Cynthia Billhartz Gregorian: 2015 highlights include the mod Habitat house and Star quilt show

I have no idea what I’ll be doing come New Year’s Eve, but if I end up on the sofa watching TV like a slug, that’s fine with me. As of press time for this section, on Monday, the past week was shaping up like this:

Monday, drive to airport to pick up rental car and drive four hours to Quincy, Ill., for a memorial service.

Tuesday, drive three hours to St. Louis.

Wednesday, finish Christmas shopping and spend time with friends.

Thursday, celebrate Christmas with my family.

Friday, fly to New York City to celebrate Christmas with in-laws.

Saturday, fly back to Kansas City, retrieve car at airport and come home.

By now, I’m just thankful to sit down.

As we get ready to close out 2015, I thought it’d be fun to revisit a few stories.

Remember the supermodern Habitat for Humanity home built at North Eighth Street and Troup Avenue in Kansas City, Kan., which I wrote about last May? It’s still empty.

The high-style, low-slung bungalow was designed by award-winning architecture firm El Dorado and featured in such illustrious national magazines as Architectural Digest and Dwell. Several readers emailed me after the story ran, wanting to know more about the home, but only Habitat clients are qualified to buy it at the $140,000 asking price.

The home is one of two nationwide designed as part of an initiative by Public Architecture, a San Francisco nonprofit, to bring high design to Habitat clients.

According to Tom Lally, president and CEO of Heartland Habitat for Humanity, clients here didn’t like the prototype’s concrete floors and detached garage, which led to safety concerns.

If Habitat can’t sell it to a client, Lally said, it might consider selling the house to a non-client at a profit, with third-party financing. The home cost $200,000 to build, so the non-client price would probably be higher than that.

▪ Last year we put out a call to readers who were making The Star’s 2014 quilt, “Where Poppies Grow … Remembering Almo,” to submit their completed versions for public display at the National World War I Museum and Memorial.

That particular quilt pattern was designed to honor those who served in World War I and told the story of Almo Ebenezer O’Kell (2014 also marked the centennial of the war’s beginning).

The exhibit in June was a rousing success, according to Linda Trout, director of strategic engagement at the memorial. Two dozen quilters from around the country shipped their quilts — and, most incredibly, one came from New Zealand. And more than 800 people viewed the quilts during the three-day exhibit.

The submission from New Zealand stood out thanks to its departure from our pattern’s red, white and blue palette and striped border.

A woman named Dorry, of Colvin Kiwi Quilts, had shipped the beige-and-olive green quilt, which had large, simple crosses as a border. Dorry created the quilt to honor her grandfather, who served in Gallipoli during WWI with the Australian New Zealand Army Corps.

Most poignantly, Trout said, “A woman from Arizona, whose quilters group made the quilt, had lost her husband quite suddenly only three weeks before. She wanted to see the quilt hung in the show. She and her family were here for several hours.”

▪ Throughout the year, we highlighted national home decor trends that included neon colors, gemstones (especially agate), brass, air plants, feathers and other natural curiosities such as taxidermy and animal bones.

Pantone’s color of the year was Marsala, a brick-toned red, which we didn’t see in home decor as much as we did in fashion. Let’s see what sticks in 2016.

▪ And last but not least, Dawn Fallik, veteran journalist and assistant professor at the University of Delaware, returned to Philadelphia. Fallik, as you might recall, was a visiting professor at KU and penned the sassy “DIY With Dawn” column for H+H.

She most recently covered Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia for Al-Jazeera America, noting that she might be the only Jew covering the head of the Catholic Church for a news organization owned by a Middle Eastern company.

None of those illustrious career notes, however, have stopped her from complaining about Mod Podge or the time I assigned her to create bacon roses for Valentine’s Day.

▪ Also, at my request, several of you submitted suggestions for taking care of our stinky basement. I haven’t forgotten about you. As soon as my husband gets a minute, he’s going to test them and we’ll let you know what works and what doesn’t.

Happy New Year, readers!

This story was originally published December 26, 2015 at 2:00 AM.