From Windows to Wood Floors -

Check out the newly darkened front door!

This is the front of the Quiltville Post Office – right on the corner of highways 58 & 16 in beautiful downtown Mouth of Wilson, Virginia.

Really, other than a few scattered houses, my Post Office, the tumble down old general store (that really needs to be demolished, there is no saving it) and the old auto dealership turned farm supply, turned warehousing working space for the local Christmas Tree industry, there is nothing where a whole lot of something used to be.

I have no idea when the Old Post Office was built.  1950s maybe.  Before that, according to stories I heard, the mail was delivered inside the old general store.

And being as we are right there – our parking lot becomes a place for folks to pull over, wondering why their GPS doesn’t work. 

Just yesterday, I watched out the window as car after car after motorcycle after SUV or truck pulled over, pushing buttons on their phones, on their dashboards, finally resorting to pulling out a paper map trying to figure out how to get to where they were headed.

The sun also shines brightly through these  windows – it was so hot yesterday that we took a break and headed back to our favorite spot -

" Welcome back! Your dreams were your ticket out…"

All roads lead to Lowes!

Window film for front door and windows, blinds for side windows. Mops, scrub brushes, cleaning solutions destined to leave a shine. 100' of baseboard. Trash can liners and a squeegee with extra long extension pole. Isn’t this just how you want to spend your Memorial Day weekend?

Dark film going on the front door.

You can see already how much cooler and easier on the eyes this is going to be from the inside.

It will cut the glare, the heat, and add a layer of privacy to my workspace.

I SEE NOTHING!

Awesome.

Inside, along the side.

We put these roll up “opaque” shades  in the cabin to cut the morning sunshine from the East.  At the cabin I did the natural “rattan” to blend with the log walls.  They also come in white – so these are going on the 4 windows at the side of the Post Office.  I love that I can still see through them.  That filtered light will come through them – but they are going to cut the glaring blaring heat that comes in.

3 more to happen today.  We worked until we were pooped out – we put 12 hours into yesterday’s round of Post Office Remodel.

I can lay down a mean line of masking tape!

More tape to go down today above the baseboards so I can paint there.

Miles of blue tape!

And when it comes to cleaning floors -

Oh my goodness.

Dry wall dust is impossible to get rid of!

As soon as I would wash one area with Murphy’s Oil Soap – something I’ve always used for wood, and move to another area – the previous area would dry leaving mop marks and looking chalky.

How many washes is it going to take to get this dust GONE?!

I can say there is nothing that makes a place really yours like removing years of dirt and grime with a good scrub. I love these old wood floors!

While talking about this subject through social media I received the following recipe I can’t wait to try:

If Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Company swears by this, I am going to give it a go!

I’m posting this here also, so that I can find it later -

My Saturday Shopping Pretties.

I have a thing for glassware and pottery.  These were both found at Habitat for Humanity in Elkin, NC where I stopped to look for more comfy chairs for the bedrooms and the den at Quiltville Inn.  No chairs happened, but these two delightful things begged to brought along for the ride to Virginia.

The short and squatty pitcher with the pretty flowers – too sweet to leave behind. It may end up with some silk ivy in it.

The bulbous jar with the lid will likely come to rest in a bathroom.  I just adore the shape of both of these, and the floral feminine touches.  Yes, I have SUCKER written all over my forehead.  I don’t need more glassware.  But – PRETTY!

SO Excited about this find!

The beautiful brass and glass oil lamp was a gift, and it came with a broken glass globe.  I’ve been searching for months and months.  Do you have any idea of how hard it is to find a vintage glass globe?

I walked into a tiny antique store in Elkin, and there on the shelf – where I could swear upon walking in that there was NOTHING that I wanted in this shop – oh my!  A hand painted glass globe from a hurricane lamp of much higher quality than the original I was replacing.

The question was?  Would it fit?  Was it the same size?  For $8.00 I took a chance.  PERFECT! And I love this lamp even more with the hand painted globe than I did the clear etched one. Yep.  The pretty will get me every time!

A bit of early morning fabric cutting therapy.

I’ve been cutting up Blossom Time blocks from scraps every time I have just a few minutes to stand at the cutting table.  (Pattern from the March/April 2019 issue of Quiltmaker in my Addicted to Scraps column!)

I have discovered that charm squares work great for the tulip and leaf/stem pieces, and I can pull a strip of neutral from my Scrap User’s System to play background in these.  I pre-cut squares bin has been getting a good combing though for the small squares needed for the 4-patch top of these blocks.

That red one on the bottom?

OLD OLD OLD Jinny Beyer!

Such great memories with that fabric!

Long live the fabric stash, and all of the great times that come to mind each time I pick up a random piece, hold it in my hands, press it with the iron, and cut it into shapes that bring it back to life in another project.

So here we are on Memorial Day.  Back to the Post Office we go for another day of “One Day Closer.”  We will get done what we get done, but plan to take it a bit easier today than yesterday.

Thinking of those who gave their all – including their lives – for the freedoms we enjoy today in this country.  Veterans Day is for ALL, Memorial Day is for those who lost their lives in the service of our country.  For each one of us.

Quiltville Quote of the Day

Vintage Star Quilt Shared by Kevin the Quilter.

As you read this, take some time out to reflect on those who gave their all for our freedom.

And then go love your family hard!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!