motion some more so hopefully I'll get it down and be able to actually machine something more than straight lines, LOL! I've now got 3 tops done and I plan on at least 3 more---then I'm just going to quilt, quilt, quilt! DH is making me a quilting frame for the items I want to hand quilt. I NEED to get these quilted! I motivated myself to stay up night after night to piece them, I need to get that same motivation and get them finished. Wish me luck, LOL!

My daughter graduated from high school last night, I am so proud! She is planning on going to the community college and taking AP courses for a major in American History, then she wants to transfer to Cleveland State to get a teaching degree in American History. That is so cool, I've always love history and even though she won't admit it, she got that from me, LOL!!! I wish I could get her interested in quilting. Maybe someday.... She used to like to sew when she was younger.

I've been power sewing for days, I'm going to take a couple days off to do some gardening and baking. I hope you all have a great week, I'll see you soon!

9 comments:

Vicki W said...

Love your new red/white/blue quilt. I have a friend that uses fusible batting and she loves it!

Melzie said...

Good luck on the house :) OR on finding one you like better in the mean time. xoxo melzie

Samantha said...

I bet American history will help your daughter to get interested in quilting- my double undergrad major was History/Art History, and I came to love quilting because of its amazing connection to the women of our past...

Nicole said...

Congratulations to your lovely graduate! The Spring Star quilt is terrific. And good luck to you with the house offer!

Granny Fran said...

Congratulations on raising such a fine daughter. History is a big love of mine, too. Hope you find a house that will make you happy. 5 acres where you could have a garden, small animals and a sewing room sounds wonderful to me.

Julie said...

Hello! I tried emailing you, but must not have typed it right. Thank you for visiting my blog. I really enjoy visiting yours and hope you don't mind more comments on older posts.
I am wondering if you could suggest a sewing machine. I had mine in for a tune up and they've said something is broke... I just need a new one.
Thanks Julie
homerhobbsgracie@sbcglobal.net

Diana Napier said...

Hi, this is my first visit to your site and I love what you're doing with your quilts. Thanks for visiting my site the other day too. Good luck on the home quest.

The Unusual Farmchick said...

Newbie here. Just happened pon your site and saw we are both in N.E Ohio and hopeful homesteaders :)
I have to comment to say DO NOT SETTLE FOR LESS THEN WHAT YOU REALLY WANT! i did that and am now selling the home after 5 years. I have my goats, chickens, gardens and a big house- thats needs some work to make both floors living space. I no longer want to do the handy work so its potential has lost its spark to me.
Go for what you want or you will regret it later down the road. Try www.zillow.com and enter a city you want to look at. It will show houses that are for sale in that area who have registered with them. i did it with mine since we are FSBO and have had 300 viewings since the sign was put in the yard almost 2 months ago- before the sign it had 2. Check it out. if anything, it may help you know more about properties you pass by and want to know its stats- they get their information from the auditor sites. You'll see what I mean when you visit it. very cool site.
Best of luck in finding your forever home. Its hard but worth the patience.

Avalon Acres Farm said...

Thanks Julie! I'm going to try the batting on this quilt, thanks for letting me know your friend likes it!

Thanks Melzie! We have decided to go with this house, I was still bummed about losing the other one, but after seeing this one again, I realized what a good house it is and we could really be happy here! We made an offer Saturday and they accepted it! YAY!

Thanks Samantha! I'm going to make her a quilt for graduation, I think she'll like that and it'll get her looking at quilts again, it's a start anyway, LOL!

Thank you Nicole! They accepted our offer so we have a house! Now to get through all the financing stuff---ick, LOL!

Thanks Granny Fran! We decided to go with the house, it does sound wonderful, doesn't it??? ;-)

Hi Julie and thanks! I don't mind comments, ever! I'll send ya an email!

Thanks Diana! Our quest is over, we found out home, finally!

Hiya Farmchick and thanks for stopping by, I love your blog!
We did go with the house, but thanks for your advice. I was bummed still about that other house but in the long run this one will be so much better, it doesn't need as much work as the "dream home"--that house needed tons and tons of MAJOR work, including putting in a complete kitchen and bathroom. We saw the house again and the road isn't as busy as I thought it was--certainly not as busy as the one we are on now. It isn't as big as I thought I wanted, but it is bigger than we have now, so that is a definite improvement. DH is a jack of all trades, he can fix or build anything and he is really looking forward to fixing and building up this, so I'm not too worried about it---but I heard what you were saying and appreciate the input! I love zillow, I have used that in our 2 year search for a home---of course, it doesn't have anything listed in the area we were looking, but it is a great site! Thanks again!