20–Pretty pretty
When I met Cherice Harrison Nelson for the first time I didn’t realize I was meeting a legend. Tall and regal, known as Queen Reesie to many, Cherice carries herself like a queen. Hovering in a cloud of chicory and milk foam, we met at CC’s Coffee on Magazine Street and got to know one […]
20
“Mom, do you know where you’re going?” my 14 year old daughter asked incredulously. It was March, 2006 and Maddie peered at the map as we threaded through the Arkansas hills. The clunk, rattle, clunk of the rented Enterprise van had become familiar. I no longer worried with each shift of the 50 sewing machines […]
Women’s Day
Though The Sewing Machine Project has no gender specific policy, most of the machines we distribute go to women. Since the beginning, groups begun by and working with women find a connection with the work we do. We hear the stories. Stories of great need, of women struggling to get by, women to whom a […]
Benefit!!
JOIN THE SEWING MACHINE PROJECT AND THE CHURCH OF YOGA FOR A DONATION BASED CLASS BENEFITTING THE NEW ORLEANS MARDI GRAS INDIAN COUNCIL When I walked through the double shotgun house that is becoming the Center for the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Council I couldn’t help but become excited. The project, spearheaded by Chief […]
Somebody gotta sew!
“Somebody gotta sew sew sew” This time of year my thoughts drift to New Orleans, imagining the Mardi Gras Indians in their final days of preparation for Mardi Gras Day when the world will first see their new suits. Colors and stories unveiled, magic is happening. Our work with the Mardi Gras Indians of […]
Happy New Year-a 2018 retrospective
When I look at the list of all that was done in 2018 I am awestruck. We: connected with 38 new groups, delivering over 300 sewing machines; received an amazing donation from Brother, International; shipped machines to Puerto Rico to help with hurricane recovery; established a new mending site here in Madison, doubled the number […]
Fall 2018 Newsletter
Here is the link to our Fall 2018 Newsletter. If you’d like to receive our newsletters by email, please sign up through our website! We’d love to keep you in the loop! https://mailchi.mp/b942862817a6/our-2018-fall-newsletter
Focus on Donors: Third Stage Bags
Cecilia Plum is a name that sounds like music to me. When I received a message through the Sewing Machine Project website recently asking me to contact her I had to look back through my files to see where I’d heard the name before. Sure enough, there she was in our donor database. When Ms. […]
Focus on Donors: Erika Barratt Design
The phone call from Erika Barratt came out of the blue. Driving along in rural Arkansas, on a sewing machine delivery trip, I picked up my phone to hear Erika’s lyrical voice. She introduced herself and told me a little bit about her business. Her description alone made me hungry to get on my computer […]
Thank you, MGE!
A decade ago I made a presentation about The Sewing Machine Project to local business people, I shared our wish list as well, noting that “we sure could use some storage space for sewing machines!” A gentleman named Jim stepped forward and offered to help. An executive at MGE, Jim started working on it right […]
Sewing and Healing
When sharing The Sewing Machine Project with others I often struggle to find the words to convey the depth of connection within this organization. Though we began with a simple wish to gather and share machines, I’ve learned over the years that the connections, the lessons learned, the importance of a project like this, has […]
Spring 2018 Newsletter
Here is the link to our Spring 2018 Newsletter. If you’d like to receive our newsletters by email, please sign up through our website! We’d love to keep you in the loop! https://mailchi.mp/cbd4e3a63590/sew-much-going-on-our-spring-newsletter