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Friday, February 04, 2011

Quiltville Mail Room!


There is a whole lot of this going on these days--- And when there is a whole lot of this going on, there isn’t a whole lot of anything to show you!

But you know what? It has been very nice to sit here “Home Alone” in the dining-room-turned-shipping-department with music on and just sign and fill orders. I am amazed at how far they will go to reach their destinations! Just yesterday I sent books to Brazil, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, England, Germany, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Italy and South Africa! Of course all over the USA too….

I want to go all these places! I want to explore and take pictures and see what life is like there. I don’t want to leave any corners un-turned!

Living in a small-ish cottage type house out in the sticks, there isn’t a lot of room to set up for such a purpose, and cases of books are heavy so I don’t want to be lugging them down to the basement and back up again. I need to be close enough to the front door that I can carry the full bins of bubble envelopes to the car.

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I set up a folding table at the edge of the dining room/living room and put my mail tubs there. I have a small one window post office in my town. And I don’t want to over-load them. I print my stamps on Stamps.com to save time standing in line, and to not have a line form behind me. I sort the pre-stamped mail by zipcode in the bins so that when I get the bins to the Post Office they don’t have to take the time to sort it, they just slap a zone paper on the bin and off it goes when the big truck comes to pick it up.

As for the international stuff? That takes some time because of all the carbon copies and the stamping of forms and sticking of said forms on the packages. We have a system! I sort by country, and by what’s in the package ((Either 1, 2 or 3 books etc)) And Jeanette will weigh and print the postage, and I’ll stick it on there. She will stamp the customs forms, and I will tear and separate them into their prospective piles and peel and stick the one sheet to the envelopes. We can go through my mail in record time!

Being at the Post Office is kind of a social thing too! Sherry, The Postmaster, has horses, and I love hearing her stories about their antics and what is going on with them. She also had a “BIG” birthday a few months ago, and came to work in her brand new red corvette. She deserves it! And she looks SO hot in it..LOL! My comment was that it wouldn’t work for hauling my book orders, or my trunk show!

This is how you know you live in a small town:

The other day as we are going through this mail routine of mine, the UPS man comes in and hands Jeanette a package! Of course, it was addressed to her home address, but he knew she worked Wednesdays and brought it to her at the Post Office instead. Isn’t that cool? Gotta love a small town!

So I’ve had a couple quiet evenings at home. And I haven’t sat at a sewing machine in closing in on 3 weeks. How can that be? That will change this weekend. I’m going to sew! My Brother and his wife are having their first baby and I need to get cranking on that baby quilt. That sounds like a Super-Bowl Sunday activity, doesn’t it?

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I did get TWO more sections attached to the hexie quilt---Look, the floral border is about 1/2 done now! 3 more to attach. 1 is done, it is my map for piecing the others. 2 has the flowers done, and I’m now attaching them with the white/green hexies. It will take one more trip somewhere to get it done I think…and there will be one more to go, and then I have to figure out what the heck I’m going to do to square this thing off!

Yeah..and you can see that I did NOT unpack the quilt duffels yet! I might get that done today….maybe.

I’ve been having fun with the comments on Yesterday’s post for the Word Play Quilts Give-Away! There is still time to enter. I’m going to draw the winner Saturday ((tomorrow)) so go to Yesterday’s Post and leave your comment!

Time to get back to the Mail Room --- Have a great Friday!

13 comments:

  1. Sure looks like you have this thing organized! I've been working away at the RRCB...Somehow I lost 5 of the stringpieced blocks? I need to get this all put together before more blocks go walkabout!

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  2. You're right, nothing like a small town post office! I live by a big city but there is a small town on the outskirts where I use the post office (not my town). They noticed how much mail and packages I was mailing to my son who is serving a mission for our church. They ask every time how he's doing and call me by name when I walk in. It's wonderful. They even remark that it must be the first Friday of the month bz I'm in there with a package! Love it. Good luck on all the mailings! It sounds like you have the system down though so that it isn't as much work as it might be otherwise. :)

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  3. How exciting to arrive home after so long with delivery of your new book on your doorstep! Can't wait for mine to arrive. I'm still plugging away on the RRCB quilt too. Putting together blocks now, strings are cut into their halves, HST all done, still a few of the churn dash centers to sew and then I'll start putting the little HST borders on them. I love what you do, Bonnie. You Rock!

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  4. So, as if you didn't have enough to do, you're now a certified mail woman too! Wow, you are so super-organized! best wishes with fulfilling all your orders. Don't you just love thinking about how happy your recipients will be when their books arrive? I absolutely love living in a small town too!

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  5. Wow... you have quite a "shipping department" set up there... very organized! I love small towns where everyone know everyone else... it's not so much "small town" here but there's still a bit of that element around...

    I'm loving the hexie quilt... so beautiful...

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  6. Hello Bonnie,
    its always fun to visite your blog. I love your story about your mailing action and know what you are talking about with the small town post office. (May I tell you? I am working for DHL)
    You mention, that you would like to visite all the places, you are sending the books to. If you ever make it over to Europe, feel invited to my smaller town.
    Happy stitching an have a good time
    xxx Doris from Germany

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  7. As usual you do things in your fantastic style! You make a "job" into a "joy". Your house looks huge from the pictures. And you have the entire basement for sewing. I see your Pink Dear Jane waiting for hand quilting
    Watch out for papercuts...I hate them...I received a good one today opening a box of cereal. Ouch!
    XOXOXO Subee

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  8. Wow, you sure have an assembly line for all your book orders. And I am all for a sewing super ball!
    Just checked - and guess what: I'll be leaving for Germany 2/19 until 2/27 for 2 days of work and the rest for family visits... Wouldn't that be funny to meet in Amsterdam airport?
    I'll be further North than you, so you're safe from me in the Stuttgart area... Hm, let's think about that - my sister still lives in Heidelberg and I could visit. Probably not going to happen.
    Nevertheless I hope you have a great time in my home country! Barb in MI

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  9. Ooops, severe tyo: of course it's Super Bowl... geesh these foreigners.

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  10. Still in awe of your ability to do so much. Love your shipping set-up. I use the centrally located dining room at my house as my space. As I tell people, "We're paying for the whole house, so I'm going to use the whole house!"

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  11. I used to love it when our UPS guy would come and take a couple of minutes to throw the ball for the dogs (labs)and then give them treats. he got them used to loving the delivery guys, probably too much, as now they just run and jump in the truck! Posses a problem for newbes at Christmas and such. Unfortunately, the newest guy is affraid of them, and tosses HANDFULLS of treats as he practically runs to the truck! And then wonders why they "chase" him!I love small towns too. My nephew once sent us a postcard with our name, and town only! And we got it! That was funny.

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  12. Anonymous11:07 PM EST

    it's great to see the mail sorting system that works for you Bonnie

    am inspired by the progress on your hexagon quilt, eager to see how it expands

    ....my hexie quilt is a little over a quarter done

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  13. I really love your hexagon piece and can't wait to see how you finish it off.
    I started one with diamond shapes for next christmas.

    Debbie

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