Greetings from Kansas

Hello from Kansas! Just a quick update while the garage door openers are being professionally installed...and then I am off to pick-up Schatzi and Garin from the kennel.

MOVING UPDATE: We left West Des Moines early Monday morning, once we knew everything was good for the closing and headed to Kansas. Although we put the majority of our belongings in storage PODS that will be arriving tomorrow and Monday, we had our Jeeps loaded up with necessities, along with a U-Haul trailer - Travis had the trailer and I had both dogs...it was quite the trip! We dropped off the dogs for boarding and spent Monday night in a hotel getting everything in line with our new house and closing Tuesday morning. All of the documentation was taken care of yesterday and we arrived to our new home in the early afternoon. I was able to go to the local post office and get everything set-up for receiving mail - thank goodness for Google Maps - then I spent the afternoon/evening getting the necessities unloaded and unpacked. With the majority of our belongings arriving over the next week, we are trying to get as many odds and ends done before the craziness starts...

BLUE RIBBON DESIGNS UPDATE: I have my business license in Kansas and paperwork has all been filed. YAY! Next Monday, the storage POD with all of my studio and warehouse items will arrive and I will do my best to get everything put away and be somewhat ready for shipping/receiving orders late next week. It is going to be quite the job to build all the warehouse shelving and get things organized, but once that is complete, I will get the website and Etsy shop turned back on. My goal is to ship distributor and shop orders sometime next week. If you are a current client - I will be sending an e-mail to you with details regarding sewing/finishing/quilting orders. Please be patient just a little while longer while I unpack everything and I hope to be up and running by April 22nd (well that is my plan, barring any complications). Thank you again for your patience during this transition - Wifi may not be available in our area for possibly a couple months, so my response time may delayed...I will do my best to keep in touch!

Leaving our Iowa home...bittersweet....

Arriving at our new home in Spring Hill, KS...beautiful day and
green grass (the sod is taking well)....

New front door - the personalized welcome mat was gift from
our realtor (the first personal touch)....

Our backyard backs up to a farmer's fence and field...this is the first
cow to walk up and say hello to me...yep, this is now what I see
out my back windows...we'll see how the dogs like the cows!

Another lovely gift from our realtor - we will have to find a place for it...
and yes, it is laying on my beautiful new hardwood floors...

I want to thank everyone from our old neighborhood that helped with the move (heavy lifting and therapy sessions across the street). I also want to thank everyone who has sent us words of encouragement and kindness - I truly appreciate it. Finally, to those who placed an order for my first Norwex show - THANK YOU SO MUCH! - I had a great show and I appreciate you.

For now - I'm off to pick-up the dogs and get them acclimated to the new house/yard...plus I have a million errands to run - Google Maps is going to be busy today.

Looking Forward

Hello friends and visitors! It's been a month or so since my last post...and many of you know that is because we are in the process of moving from Iowa to Kansas. This means not only moving from our home of fifteen years, but moving my business/studio, as well. Our home in Iowa is finally under contract (sidebar - I don't recommend trying to sell a home in the middle of a terrible Midwest winter - insert eye roll here)...and we have a home under contract in Kansas - yes, things are finally coming together...whew! This whole process has been a challenge and we aren't even moving into our new home yet...

We are scheduled to close on both homes April 12th - fingers crossed - and I am a little overwhelmed with everything we have to do. I have received a lot of questions about where we will be in Kansas, as I have taught quite a few classes and retreats in the area. We are actually going to be in Spring Hill, KS - one of the fastest-growing cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Our home is new construction (see photo above)...and no, we weren't necessarily looking for new construction...but after months of looking, my husband viewed a handful of new homes and this one was perfect for us. Yes, I am excited everything will be new...but it also means we have to purchase all the window treatments and some appliances, plus have the garage door openers installed, etc. - and our home doesn't even have sod or a fence yet (kind of a big deal when you have two German Shepherds...luckily, we have a six-mile walking trail around a five-acre pond within sight). As a bonus, our backyard butts up to farmland/a farmer's fence - providing a great view - and we are told we will see cows, which makes me happy! This our first experience with a Homeowner's Association, so that is all new too...and I have to completely learn the area...so it is entirely a new journey...

I will be in Iowa until April 8th...and moving into our new home on April 13th (crossing my fingers). I am hoping Blue Ribbon Designs will be back up and running before the end of April, as I know many of you are anxious to get your project bag orders filled and finishing orders underway! Believe me, I am ready to get back to work too - having my entire studio packed for months is truly wearing on me. Once all the details are official, I will be e-mailing specifics to my clients...and as soon as we are settled, my website store and Etsy Shop will re-open for business. I truly want to thank you all for your patience and understanding during this BIG transition.

To add a little beauty and creativity to this post, here are more lovely project bags I completed before I packed up my studio for the move...geez, I never thought I would say I missed sewing bags (only because I have made SO MANY), but I really do...I can't wait to be in my new sewing room!

I actually have a few needlework finishing projects left to share with you and one more AccuQuilt project I finished up before preparing for our move...I will be back to share those when time allows. Thank you all for hanging in with me during this crazy transition!

Seasonal Samplings Wall Hanging

Hello friends. It is a crazy weather day here in Iowa (yes, I'm still in Iowa) and we are currently experiencing "thunder sleet" (who knew this was a thing?!)...and, of course, more snow is on the way....but this is WAY better than the polar vortex -50 temperatures we had last week. After finishing some minor work on our house this morning, I am settled in with a hot cup of tea (hoping it will sooth my sore throat) and catching up on a few online tasks. With the craziness of the move, I have had minimal time to to catch up on correspondence - thank you to everyone who has checked in on me and sent me messages/notes/comments and I apologize if I haven't answered you...rest assured, I am hanging in there.

A quick "moving" update - our house in Iowa is finally on the market and we are hoping for a buyer soon - I am staying in the finished basement with Schatzi and Garin and very minimal furnishings - our entire life and my business is packed in storage PODS - my husband is working full-time in Kansas and living out of a hotel - he is on the search for our dream home down there. That's it in a nutshell - I will be in Iowa until our home is sold.

With my entire studio packed, there isn't any sewing/quilting happening and my online shops are temporarily closed...but I have done some stitching when things aren't insane. I only had a couple very small projects (I didn't think things would be up in the air for quite this long), but my sweet friend Terri sent me "Paisley" by Stacy Nash Primitives all kitted up as a gift for my milestone birthday next week...so I have been working on that...in fact, she is about half done. I have also been doing some designing and charting...along with layouts for new pieces...anything to stay creative and give me purpose.

Today's images are of some stitching I did last fall...a gift for my mommy's birthday. I stitched "Seasonal Samplings" by Hillside Samplings (a rare non-BRD finish!). I decided to stitch the boxes vertically instead of horizontally and finished it as a quilted wall hanging. I was super happy with how it turned out...and it was quite a special surprise for my mom. I packed the chart for the move, so I can't tell you what fabric I used, but I can tell you that I used the DMC conversion...I'm guessing I used the chart listed fabric, as I had it kitted for many years...

I have a few more house details to take care of today before the realtor takes some new photos tomorrow...then I may enjoy a little stitching time...or work on gathering documentation for our taxes - keeping busy keeps me positive. I want to thank you for your patience during this big transition - I truly appreciate all the notes, love and support! 💗

On The Move

Is it really January?! I hope the new year is being kind to you and the winter months aren't too chilly. It's been a while...but I'm still here. I apologize for my disappearing act - I haven't been intentionally neglecting my blog or readers...or any of you who have been kind enough to send me uplifting messages and e-mails. Truth is, Blue Ribbon Designs is on the move and I have been packing and cleaning and preparing our home of fifteen years for sale...it's been a challenging/busy/messy couple months.

My husband (who had the lovely flowers delivered to me a few days ago) accepted a promotion with his job and has been working full-time in the Kansas City area since the middle of November (actually, for more than a year)...and I have been in Iowa packing up our home and my business and getting everything stored in PODS, while we prepare our home for sale and search for a new home in Kansas. The interior painting, carpet and minor fixes are finally complete and our home is now on the market...so I am living in our finished basement with our two German Shepherds while we search for our new living quarters and sell our current house. It has been a whirlwind for this born and raised Iowa girl and all these changes are bittersweet. 

So, until we are settled, my Etsy shop is on vacation and my website shopping cart is disabled...and I have temporarily stopped taking custom orders. You can still explore both websites, but shopping is turned off until I have things unpacked. Rest assured, I will be taking your orders again soon! In fact, I can't wait to get back to work...I am going CRAZY without my creative outlets....and GREAT news - I picked up my fancy sewing machine from the service shop last week after four months of living without it...I can't wait to get it set back up and sew to my heart's content! We are hoping to be in a new house by the end of February...fingers crossed...

For now, I am going to share what I was working on up until the packing...I completed tons of needlework finishing and custom sewing/quilting before I had to pack up my studio, but just didn't have time to share it. I have photos of many of the pieces, so over the next couple weeks, I'll be sharing those with you! Today, here is a bit of needlework finishing I completed for clients...not my stitching, just my finishing work...designers are listed...

Designer: Little House Needleworks
Potted Poinsettia from The Sampler Tree Ornament Series

Designer: Misty Hill Studio
Blue & Silver Christmas
Twinkle, Glow and Flower

Ornament Backs

Designer: Misty Hill Studio
Blue & Silver Christmas
Snowfall, Silver Bells, Mitten

Ornament Backs

Designer: Blue Ribbon Designs (hey, that's me!)
Countdown to Christmas

Ornament Backs

Prairie Schooler
2003 Schooler Santa (L)
2004 Schooler Santa (R)
Finished to sit on easels.

Backs

This is a touch of what I have been up to the last couple months...more to follow in the next few days!

For now, I am back to boxing up all my charts/patterns - the "warehouse" is last thing I have to finish up (except daily living essentials)...I'm packing them in numerical order and I still have quite a few to put in boxes. Writing this blog post gave me a nice break, but now I have to get back to work...I'll visit with you again soon....