Grand Opening Day

Thank you everyone, who stopped by Aurora Quilts on Saturday.

Get the party started!



First Quilters of the day.



Sale fabric on isle 2!

One More Day

WAKE UP!!!!

YIKES!

The devil is in the details. Signage, certificates, polyurethane, flowers, paper plates, deliveries, follow-up phone calls, visits to City Hall, more phone calls because nobody was home the first time, weather, printer paper, phone calls to confirm the other phone calls, orders, deliveries, inventory.

Somehow it will all get done and somehow it is all fun. The best part is the anticipation, waiting for the first customers to walk through the door and watching their eyes light up.

Come to Aurora on Saturday, January 29. We want to watch YOUR eyes!

Jasmine Star

Jasmine Star - Twinkling galaxy over a bed of roses from RJR Fabrics. Designed by Marianne Elizabeth, Nashua, New Hampshire, "This design evolved from the center out. I was intrigued by the center star created when the blocks were rotated. The outer stars paint a virtual galaxy around the medallion."

Queen size quilt top kit (93" x 93"): $154.99
King size border kit (107" x 107"):  $  34.99
Class Room Instruction available: (TBD)

Note: You will need to purchase the queen size quilt top kit for the Jasmine Star to receive the complete fabric for this quilt.

Ballyseede - Elegant Old World Charm

Ballyseede - Elegant old world charm as seen in Quiltmaker magazine issue January/Feburary 2011.  Designed by Monique Dillard of Rockford, Illinois who says "On a trip to Ireland, my friend and I stayed at Ballyseede Castle. There was beutiful tile work in the entryway - perfect for a quilt design."

Quilt top kit available: $104.99

The Very Series by Eric Carle. Quilt designed by Jean Ann Wright

For fans of Eric Carle's numerous children's book, this new fabric collection will bring smiles or recognition. Children all over the world have read millions of copies of his books, written since the 1960s. The novelty print fabrics contain images from some of his most beloved books. Made with simple piecing, this quilt is just the right size for your little reader to snuggle under as he or she enjoys some of the most popular children's books of all time.

Free pattern download available at Andover Fabrics.
Quilt finishes 57" x 67"
4 Pieced blocks 10" x 10"

Quilt top kits available from our on-line store: $59.99
Backing kits available separately: $40.00

Urban Shades Quilt by Lonnie Rossi

Introducing Andover Fabrics new collection: Urban Shades by Lonni Rossi in the Red color way. The quilt finishes at 59" by 68".

This easy-to-piece, abstract cityscape will be an attention-getter, either tossed over the back of  your couch or hanging on the wall. Lonni Rossi's subtle and sophisticated fabrics look even more contemporary in this quilt with her signature "invisible binding."

Free pattern download
We have kits, which includes top and binding.

Quilt top kits Price $48.95
Matching backing sold separately $35.99.

Countdown: One week to go!

So much to do in only a week! It's a good thing our heroine knows how to juggle. Just look at those bolts and fabric collections! Looks like Heaven to me!

Shop Sample?

Here's an EQ7 image of a quilt that we hope will be displayed in the shop. It is inspired by a Nineteenth Century quilt that was used by Barbara Brackman in a pattern for Moda. Aurora's version will feature Civil War reproduction fabrics in this traditional Nineteenth Century pattern. It is without borders, since fabric was dear and work was done by hand. Imagine sewing yards of strips together by hand! Yes, there were home sewing machines, but they were priced out of the budget of most homes. The original quilt was made to fit a four-poster bed, but the shop sample will be nap-sized. Ask us how to make your version fit your bed!

About me: I am the spouse of a Foreign Service Officer assigned to the US Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania. One of my "off-site" jobs is to work up shop samples. Of course this depends on access to fabric and that depends on the ability of the fine folks at Dulles and Newark airports in the US and Copenhagen, Frankfurt, and Vilnius airports in Europe to clear their runways. When you see something I've made in the shop, take a moment to consider how far it's traveled to be with you. Somebody should be allowed to use those miles for a holiday!

New Beginnings

Welcome to the brand new blog for Aurora Quilts. Aurora is the goddess of the dawn and a very colorful lady at that! She also presides over new beginnings, which is exciting for us who are beginning a business and for you who we hope will begin a new quilt or two. Or three!

While our shop's owner, Jean Schachner, rushes around seeing to the infinite details small businesses demand, I will be her off-site editor, taking care of whatever literary needs she might have.

Jean is tireless, the only way to be, it seems. She's enlisted her husband Jimmy's help in remodeling the store. He's been painting, installing new floors and building shelves. In the meantime, Jean has been busy with the business details: purchasing and learning to use a Point of Sale (POS) system and setting up a merchant account at a local bank, setting up accounts with several wholesale vendors, ordering stationery, and signing up as vendor a local guild events. WHEW! Oh, and the fun stuff: attending markets and festivals. TAKE ME!!!

Personally, I think the woman needs a Toy Hauler, an RV built to take your motorcycle along on vacation. I saw one of those turned into a quilt studio, but Jean needs one to lug her shop from one event to another. Of couse she'd take her Harley along for quick trips around the parking lot during breaks. But, I digress.

A couple of years ago when Jean mentioned that she was going to turn the store front she owns into a quilt shop (and, after I stopped whining, promised me a job), I suggested she provide supplies for the Civil War re-enactors who frequent Manassas on their way to the Bull Run Battlefield. Quilts were important to the war effort: some were raffled to raise money; some were sent to soldiers to provide warmth and comfort. There will be plenty of repro fabrics so you can make your own version.

Don't misunderstand. There will be plenty of variety and fabric to please every taste. Jean is very fond of bright contemporary quilts. In fact, Jean has taught me that orange is a neutral.

Plan to stop by for the grand opening on January 29. Take your camera along and send me some photos to post!

Thimbleberries Southern Skies Border Blast 2011 Block of the Month Club!

		Aurora Quilts is offering the Southern Skies color way for the Thimbleberries Border Blast, a queen size quilt that finishes at 96” x 112”. The BOM includes twelve Thimbleberries patterns and fabrics to complete the quilt top. A coordinating backing set is available separately. Thimbleberries Club members will also receive eleven bonus wall quilt patterns as well as a pattern for a throw size quilt. The Border Blast Club meets from 9:00-10:00am the 2nd Saturday of the month from February 12, 2011 until December 10, 2011. This lovely BOM is only $20.00 per month with a one-time club membership fee of $5.00. To register call (703) 330-9111 or (703) 732-0472 or, starting January 29th stop by the shop to register. Sign up today for the Southern Skies Border Blast Block of the Month Club!

Grand Opening

You are cordially invited to the Grand Opening Reception Of
Aurora Quilts
On Saturday, January 29th
From 10:00am to 5:00pm
9100 Church Street, Suite 101
Manassas, Virginia 20110
(703) 330-9111