Celebrating 20 years in 2025!
“You’ll want to get in touch with Queen Rukiya and Chief Howard”, Cherice advised. We’d been working together for several years and, ever the teacher, Cherice felt it would be helpful, expansive, for me to meet other members of the community, to work with them and learn from them. I’d
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
“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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
The ladies in Winter, Wisconsin are sewing up a storm. This time of year, it’s probably a snowstorm!! A recent article in the Sawyer County Gazette shared details of the sewing program. I’ve included the text from the article here as there is no online link.
We meet regularly at The Sewing Machine Project to look over and prepare machines that have been donated to us–machines that are en route to their next home. Many cases are familiar, even before opening. I often look and think “oh, I know what you are!” before I even click
The idea came to me so vividly. We would soon be traveling to Houston for the International Quilt Festival to set up a booth and share The Sewing Machine Project. Houston. And every sewing machine brand would be at the Festival as well. Houston. Hurricane Harvey. Hmmmm, I wondered, would
