One man's trash........

    Most of you know how much I LOVE vintage sewing machines. If I happen to come across one, odds are it will follow me home. Brand, age and condition does not matter one little bit. As they say, One man's Trash is another man's treasure! Or in this case, my treasure. My milkshake pink treasure!

   But boy is she ever dirty!

    The lady I purchased her from said "Everything works 'cept she can't back up"! I guess the reverse is not working. lol!

    She has seen ALOT of stitches if the foot feed is anything to go by. The case surprisingly is in good, but filthy, condition.

     I did notice that she does not have the "Good Housekeeping" Badge, so she must have been sold through a different company. Atlas machines were built in Japan by Brother Sewing Machine Company. Whichever company sold them, put their name or Badge on the machines. Atlas Deluxe Sewing machines were built during the mid to late 1950's. The company stopped manufacturing in 1962. 

The machine on the left is my current Atlas that I use alot. 
It does have the Good Housekeeping Badge. 

I can't wait to get this girl cleaned up and ready to use.

And if I can't get her reverse working, that's no big deal. She is worth every penny of the $45.00 that I paid.

 Heck, I don't back up good either!

  Happy Sunday ya'll! Time to get dinner on the table! I hope ya'll have a great week ahead. Hay season is just starting up for us but there is rain in the forecast this week. 

I hope you get some time with needle and thread this week!
Thank you for stopping by!
xo jan

Little Dresses for Africa winners!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to say a great big THANK YOU to all of our participants in the 2016 Little Dresses for Africa Sew Along! I really appreciate each and every little dress and pair of shorts that were made!
     Today, I got to carry the Dresses, boy shorts and Sanitary pads that I made,  over to Kim, a member of Grove Level Baptist Church in Dalton. Grove Level has two missionary families stationed in Africa. Two of their church members are leaving this SUNDAY for Africa. They are going to help the Queen Family in their mission Queens for the King in South Africa.  Grove Level also has another Church member leaving the first of June for Africa! A couple of our Sew Along participants are mailing me their Dresses to send over too! Queens for the King is on facebook here! Please email or message me if you have any items that you would like to send over on June 1st. Also, my Aunt's Church has a Mission trip planned for September. I hope to get some more dresses made to send with that group.

  In all the excitement today, I almost forgot to announce the winners of our Sew Along! So here goes:

The winner of the beautiful box of Aurifil thread is:

#3. Little Hoot with Dresses ( Elise Jane Stone) 

The winner of the Fat Quarter Shop $50.00 Gift Certificate is:

#2. Little Dresses for Africa - (Sandra)

The winner of the Featherweight Quilt Company $25.00 Gift Certificate is:

#5. Debbie's dresses - (Debbie) 

Woohoo! Congratulations winners! I will message each of you for your addresses! 

I think we are all winners when we help children in need! I wish I had a prize for everyone!  Thank you all for having such a kind and generous heart! 

I also want to Thank our Sponsors at Aurifil and Fat Quarter Shop! These companies are THE BEST and if you do not already shop with them or their products I strongly urge you to do so! Be sure and stop by and tell them a great big THANK YOU for their generosity!

And I also want to mention that Donna M. made a couple of pair of shorts and a dress but did not get to link up. She is also making two more and sending them to me. These are sew cute! Thank you Donna!

Made by Donna M.

And Tonia from All Thingz Sewn made some but missed the linky party. She made 8 of  the cutest little tee shirt dresses. I may try that pattern next time!  You can see them on her blog here!

Ya'll this has been so fun and heartwarming. This past week has been a very rough week around here for several reasons, so I really appreciate all the sweet words to me and the kindness shown to these children. And please, keep on sewing and making these little dresses as you have time. Now that I know of a local Church with families based in Africa, I will be happy to carry your creations to them to go with their missionaries! Or you can send them directly to Little Dresses for Africa! . The address is here.

ALSO,  I am temporarily postponing Sew Simple Saturdays. I may start SSS back up in the Autumn. I will post on this blog and on facebook when/if it starts back up. I really appreciate all of you that have participated in the past. And I  appreciate the generosity of our sponsors!

Happy Stitching everyone! 
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!
xo jan

Little Dresses for Africa 2016 Link Up Party!

 Welcome to the 2nd Annual Little Dresses for Africa Sew 
Along Linky Party at Sew and Sow Farm! Each year I like to choose a project to make for charity. In 2013, I found out 
about an organization that makes and collects simple little dresses to help clothe children around the world, Little Dresses for Africa! I really enjoyed making those first dresses. So this year, I decided to do it again and asked for some help from ya'll! I also asked some of my sponsors to give us a little incentive to Sew - Along! Aurifl and the Fat Quarter Shop didn't hesitate and have offered some very nice prizes along with a prize from my ETSY shop Featherweight Quilt Company!! I have the BEST sponsors! They are ALWAYS so generous! 
    I have been making some little dresses too! I am so excited ! I was able to get 10 Dresses, 2 pair of Boy Shorts and 8 Re-useable Sanitary Pads completed. 

I LOVED using the decorative stitches on my sewing machine when sewing on the Bias Tape ties.

These little boy shorts were also fun to make. I hope to get a few more of these made.

And 8 re-useable Sanitary pads. I hope to get at least 4 more made to go with the Ladies underwear that I purchased. When these are distributed, they are given 1 pair of panties and two pads. (one to wash and one to wear.) 

     ************************************************************************

Packaging Instructions:
Please package Dresses in Size Groups in Zip Loc Baggies. The air can be removed from the bags and take up less room in suitcases and boxes.

Size them by length from the shoulder to the hem.

Small = 2, 3, and 4  (16-22 inches long)

Medium = 5, 6, and 7 (24-28 inches long)

Large = 8,9, and 10 (30-34 inches long)

X-Large – size 11 and above (anything over 35 inches long)

Any size boys shorts are welcome. Elastic or drawstring waist works well for boys shorts.

If you are sending Sani Pads and Panties, I am packaging one pair of panties with two pads per baggie.

MAILING OPTIONS/ INSTRUCTIONS:

1. I did contact a local Missionary that is going to Africa in JUNE! She is going over to help out the Queen family in their mission work. You can read more about Queens for the King here!  She has asked for me to call Monday afternoon and let her know how many items we have. She will then let me know how many she can carry with her next month. Also, my Aunt's church has a Missionary group that is going in September. ( We may have another linky party?) If you would like to send your items to me for the Missionary to carry with her in June, leave a comment below of how many items you are sending. I will give her the count on Monday and then see how many she can carry. I will notify you after I talk with her and give you my address. 

2. Or,  You can mail your items to Little Dresses for Africa Headquarters at:

Little Dresses for Africa
24614 Curtis Drive
Brownstown, MI 48134

Enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope if you’d like to be notified when they are received.

3. Or, You may mail your items to Nancy's Notions at:

 Little Dresses for Africa, c/o Nancy’s Notions®, 333 Beichl Ave., Beaver Dam WI 53916-0683, and they will ship the dresses to their destination. Enclose a self addressed stamped envelope if you would like notification of when they are received. 

Also, if you did not get to participate, Little Dresses for Africa accepts items year around. So it is never too late to help a little boy or girl in need! 

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I would like to say a HUGE Thank you to our wonderful sponsors.

  Aurifil for the beautiful thread collection prize! These are simply gorgeous threads!  

The Fat Quarter Shop for the $50.00 gift Certificate. Woohoo! Shopping Spree time!




 I am also donating a $25.00 Gift Certificate to my ETSY shop, Featherweight Quilt Company.  Woohoo! 

Having prizes for doing what we love is like the icing on a cupcake! It just makes it all a little sweeter!

It's time to link up those Dresses and Shorts!

1. You must link to a specific and current blog post or face book post. Not just to your homepage.
2. Please visit at least one person before your link and one person after your link. We want to share our sewing and be sure and leave nice comments! We all love receiving comments and encouragement on our efforts! Plus it's a nice way to make new friends!
3. Please take time to visit Aurifl and the Fat Quarter Shop and let them know how much we appreciate their great prizes! You can tell them all about your dresses and /or shorts or just tell them hi! Tell them I said hi too! They are both fantastic and generous companies with superior products!
4. Share, share , share! Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, twitter, blogs.....The more people we have making dresses and shorts, the more children we can help!
5. Be sure to follow up and get your items in the mail! You can find packaging and mailing instructions above!
6. The link up will only remain open until Monday May 9th, 12:00 noon EST You must add your link before then to be eligible to win one of the prizes! You must link to at least one completed dress or boy shorts. You can still make more after the link up party !
7. Winners will be announced on Wednesday May 11th right here on this blog! BE SURE TO CHECK BACK HERE ON WEDNESDAY! SEVERAL OF YOU ARE SHOWING AS "NO REPLY" SO I HAVE NO WAY TO REACH YOU IF YOU WIN ONE OF THE PRIZES!!
8. If you are planning on sending your items to me , be sure to leave a comment on this blog post stating the number of items that you have so I can give a count to the Missionary.

I really want to say THANK YOU to everyone for participating. It really touches my heart how generous our sewing and crafting community is! 

 So let's get this party started! Follow the Linky below to add your photo and links! (click on the "click here to enter")

In Our Garden BOM Month 4 - May!

 

     Welcome to Month # 4 of the "In or Garden" Block of the Month! 

This month our Designer is Carla of Creatin in the Sticks!  I just love both the pieced block and the applique block! 

Aren't those just adorable? You can find the patterns Free for the month of May on Carla's Craftsy page: here and here!

 Also be sure to drop by Carla's blog and enter to win a Gift Certificate from one of the sponsors! 

I can't wait to get started making my version of Carla's blocks for my garden!

      Are you sewing along with us? The following is a list of  participating bloggers! 

February

Blocks 1 and 2

Amy – Sew Incredibly Crazy

March

Blocks 3 and 4

Carol – Just Let Me Quilt 

April

Blocks 4 and 5

Doris – Quilting Queen Online

Bonus Block

Amy - For Thermoweb

May

Blocks 7 and 8  Carla – Creatin’ in the Sticks

June
Sue – Super Mom No Cape

July
Joan – Moosestash Quilting

August
Kris – Kris Loves Fabric

September
Pat – Life in the Scrapatch

October
Vicki – More Stars in Comanche

November
Lana – It Seams to be Sew

December
Jan - Sew and Sow Farm

January

Amy – Sew Incredibly Crazy– Final Blocks and wrap up!

There's a group Facebook page HERE 

 and a Flickr Group !

Be sure to link your blocks each month to the monthly link up party on Amy's Blog  Sew Incredibly Crazy for your chance to win one of our wonderful prizes! Thank you Amy for hosting this fun Block of the Month Sew Along!

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This Saturday ,May 7th, will be our Little Dresses for Africa link up party! I am so excited. There is a local family going to Africa in June and are very excited to carry some of our Dresses and /or Boy Shorts along with them! More info to come on that! Are you sewing some Dresses along with us? You can find patterns here!

Be sure to come back here to the blog on Saturday May 7th and link up to your LDFA items blog or facebook post!  We do have some terrific prizes and winners will be drawn at random! 

Also Friday May 6th will be Featherweight Quilt Company's next two Mystery Patchwork of the Crosses block kits and May's New Hexagon Kits! You can join in the fun at any time as this is an ongoing Mystery! You can find the kits here! 

So much fun stuff happening this week! 

Happy May everyone!

I can't wait to see what you create!

xo jan