Bonnie’s Next Chapter: Quiltville Inn!

For more information, visit the Quiltville Inn Web Page HERE.

This post was written when the house was first purchased in 2017.

In my hand I hold the keys to my next chapter – The soon to be Quiltville Inn Retreat Center.

It all started in December of 2016 after spending Thanksgiving on Key Largo in Florida.

The North Carolina cabin had just gone on the market.  We were looking a bit further afield for a place with more acreage (and no home owner’s association!) and had found a place we wanted to look at just across the NC/VA state line.

I remember that first trip up to Mouth of Wilson, Virginia vividly.  We loved the area, the whole feel of the place.  And after touring the cabin for the first time, we took a drive around the area to see what we could see.

It was on that first trip that I spied this wonderful old place with a “for sale by owner” sign in the front yard.  Dreams began.

I’d even taken a couple of photographs – posting them with a “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if?” or “Wouldn’t this make a great…”

Many times I drove by, and still the house was there, for sale sign in the yard.

We had been talking for years about the need for me to slow down. To have people come to ME. To LIVE LIFE instead of TRAVEL THROUGH LIFE.  I love the travel, don’t get me wrong..but I’m ready for a change.

I toured the house last August after a long phone call with the owner.

Unlike the lost history of so many historic homes, the history for this special house is well known in this area. 

It is referred to by the locals as “The Old Fields Mansion” and was continuously occupied by members of the Fields family for over 100 years, from 1907 until 2009. 

Then it was purchased by the Floyd's, who had known the Fields family their entire life.

Over many years they meticulously engaged in a sensitive and complete renovation, with the dream of turning this Grand Dame into a bed & breakfast.  

But their “real life” jobs took a different turn, a family was started and they needed to sell and relocate.

I catch my breath every time I see this place.

My first visit was followed by a very emotionally heavy and tumultuous summer and fall.

Dave spent most of his time in Oregon/Idaho with his two brothers caring for his beloved dad through end stage pancreatic cancer until he passed just before Thanksgiving. 

I couldn’t be of any help to him as I was locked in with contracts and traveling to lecture and teach for guilds, shows and events non-stop. I was sure Dad was going to pass while I was in China, luckily that didn’t happen until I had been back home for a few days.  But pass he did, and I never got a chance to see him in person and to hug him one last time due to my travel job.

My holidays were then hijacked by having to travel early December to make up for canceled guild events due to horrendous forest fires in Oregon. (It couldn’t be helped.)

I knew in my heart once January rolled around that I just needed to enter a new chapter.  Our consideration on purchasing this house to turn it into a retreat venue began to get more serious in earnest.

Could we really make this happen?

Mouth of Wilson, VA – early 1900s.

Fields house in the forefront.

History of Mouth of Wilson

Passage from Community of Mouth of Wilson - History of Grayson County, Page 102-103

Mouth of Wilson is home. Regardless of where I may live, it will always be “home,” a most beloved spot. When I think of Mouth of Wilson, I think of spring and the smell of apple blossoms intermingled with those if newly-plowed ground and the fresh paint on the front porch.


Sounds also come to mind: the church bell, Oak Hill’s siren, the muffled tones of company visiting with my grandparents on the front porch at Rosemont during summer’s long summer evenings. And, I remember the soft, secure, and comforting sounds of the animals I loved so dearly. I remember watching the ice break up and move out on the New River in winter, and the warm sun glistening on Wilson Creek in summer.


The people of the community - many gone, some still there - pass by my mind’s eye as if in review. Mouth of Wilson people are special. They are loving, kind, and supportive. A triumph or grief experienced by one is felt and shared by all.


The memories go on and on and they are precious. I am thankful for the experience of growing up there, and for the memories of the place I shall always carry with me.

The name “Mouth of Wilson” is derived from the fact that the mouth of Wilson Creek empties into the New River at that location. 

The creek got its name from a surveyor named Wilson, a member of the Frye-Jefferson party, who died of a stomach disorder, and was buried on the creek bank. Henceforth, the spot was referred to as “Wilson Creek” by the party on their survey maps.


The first brick house in the area was constructed at Mouth of Wilson in 1800, by Revolutionary War veteran Robert Parson.


The first grist mill to be located on the banks of Wilson Creek was built by Robert’s son, John. In 1884, Colonel Fields J. McMillan built a woolen mill on Wilson Creek. W.C. Fields and Granville Hash purchased the mill from McMillan twelve years later. This partnership lasted until 1902, when Fields purchased Hash’s interest.


Electricity came into the community with the construction of the Fields Dam in 1927.

The Fields Motor Company was established early in the 1920’s, and the Fields family operated a general store at Mouth of Wilson for many years.


Oak Hill Academy and Young’s Chapel Baptist Church, located at Mouth of Wilson, have always played a prominent role in the community and its history.

Fields House prior to 1907

1907 remodel.

Notice the gingerbread is gone, and the columns are much simpler. There is no decorative gable over the front steps.

Ruth & J. Cam Fields 

Ruth Phipps (1898-1932) daughter of Jake and Henrietta Hoffman Phipps, was married June 1920 to J. Cam Fields. They had one son, William Jackson Fields (1924). Ruth passed away when William was only 6 years old.

Ruth's photo was taken when she was a student at Virginia Intermont College. 

Cam Fields (1896-1987) son of W.C. and Josie Fields, became president of the Troutdale Bank and founded Fields Motor Company in 1922; constructed Fields Dam in 1927; was President, member of the board, and chairman of the Grayson National Bank; served 47 years on the Grayson County School Board; and was active in many political, church and community activities.

In 1884 a woolen mill was built in Mouth of Wilson, and at that time the back half of the house was built as the home for the mill’s superintendent. Then, in 1906, the mill’s owner, W. C. Fields, started construction on the front portion of the home and a year later moved his family into the greatly expanded structure. 

The same contractor who built the 1908 courthouse in Independence, Virginia, also built the front portion of the house.  I posted about the courthouse HERE.

I’m not sure when the woolen mill burned down, but I’m sure I’ll find out!

From the front porch.

This porch was meant for rockin’!

I absolutely fell in love with the history of this area, and the NEED to open a retreat center just would not let me go.  For the past nearly year and a half since I first saw this place I’ve been working on a way to make this dream a reality.  And it is happening!

The house has only been in the hands of two families up until now.  We are the 3rd family to own this property.

This 1880's renovated home has 5 very large bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2 fireplaces, a detached workshop (Possible studio?) , a new kitchen that looks like it could have been original, and over 4,000 square feet of living space with more than 1600 square feet of covered porches running along three sides of the house. The rooms are light-filled and spacious enough for 16 retreaters!

Nearby Attractions:

• 12 miles to Grayson Highlands State Park
• ½ mile to the New River
• Easily accessible on the corner of hwy 58 & hwy 16
• 2.5 miles from New River State Park

My first visit - keys in hand - empty house, but oh, the possibilities!

The Soon-to-be Quiltville Order Fulfillment Center!

The Old Post Office

Also on the Fields House property is the Old Mouth of Wilson Post Office (replaced by a new one up the road about a mile) and the old Fields General Store building, gone derelict and seen to the right of the post office in the photo above.

Perfect for my needs, the Old Post Office has new paint, new roofing, and the addition of large storefront window to let in loads of light.

The interior was completely gutted and remodeled with the addition of reclaimed hardwood flooring, drywall, paint, new bathroom, and installation of a new heat-pump system.

My "office" stuff goes in the Postmaster's office!

And the best part of all?  Quiltville Inn & Post Office is only 7 miles from our cabin where I plan on retiring.  

The wheels are in motion.  My exit plan from crazy travel is in place.

My goal is to have The Quiltville Store moved into the Old Post Office building before the release of String Frenzy in December 2018!  I’ve got plans to expand the store with more fun merchandise, offering t-shirts, mugs, hats, and who knows what else.  I’ll have the space for it.

I will have the time I need to keep designing quilts, writing books, planning mysteries, leader & ender projects and challenges and sew-alongs.  More of all of the stuff you love.  And more Quilt-Cam! (I know we weren't able to fit it in this week - soon, I promise!)

Along with "sew on your own thing" retreats, retreaters will also be able to schedule in a workshop during their stay should the group want one.  More details on that - right now the ideas in my head are just spinning with all of the possibilities.

As to when the Quiltville Inn will open to retreaters?  This is part of the reason why I stopped taking bookings for 2020.  I have a full calendar for 2018 & 2019. The guilds I am visiting now were booked 5 years ago.

I’ve slimmed down what I could, but it’s going to be about a year or so before we are ready for our first guests.

I will still be doing SOME travel on a limited basis when 2020 rolls around.  I will keep some larger venues/shows – and my global travel with Craftours remains a highlight.  My friend Mona will be stepping in and helping me run the Inn as often as she can.  So many details to iron out.

In the mean time I’ll be working my tail off with a smile – There are 16 beds needed, sewing tables, lighting, comfy chairs, design walls, dining tables & chairs, dishes and kitchen wares, furniture for the comfy den, towels, pillows and bed linens and EVERYTHING that a group of quilters could need to make a memorable trip to my corner of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Southwest Virginia. 

I’m going to be happily pouring every dime into this place to get it ready for YOU.

There will be LOADS of antique mall shopping!  Whoowhooo!

Bathrooms are going to have to be remodeled for walk-in showers.  The half- bath also needs a corner shower. The house has 2 claw foot bathtubs…nice for “period authenticity” but not practical as far as middle aged quilters go. 

(No middle-aged naked and wet quilter is going to slip and fall and break their neck trying to get out of a claw foot tub!)

Over the next many months I hope you’ll enjoy reading the “making ready” posts as we set this up the way YOU would want it to be.

Through the front door.

One of these days I hope you’ll walk through this door into the front foyer and make yourself at home!

What we’ve gone through to finally close on this place is a story in itself and I’ll post about that another time.  (We were at the attorney's office closing at 10pm last night!) 

We've got loads of time.

Right now, I’m just happy to wrap my fingers around this set of house keys (And post office keys) and call this place mine ---so it can soon be yours too.

If you are interested in being notified when we are ready to open for bookings, please join my mailing list – you may have noticed the new pop up the last few times you’ve visited the blog. 

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

And they say that dreams don’t come true?

And off I go to Georgia with a smile on my face and so much hope in my heart.

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!