The Lady Behind Ella Viola Handiwork
My Craft
My name is Sheila. My passion is textile arts. Since early childhood I have always found bliss when creating something lovely by hand. My mom taught me to sew when I was a child. I have always been diligent about practicing and perfecting my hand-sewing techniques; However, the past three years have been an adventure learning and mastering the fascinating and efficient magic of machine sewing. I tend to lean more toward the old-school in my artistic endeavors. I picked up embroidery and crochet just over 30 years ago and my life has not been the same since. I am seldom happier than I am stitching beautiful images with colorful threads, or looping yarn into delightful toys, decor, or wearables. I have always thought it rather sad that hand-stitching has become something of a lost art; There is a quality, sustainability, and exquisite beauty in lovingly hand-stitched items, that can never be matched by factory-made products.
Honoring our Ella Viola
Ella Viola is my maternal great-grandmother. She married my great-grandfather, August Erdmann, on Thanksgiving Day of 1889 in Grand Forks, North Dakota. August had immigrated from Prussia to the United States at the age of twenty, to avoid being drafted into the German Army. From all accounts, August only attained third-grade formal education, but his wife Ella taught him to read and write in English, and it is said that August knew The Bible from front to back. August and Ella were homestead farmers and went on to build two successful businesses, a dry goods store and a hardware store. Ella and August had four children. I adore my great-grandmother, her strength, spirit, and that she was a loving nurturer and teacher to her husband and her children. I believe "Ella Viola" is the most beautiful name, and my handiwork and my business are humbly named in her honor.
Background
Sheila grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was always a good student and an avid reader. Sheila attended university at University of California, Davis and California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. In June 2006, Sheila, her then-husband and their three very small children moved from California to the Kansas City Metro area, where she continues to reside. Sheila has previously worked in the fields of Education, Network Operations, and Social Work. In March 2024, she became self-employed to pursue her dream as a full-time craftswoman and proprietor of Ella Viola Handiwork. In addition to textile arts, Sheila loves reading, hiking, exploring the outdoors, gardening, photography, writing, and, most of all, her life with her beloveds: her husband, her three now grown-up children, and her three pets: a handsome bearded dragon, a giant fluffy diva-cat, and a faithful Australian cattle dog.
