I love sleeping with the windows open when it’s still warm enough to do so, and though it is getting chillier at night, I love the smell of rain on the breeze coming through the window!
I’m up early this morning to head out toward Pennsylvania. By the looks of the weather there may be more rain, but the ipod is loaded up with books to play as I drive, and I don’t have to hurry – I just have to get there.
I’ve packed two quilts to bind/sleeve/label. I’ve packed the hexie that needs the last corner section added to the main piece now ----and as an after thought, I’m putting the pink/brown Dear Jane in the car ---if I get to it fine, if I don’t fine – with being gone this many nights I want to be sure that I don’t run out of projects! I think I am bringing more than I need to, but better too much than too little :cD
So many have asked how many machines I have. I honestly haven’t counted. I don’t need to know. But I do know what I will do with them when the time comes!
There is an organization called The Sewing Machine Project! They take donated machines and and distribute them to those in need, giving women a way to learn a skill and make a living.
From their website:
The Sewing Machine Project was conceived in March, 2005, following the devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia. A BBC article on the internet gave painful details about a woman who had lost her sewing machine in the storm, a machine she’d saved for years to buy, and, in losing it, she lost her means of earning an income.
Margaret Jankowski, the founder of The Sewing Machine Project, began collecting donated sewing machines here in Wisconsin and shipping them to Sri Lanka. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in September 2005 The Sewing Machine Project’s focus shifted to that region. From 2006 to the present days, we have delivered sewing machines to individuals, schools and community centers in the greater New Orleans area. People are using them not only to rebuild their lives but also to start small sewing-related businesses.
The Sewing Machine Project now operates on a local, national and international level. Women’s sewing cooperatives in Kosovo, Mexico, Sri Lanka and Liberia are working with Sewing Machine Project machines. We continue our work in the Gulf Coast region as they continue to rebuild. Locally, we offer the Sewing Shares Lending Library, making sewing machines available on loan to community groups who do not have the resources to purchase machines. Additionally, in Dane County, we work with the newly immigrated Bhutanese community, offering sewing lessons and tools to create connections and to offer hope and possibility as they integrate into our community.It’s an amazing organization. They only take machines in good working condition with all necessary parts included.
You can read their BLOG and see how this project is helping!
And this is where my collecting comes in-- I will maintain these machines until such a time as I feel the need to downsize. I will leave instructions with my family that if anything should happen to me, that my machines be donated to this organization. It’s a way to pay it forward.
I’m already thinking of ones that would be good to part with and send on their way.
These following locations accept machines for this project:
AllBrands.com
20415 Highland Rd
Baton Rouge, La. 70817
Phone 225 383 9750
or
4027 Veterans Memorial Blvd
Metairie, LA 70002-5501
Phone: (504) 888-4952
Electric Needle
6612 Odana Road
Madison, WI 53719
608 831-3770
M&R Sewing
6115 Odana Road
Madison, WI 53719
608-278-4242
In Stitches
305 West Oakland Ave.
Johnson City, TN 37604
(423) 283-0456
In the Wool
236 Washington Street
St. Croix Falls, WI 54024
(715)483-1433
Linda’s Sew ‘n’ So
216 W. Fayette Street
Celina, Ohio 45822
(415)586-2324
fancies2@bright.net
Nancy’s Notions
333 Beichl Ave
Beaver Dam, WI 53916
(920) 887-0391
Patches and Petals13 W. Main Street
Belleville, WI 53508
608-424-1516
Pamella’s PlaceS42 W31 230 State Rd. No. 107
Genesee Depot, WI 53127
262-968-3821
Quilter’s Haven
14680 South Robert Trail
Rosemount, MN 55068
651-322-7071
The Sampler
551 W. 78th Street
Chanhassen, MN 55317
(952)934-5307
If you live outside of these areas and wish to ship your working sewing machine, please package it carefully (double boxing with plenty of padding) and send it to:
The Sewing Machine Project
PO Box 6245
Monona, WI 53716
And with that…..off I go to PA! Catch you from the road!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Bonnie. I now have a REAL reason to buy the used machines I see. Count me in on this project. What a great idea. Safe journeys.
ReplyDeleteFaye in Maine
Safe Travels!
ReplyDeletethat is a great way to pass on sewing machines
ReplyDeletehave fun at your workshop that you are heading to
Thank you for raising awareness for The Sewing Machine Project!!! I live in the same city as the organization and think it's wonderful. With all the people that read your blog, there is a real opportunity for many people to help out. =)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to keep these machines alive and help out others at the same time. Thank you. And, you were talking about the acorns on Quilt Cam the other nite...last nite i went out after dark to put my guineas to bed. I thought it was raining, but it was thousands of acorns pelting down when the wind came up. I think i gor a concussion. Safe travels onnthis rainy day!
ReplyDeleteAnd you called it an addiction!! :) It is just another of many ways that you think of others!! :)
ReplyDeleteHave a safe and fun week in PA! Look forward to hearing about your adventures.
Thank you for this info, Bonnie. I have been thinking about this from time to time, as my quilter friends have more up-to-date machines than I . And my dtrs-in-law are not in the least bit interested in sewing. So glad that there are opportunities to pass them on. Have a wonderful, safe trip and enjoy the colors!
ReplyDeleteHi Bonnie. What I could see of Dear Jane... she is pretty! Can you please let me know what book she is out of?
ReplyDeleteSafe travels and I look forward to your "quiling on the road" updates!!
Sewing machines are donated at this side of the ocean - Netherlands - as a rule to "gered gereedschap": saved tools. There my treadle went, as I don't have place to use it or put it. It's somewhere in Asia or Africa now, supporting a seamstress's family =^}
ReplyDeleteThis organisation mends, repairs and after that ships in working order. One of the DIY chains supports them, by collecting blunt saws and name all the other tools that otherwise will sit idle in a box.
We do care about others, part of the quilting bug, and luckily there is an opportunity available for non-quilters as well to support others with less luck than we have.
Have a pleasant and rewarding time ahead! Btw, the Dear Jane pattern still looks gorgeous after these scant 150 yrs, especially in brown/pink!
Love from a sunny Amsterdam,
Irene
Thank you Bonnie for this wonderful information. I am always stopping at garage sales. I see sewing machines cheap all the time, I resist buying them because I already have all I can use. I will now buy those good machines and since my DH and I winter in Mississippi I will be taking those purchases and delivering them to Barton Rouge! Thank you for giving me another way to "give back" to the communities where I live.
ReplyDeletea very worthy cause, bonnie...so old sewing machines don't die? they just sew and sew and sew! thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteHi Bonnie -
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know what books are currently on your ipod. I love books on tape (CD/ipod!) I just finished "Fall of Giants" by Ken Follett.
Too many projects are much better than running out of projects and starting a NEW unplanned project.... as the nights are long without a needle.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great cause! Thanks for the information.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a great idea. I donated $ to help a sewing school in Africa...but here is another way to help. Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI am off to our guild retreat this weekend...taking Shirttails to show a friend...and start on Turkey Tracks in blues from String Fling. Can't wait!