A Want Fulfilled!!!

This past Tuesday I headed west to Manassas, Virginia. It is only about a 35 minute drive. I had heard about a new quilt shop out there – Aurora Quilts – and a shop with fabrics, yarns and needlework supplies – Old Town Needlecrafts. Aurora Quilts had a nice selection of fabrics for a very tiny shop and Old Town had a lot of quilting fabric even though knitting seems to be their main gig. 

 Church Street in Manassas Virginia. Aurora Quilts is in the building on the right.

 A church on the opposite corner.

The railroad tracks and a corner cafe.

I also visited a nice gift shop called Whimsical Galerie. Then, I headed for the antique shops. I spent quite a while in Iron Horse Antiques. I found several quilts I thought were charming…

 Double Wedding Ring

My head is spinning from looking in block books trying to find an exact match for this one.  An album block or postage stamp? What would you call it?

Love the red thread used for the hand quilting. 

 Whirligig or Flyfoot or something else? This one is a top that was both hand and machine stitched.

 I thought the barber shop cabinet to the right would be a fun place to store threads and other notions.

 another Double Wedding Ring - took some closeups of this one...

 

But the only thing that came home with me from Iron Horse was this kitchen scale. I thought it was cute and I could say we “needed” it for weighing fruits and vegetables when canning this summer.

My big find was at a going out of business sale. I walked in the door and in the first booth I went into found a black box on the floor. Hmmm. Grabbed the tag – feather light sewing machine. Hmmm. Dropped my purse and stooped down (ouch!), kneeled down. Opened the case, pulled out the top shelf full of attachments and a bobbin, pulled out the machine and started inspecting it. Looks like a Singer Featherweight! So I went up to the front desk and asked about their discount. She gave me a price. It was a good discount, but still a little more than I wanted to pay for something that needed service and possibly repairs. I went back to the booth and called my husband – giving him the serial number and asking him to look it up online - a 1938 221 manufactured in New Jersey. OK – it is a Featherweight – not just me wishing it so. She went down again on her price and it was sold.

I didn’t squeal until after I was in my car!

Here’s my new toy. It’s in the shop now. I can’t wait to get it back – just hope it’s not too, too expensive. 

These machines are so darn cute!

The view out the window above my kitchen sink.

Happy Easter!