On the 12th Day of Christmas - Sara Velder (aka MOM) inspired me!

Merry Christmas Eve and my 12th Day of Inspirational Women!

On the 12th Day of Christmas Sara Velder, aka, my Mom Inspired Me!

If any one person has inspired me the most to live a creative life it is my Mom.  Growing up we always had handmade items which I thought was completely the norm, now I know better.  We had soft flannel tied blankets, quilts, Raggedy Ann dolls, Cabbage Patch kid clothing, Barbie clothing and accessories, jean jackets and jeans with hand embroidered patches, and more.  Sewing was a pastime and a craft area was a given.

My Mom also was very well known around our grade school as a Homemade (from scratch) bread maker.  When Christmas rolled around there were days of kneading dough, letting it rise and baking.  There were also some teachers that were very happy to have my brother or I in their class to find themselves with a loaf of her bread!

In grade school I also remember that she made baby stuffed chicks and rabbits to sell at a local shop.  In 6th grade my class had an auction where the students got to bid on parent donated gifts with our points we'd earned during the semester.   My mom gave 6 or so stuffed baby geese on a stick holder.  I can vividly remember my classmates bidding on those geese like crazy, every kid wanted one.

My Mom inspired me to make my first quilt in high school when I found a stack of quilt blocks at an antique store and I decided to not to wait around for her project list to accommodate my request and made my own vintage feedback bow-tie patterned quilt.

Now she runs Acorn Ridge Quilting and does Long-Arm Quilting for many Quilters in the Lincoln/Omaha area.  If you have a quilt top that you've made, or find a neat old vintage Quilt top you need someone to finish call my mom.  She is not only reasonably priced, but she is FAST.  No waiting 2 or 3 months, she keeps on top of her stack of quilts and gets them done quickly.  She has also inspired me to work hard, sometimes probably too hard, but we like to keep busy.

My parents' home is full of her handmade work.  A sweet touch for Easter one year were these adorable bunny banners.



Also special occasions are always fun to have awesome handmade gifts.



My Mom is also a very big supporter and sponsor of Handmade U.



She has made endless goodie bags/totes, embroidered countless Handmade U logos, and sewn more pennant banners for our Barn than she'd like to count.


When she has made small mini quilts as raffle prizes - the lucky winners have loved them.

{Lucky Stephanie winning this Halloween Quilt!}

I'm the lucky daughter to have such a creative and loving Mom.  Thanks Mom for inspiring me!  I love you!

-Rachel

Ho Ho Ho

Merry Christmas to All,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas weekend.

Mine was fun and very full.

Here a few photos of my decor around the house.

The tree (which is in the kitchen bay window - due to 3 frisky kittens not being able to get into the kitchen ;)

At the beginning of December I went to the Brass Armadillo Antique Mall and bought them out of retro vintage ornaments. I had seen a gorgeous wreath online which was priced pretty high...so I thought "I can do that"....which as you'll see below I DID! (however not sure it was for less than I could've purchased it online for when all was said and done....however I'm glad I made it myself since it'll mean more in years to come.)

Jennifer Murphy is one of my favorite artists. I am always excited when she has her website updates to sell her handmade pieces. I try and make sure I am near a computer at the moment the update is opened as her pieces FLY, and I mean FLY out the door within minutes. This time I was LUCKY enough to send in my request quickly enough to get my FIRST choice!!

Take a look at the cutest ornament! It is a vintage mitten filled with a mini mouse handmade by Jennifer, and a snowman spun by hand by Crystal Hanehan. Jennifer collaborated with Crystal on a few pieces, and I think their work nicely compliments eachother, don't you?

I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Wendy Addison's shop while I was in Northern California earlier this month. Jackie Cate and I ventured to the little out of the way studio and shop to be amazed by all the beautiful pieces. This was the ornament I picked out for my tree.

I purchase an acorn for my MOM for Christmas. (given her business is Acorn Ridge Quilting ;)

Speaking of her business and her work, take a look at this adorable quilt she created for me! My mom had asked me for pictures of my cats, the faces especially. I didn't know what she was up to, but when she sent me a number of JibJab greeting cards with my cats singing Christmas songs, I figured that was it!! Little did I know she was also creating this amazing quilt.

More to come on my holiday activites, but for now, I'm exhausted, and need some sleep. Working 2 days this week, so tomorrow morning is coming along quick!

Goodnight,

Rach