marycontrary Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Wow, I'm scared! Late last year DH and I decided that, at our late middle age, we should be closer to family. Our only daughter and granddaughter live in Iowa (Ankeny) and we live in Texas. We can move and they can't. Soooo...we're having a home built in Bondurant, which should be finished in mid-April. But it still didn't seem too real until today. Suddenly we have two offers to buy our house, we need to choose one tomorrow and plan moving and storage in the next 30-45 days. We'll live in our fifth wheel in Texas until it warms up a little more in Iowa, but should be settled in by the end of April. We'll be starting all over in an area of the country we've never lived in (although we have visited frequently). Any help or suggestions from any of you in the Des Moines/Ankeny/Altoona/Bondurant area on quilt guilds, quilt groups, or other activities I should check out and become involved in? I'm really not sure if I'll quilt for a business once we get there, but would definitely like to make more quilts for family and friends and charity quilts, etc. Your help would be greatly appreciated, as this is a difficult move for us and I would really like to get to know people and make some new friends. Thanks, Mary Burns Freedom SR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixieqwv Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Mary you\'re going to love being near your DD and GD. Congrats. Our DD#1 and 3 GC live behind us or maybe it\'s we live behind them. We love it .. see/talk/play with our 3 GC everyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marycontrary Posted January 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Thanks for the encouraging words, Dixie! I gotta tell ya, when I look at the whether in Des Moines right now, I question my sanity. But a job brought us to Austin, and now that job is gone. We have friends here and our son, but he moved with us to Austin and will follow us to Iowa. There are so many things I will miss, but I miss my DD and GD more, and we can\'t get back that time we have already lost by living so far away. So here we go!!!! Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawnlam Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 welcome back although you might not like it right now we had about 7-8 inches of snow yesterday in our area i am over in dyersville just out of dubuque have been thruogh bondurant many times nice little town sorry but i don\'t know much about the guilds in that area just wanted to say welcome back dawn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Mary, Congratulations on your move. I know right were your are going, my BIL & SIL live in Marshalltown. Check out this web site, I go here everytime we head to Iowa just to check things out... http://www.quiltvisionusa.com/IOWA.html Of course you can search quilt guilds in Iowa and find tons of information and sometimes a guild with a web site. You are going to love being closer to family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtreusch Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Mary, Welcome back to Iowa. I lived in Bondurant for 10 years and moved several years ago to Pleasant Hill. As far as quilt guilds, there is a longarm guild in this area. We meet at the APQS showroom the third Tuesday of every month. There are 3 quilt guilds in the area. The Ankeny quilt guild meets the second Tuesday of every month, the Eastern Polk quilt guild meets in Altoona the 3rd Monday of every month and the Des Moines quilt guild meets in West Des Moines the 4th Tuesday of every month. They all have great quilt shows every year and many activities/workshops going on throughout the year. The Des Moines guild will also be helping with the AQS show that will be here in Des Moines in October. As far as quilt shops, there are 2 in Ankeny right about 1st Ave and Ankeny Blvd (Ankeny Sewing Center and Quilters Cupboard). There are 2 quilt shops in the Valley Junction area (Quilt Junction and Quilt Block), and there are 2 other shops on the west side of Des Moines (Creekside quilting and Quilt Express). All of them have classes, BOM, and different groups/clubs that meet regularly. There are also several churches in the area that have quilt guilds in the Church. The 2 that I know of are Hope Lutheran and Grace Church. I belong to the Grace Church quilt guild. We make quilts for missionaries every year, new babies born in the church, those that have lost loved ones, and those that just need to be wrapped in love and warmth. Last year we also made 150 quilts for a hospital in Jamacia that has mostly terminally ill patients. I don\'t know much about the guild at Hope Lutheran. Lastly, 2 bigs pluses for this area are that we have the APQS showroom and Dawn C. here in Des Moines. It\'s great having both of them so close. I work not to far from the APQS showroom and stop by several times a month to pick up thread, bobbins, pigtails, etc. The APQS factory is also within a few hours drive from here. Debbi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagecl Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 I moved from California to Des Moines when I was 8 months pregnant with my first child. It was January and a cold one. I didn\'t have family or friends there. BUT...it was the best move in my life. I love Iowa. The Des Moines Area Quilt Guild was one of the best guilds I belonged to in all of my moving. It was the only guild when I joined, but right before I moved I believe Ankey had started up a guild. I am also a past president of the guild...1993. I have lived in 7 different states. Iowans are very welcoming and friendly. Weather...you adapt...it takes a couple of years so don\'t get too discouraged. Iowa would be on the top of my list to move back too along with Spokane, WA. The State Fair is a must, then there is Living History Farms, Camp Dodge did have a large out door swimming pool that is almost the size of a football field for summer swimming. I heard that it had closed, but there was a debate about fixing it up. In Altoona, there is a amusement park...the name escapes me at the moment. I haven\'t been there in about 10 + years so I don\'t know what has changed. I know there are a lot quilt shops since I moved so I can\'t help you there either. Have a great time there...I am jealous. Cheryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appr216 Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Sorry to see you leave Texas but I know you will enjoy having family closer. Stay in touch and stay warm. Judi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsurich Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Mary, I was a California and Georgia kid but really do love Iowa. If you don\'t care for the snow stay inside and sew and quilt!!! The Des Moines guild is really a great guild. I don\'t belong as am 2+ hrs away but don\'t miss their show as is really superb. And this year the AQS show will be is Des Moines too. And if you miss the Houston show the Chicago show is only a few hours away. Welcome home, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marycontrary Posted January 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Thanks to all of you for the info. We are very excited about the move, combined with a lot of sadness as we leave a home and area we love. We did go to the Iowa State Fair this year. I loved it! In fact, in spite of a heat wave that week, we had to go back a second time for another "pork chop on a stick" and some fried cheese curds -- YUM!!! I\'ve never really gotten very involved in a guild before, as we lived a ways out from central Austin, but should only be about 5 miles from the one in Ankeny and Altoona. I\'d also like to join a smaller group, so will check out the church. And I\'m really happy to find out that there is a longarm group! The one here would take me a couple hours through the worst rush hour traffic on I 35 in Austin. The showroom in Des Moines is really not that far. What fun! Thanks again -- looking forward to meeting some of you! Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrystitcher Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Mary: Welcome to Iowa. We are quilting crazy here. Everywhere you go you can run into a quilter, guaranteed! I belong to the LA group in Des Moines and it is a wealth of information. The Des Moines quilt guild is tremendous and Ankeny has a great guild too. You will find many wonderful friends here. Have a safe move - yes, waiting a couple of months could be a good idea.....we seem to be having a real winter here this year with lots of snow! Blessings, Sharon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 WELCOME TO IOWA!! I am snowed in today in Eastern Iowa! And I love it!! It gives us a chance to slow down and relax some. I am also able to catch up on things, or finish projects like the quilted project I am doing for the college I attend. Then there is some great family time with my kids, games, baking cookies, movies. I personally love a fresh blanket of snow, it covers up the dead grass and beautifies everything it lands on. Of course I do not like driving on snowy roads, but that is something you get better at when you live in Iowa. You will love it once you get acclimated to our four seasons. And the memories you will make with your daughters family will be worth all the shivering and cold you\'ll endure! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Kathy, My MIL lives in Belle Plaine, IA - her dog get stuck in a snow bank every time she lets him outside. She got this dog when she lived in Arizona for a short time - this poor dog is having a climate control issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 I am only about 23 miles or so from Belle Plaine!! My lil white Bichon Frise gets stuck in the snow too! Her legs are too short! LOL My son has to scoop off the deck, then shovel a path for her to go out further in the yard to potty! Isn\'t that funny! And heaven forbid that she gets outside the fenced in yard... we can\'t find her in the snow~she blends in! Plus she is elderly and blind in one eye and going deaf to boot, you can holler for her, but she can\'t hear ya to come back home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindasewsit Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 Hi Mary!! Ohh! When I read your post, I know how you must be feeling! We have lived in even the same house for 34 years. Both of our children have moved to the Carolina\'s (one in NC and the other in SC, but just 15 minutes from each other) We are wanting to move down there to be close to our grand babies too! On my!! It is a scarey thought!! One of the things that I am thinking about now, is I am getting my millie probably in about a week. (They called yesterday!!) I have done lots of craft and sewing things for people around here and people "know" my work, and I already have people lined up for me to quilt for them when I am ready to take coustomer quilts. I am afraid that when I move, down there, nobody knows me from Adam, and I am not sure how to go about getting clients! Here, it has and will be allot of word of mouth and my sewing friends telling others and so fort. Any suggesttions , anybody? Mary, I KNOW you will love, love , love being with your sweethearts!!! linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 Hi, we moved to NC two years ago, because our rotten kids, moved our grandkids here.. we were living in Oregon They were near San Francisco, CA.. I\'d suggest joining a guild, contact churches to see if they have quilting groups, check them out, check the quilt shops if you can find one, and one I\'ve found to be of help is a sewing machine shop.. check them out too. Hang quilts outside, and when the neighbors ask about it or comment on it, tell them you are in business.. etc.. I have a quilt coming my way from about 50 miles away, to work on, and just sold one that\'s finished, last night. Slow, but it\'s a start. Good Luck, RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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