The Gatchellville Store Adventure Again!

If you live anywhere remotely close to The Gatchellville Store and haven't yet visited...well then, not much more for me to say other then you have no idea what you are missing!  Seriously!! Really!! I mean come on...do I need to rent a bus and go pick everyone up?  I can do that if you want but you're going to have to help me pay for the bus!

Now, if you have been a faithful DeluxeVille reader, you will remember my first visit to the store back in 2009...The Gatchellville Store Adventure, yeah I know my post titles are so original!  Well, I'm happy to report it's gotten even better!  I didn't think it was possible...they proved me wrong!

 

"With over 6000 square feet, The Gatchellville Store has a bit of something for everyone.
Created by husband and wife, Carroll Swam and Linda Sarubin, and combining their vastly different collecting tastes, ( his, country..and hers, city ), the store is the kind of place you can lose yourself in for hours at a time, just wandering among the thousands of interesting items.
Country furniture, vi...ntage musical instruments, old books, unusual ephemera, pottery, advertising...the town's old post office, circa 1900, is filled with Carroll's impressive collection of antiques tools. 

Linda's interests run towards jewelry, textiles, and a world class collection of thousands and thousands of vintage and antique buttons. Circa 1850 - 1950.
Two little dogs sit in thrones in the center of the store, ordering customers to pet them, while bluegrass-and blues-music plays throughout. 

By the way, The Gatchellville Store began its life around the time of the Civil War when a Union solider named Mathew McCall came home from the war to set up a mercantile and dry goods business in Gatchellville. He was only 19 years of age....and now almost 150 years later, Mr. McCall's Name is still on the stained glass transom above the front door. 

When Linda and Carroll bought the store in 2002, it had been closed since the 1940s. They are the 4th owners to operate the store since the Civil War."

 

So, what did MaryDeluxe find this time at Gatchellville?  I'm sure this is the question you are all pondering at this very moment...ok just humor me and pretend like it was!   Well kiddos, I went with this wonderful barkcloth fabric.  As a person who use to design fabric back in another one of my life times, I really like vintage textiles! A LOT!  I really like mixing them together too...textures, colors, and patterns...makes no difference to me.

 

 

To continue with my theme of textile purchases, I also grabbed this old rainbow rag runner while I was there!  Love the colors and after cutting off the bad ends, was a perfect fit for my kitchen! 

Later that evening we christened the rug with popcorn treats and hairballs!  I had nothing to do with the hairball part of that equation!

 

 

In other fun news...if you want to follow me on IG you can find me as some of you already know under _MaryDeluxe_ !

Until next time!

XOXO,

MaryDeluxe

Hello Summer!!

June came around and brought with it my happiness!

Hello happy! 
It's so nice to see you again!

Thank you June :)

 

 



 



 







 

I'm done grieving.
I survived!
Thank you all for your love!
XOXO,
~MaryDeluxe

Serenity

"God grant me the serenity 

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and the wisdom to know the difference." 

"Honesty is a great gift to give to any relationship, but diplomacy and consideration for the feelings of others and the appropriateness of the situation are also important.  Many of us benefit from learning the value of silence."

What I'm Collecting Now: Feedsack Quilts

 

I've never been much of a quilt collector.  I think simply because I could never afford the price when they would come up at the local PA auctions I would attend.  I would often sit by and watch as the Mennonite and Amish women fought it out for antique quilts and vintage linens.  They had good taste and deep pockets.  Though I was never able to purchase a vintage quilt at that time, I've always enjoyed seeing the designs and fabric used in making them.   Feedsack patchwork quilts have always been my favorite.  I love the random cotton fabrics used and the crazy stitched designs. I also happen to love a well worn and broken in quilt.  Why you may ask?  See above and times those two by a bunch more beasties.  I like using my vintage treasures and I prefer them to not be perfect.  It takes some of the guilt out of any accidental destruction that might some how occur with daily living.  Yes, that's right....imperfect means, no quilt guilt for me!

 

I happened across an auction the other month and was finally able to snag a few quilts at really good prices. Don't get me wrong, there was still competition for them when they came up, but the prices didn't go that high.  I discovered later from talking with some of my friends in the "dealer scene", that quilts just don't have the demand that they use to have. They're just not hot right now around here!  Well now, I guess this means it's the time for me to start my awesome feed sack quilt collection! Five out of six cats agree that this is a most excellent idea.  The dogs don't care, they'll lay on anything!

 

The quilt below, I fell in love with because of the most fab fabric on it's backside.  Oh did I happen to mention I also love a quilt with not one but two awesome sides.  Please don't give me a boring backside, Momma likes some fun colorful fabric junk in her trunk!  Like pretty seafoam green and pink!

 

 

 

I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for more vintage quilts in my future! Now's a great time to start picking them up for fairly decent prices. 

Happy Collecting.

MaryDeluxe

Summer 2013...so far...

It's hard to believe the Summer is just flying by so fast. Here's just some of the things I've been up to around here this Summer. 

 

An afternoon terrarium project (that I still need to complete) using an old vintage slate bottom aquarium.  I also have the cool iron stand for it too! 

 

Dog days of Summer have arrived and boy, hound dogs sure are lazy beasties in the hot, humid weather....but so are their owners.  Time for another nap Chet!

 

Exploring the tallest waterfall in the state of NJ! Butter Milk Falls.

 

Yup, still have those chickens.

 

See, I told ya hound dogs are lazy in the Summer time.  I woke up one morning to this guy looking at me....just had to take the picture!

 

Eating out of the garden all Summer long here kids!  Harvested a ton of cucumbers, zucchini, squash, peas and beans.  Tomatoes will be arriving any day now!   

 

Weeding, weeding, weeding.

 

The top of Butter Milk Falls!  Yup we climbed to the top wearing flip flops, cuz that's just the way we roll around here some times!

We've also had some neighbor drama around here, as our neighbor has a lack of pet responsibility, which caused the loss of two of Sgt's meat chickens.   Yup, she believes in just opening her door and sending her two new dogs out to roam....on other people's properties... where they have chickens.  So needless to say, it was not a fun event to have happen and be a witness to.  Wild animals I can understand, but a domesticated dog with an irresponsible owner, I can not.  We're hoping for a more quiet second half to our Summer.

~MaryDeluxe

Awesome Vintage Kitchen

A few weeks back, I was at an estate auction that had the most amazing, cool, little 1950's kitchen!  The bathrooms had been redone sometime in the 70's but the kitchen remained in it's original state.  It even had the built in clock above the oven and turquoise laminate counter tops!

But the most amazing feature had to be the over head cabinet supported by a very unique shelf!  I also LOVE the door hardware...atomic door pulls!

It was a small kitchen but so well laid out!  I would have bought the house just for the kitchen alone!  I hope whomever purchased the house will kept the kitchen just the way it is...but I have my doubts.
 

~MaryDeluxe

Harvest Star Antiques Summer Open House

If you're local and have nothing to do on Saturday, why not take a drive over and do a little shopping! There will be food, door prizes, and hot deals!  Stop by and say hello :)