Lots of gorgeous messages here. I hope you enjoy them! I am off to Campbelltown tomorrow to speak to a Probus Club, so time for me to tweak my presentation and make sure my powerpoint is up to scratch!
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Hello Anne H
I recently received my fabulous ‘Minions’ laundry bag that you so kindly made for me as part of your voluntary work with the Aussie Hero Quilts organisation and thought I would take this opportunity to personally thank you for this wonderful gift.
A little about me, …
I am married to my beautiful wife (soon to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in Dec), and we have two beautiful daughters, Both girls love Minions so the bag is a constant reminder of them. We also have two pooches in our family, Zoe, a 14 year old Jack Russell and Bailey, our very lovable Tibetan Spaniel.
I enlisted into the Australian Regular Army in 1982 and have served in various locations throughout Australia. Having moved around considerably over the course of my career, approximately 7 years ago I was provided the opportunity to gain a civilian employment position (still working within Defence) and subsequently transferred into the Army Reserves (having served 28 years in the REGS). This allowed me to gain a little more stability for the family, particularly for the girls who were at the time in their late teens, working/studying and boys were also high on their agenda. I am very family orientated and the separation from family during this deployment has been at times difficult, however, made somewhat easier with the fabulous team and hierarchy we have working here. I am in the Middle East Region until February 18 and I am fortunate to be able to get home to Adelaide for leave over Christmas, in time (potentially) for the arrival of the newest addition to our family, a grandchild (due 21 Dec)
I have previously deployed into the Middle East, having served on Operation MAZURKA in the Sinai, Egypt for 6 months in 2004. A great experience with many friendships established. I jumped at the opportunity to again serve overseas when I was asked this time last year to deploy again. Part of my role here is to coordinate through Jan-Maree the Aussie Hero Quilt orders that are received by the serving men and women in theatre. I mentioned to Jan-Maree in a recent email I sent to her, that I am really fortunate to see a lot of the serving men and women here open their Aussie Hero Quilt and laundry bag packages when they arrive and to see the joy on their faces as they see their handmade quilts and laundry bags is just priceless! Bridget, thanks again for the support you provide along with all the other talented quilt and laundry bag creators. Thank you for the continued service you provide towards our serving men and women whilst on operations . This support is something that is spoken about regularly here in the Middle East and your kind contribution towards this is very much appreciated. Thanks again for the wonderful Minion laundry bag .. it will be treasured for years to come and serve as a reminder of my time spent here in the Middle East Region. Regards and best wishes,
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I have received the laundry bag, and I thank you sincerely for the time and effort you have freely given. The support from Aussie Hero Quilts is greatly appreciated by all service men and women.
The laundry bag will certainly get well used, rest assured. The Ying Yang symbol is associated with Taekwondo, of which my 3 sons and my wife also participate in.
I head home to Sydney soon as I near the end of my month deployment. We are very lucky these days to be able to skype our families, however it is not the same a seeing them face to face.
I am posted to RAAF Glenbrook outskirts of Penrith, where we have in the past held a morning tea hosting the Aussie Quilters. Hopefully this is a regular event of which I will certainly attend, and likewise I look forward to meeting you there if you are able to attend.
Thanks again for your support,
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I hope you’re well down in chilly Tassie.
I’ll be making my first visit there for a couple weeks over New Years and early January, trekking around in my new/old campervan haha.
I’ve just received the quilt and it is so great!
Everyone here in the workshop is jealous haha. Nice to hear your husband is also apart of the RAEME brotherhood. I am an electrical/refrigeration technician, so I look after all the automotive electrical and air conditioning systems as well as generators and anything else in that realm.
Well thanks again, can’t thank you or AHQ enough for all the time and effort you guys put in. It’s such a nice gesture and much appreciated!
Best wishes,
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Just wanted to let you know that the quilt has arrived and looks fantastic. It was here waiting for me when I got back from a brief trip out of country. Better than I could have hoped for! It is the envy of many of the team over here who are now wishing they had personalised their quilts a little more. It has also inspired a few for their quilt designs!
You have done an incredible job getting the badges and emblems just right, but I have still not figured out how you got the lettering so neat!
I can’t thank you enough for what you have done for me and what you are doing for our deployed troops. I have noticed that whenever I visit the troops in their accommodation blocks (usually either bombproof concrete buildings or armoured containers stacked on top of each other, and 1-4 people per room), the rooms are usually brightened by a dazzling and colourful array of quilts from Aussie Hero Quilts. Some are personalised for the individual, some (a lot!) depict sporting teams, and some are just intricate colourful patterns. Some of the quilts are used on the beds, some hang on the walls and some are used to create a barrier to make at least a little privacy in the cramped accommodation. They are all very much appreciated and the subject of much banter.
A couple of photos attached of the quilt in Kabul.
Thank you for all that you do!
Hi Jean,
I received my laundry bag today and its amazing I love it, you have definitely achieved the goal of bright colours. I will treasure it always.
Thank you again for the laundry bag, your countless hours of sewing for Aussie Hero’s is a credit to you all, and it definitely lifts the moral for all the deployed members oversea’s
Kind regards
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I am 27 years old and I was the crew member onboard HMAS Darwin that received your Laundry Bag. It was very well put together and the choice of cloth was one of the better patterns on the laundry bags we received. Being part of the last crew onboard HMAS Darwin is a very compelling experience and it has been made all that much more special as it will be the last ship I serve on as I am discharging at the end of the year. I will have done almost 9 years when I discharge and have enjoyed every moment of my time.
It is touching to hear that you have been making Quilts and Blankets for over 30 years as it shows a commitment that not many could understand. My recently departed grandmother loved making woollen blankets and outfits for her grandchildren and in her latter years spent a lot of time making full sized quilts for the salvation army (her record was 15 blankets in 1 year). Another touching note is to hear that you have found yourself making quilts and laundry bags for Aussie Hero Quilts because of your sons service to the military, I was deployed on HMAS Melbourne when we went to the middle east and everyone who received a quilt or laundry bag was exited and grateful to receive them, you should be proud of the smiles your work brings to people.
When I leave the Navy I will be moving back home to the family farm, who like your farm has been part of the family for a long time (I’m 6th generation). It is in a small place. While not as big as the Barossa or Clare valley, it is one of the bigger wine producing areas in SA as well as Australia. we grow about 400 acres of vines and then have another 1000 acres for sheep and crops. The one thing that makes home so special is that it is the only place in the world that uses natural flood water as its main source of irrigation. We have a small 200 acre red gum swamp on the property that gets lovely and full of water most winters, while it unfortunately gets full of carp because of the massive population boom the carp have had in recent years, we also get yabbies and they are much tastier.
On a different note your bag has travelled a few miles as of writing this. At this point it has travelled from Sydney to Dili in Timor Leste, from there is has moved onto Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and finally onto Subic Bay in the Philippines. Currently we are heading down to Singapore for our last foreign port visit before heading back to Darwin to conduct a Freedom of Entry March. Once we have spent some time in Darwin we will be travelling back to Sydney, spending a few days in there before doing one final week at sea before the final entering harbour come the end of November.
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A gorgeous email for Wendy V
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Till next time….. keep spreading the word and happy stitching!
Jan-Maree xx
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