Happy Tuesday Friends!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Another great bunch of messages and photos from near and far, so grab a cuppa or very cool beverage, sit back and relax while you soak up some well-deserved gratitude.

Only 1 sleep until Christmas Day.

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Good Morning Ruth S

Thankyou so so much for my Laundry bag I absolutely love it! I also loved the note you left for me and the cute flower stickers! I love cute stickers.

I hope you and your family have a lovely Christmas and thankyou for doing what you do! It’s something I will keep for a long time and make me smile at sea when I use it.

All the best,

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G’day Jan-Maree and Heather B,

Here’s the photo of the handover of the quilt to the CO 8/9 RAR.

The man on the right is the RSM of 8/9 RAR.

Thanks again for the brilliant quilt and for Heather B making time to present it.

The CO was very impressed.

Regards,

Quilt by Heather B, Embroideries by Inge C

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Good afternoon Lynn K,

I just received my laundry bag today. Thank you so much for the work you put in for that it is amazing and I couldn’t be happier. No need to apologise about the England part I realise now that I should have been a bit more specific.

I know your home town quite well as I used to stop by there sometimes when I would drive home from Sydney to my residence on the Gold Coast. I have since moved to WA to continue my career in the RAN.

Thank you again for the laundry bag I can’t stop looking at it and I can’t wait to use it when I go away next.

Hope you have a very merry Christmas and a wonderful new year.

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Hi Jenny N,

I’m just writing a quick email to thank you for the beautifully made laundry bag (thankfully I don’t mind spiders haha) and the heartfelt letter that came with it. I’ve just come back from an exercise overseas where it was very handy.

We do what we do because of people like you that make this such a great country and I’m so grateful to you, it was a small gift but it meant the world.

Also loved hearing about your family so thank them for doing some of the heavy lifting and may you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and happy new year.

Best Regards,

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Hi Ruth S

A quick email to say thank you very much for the laundry bag you made me! The design is amazing!

When I received it last week it made my day! Thank you for what you do I really appreciate it.

I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas!

Regards,

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Hi Jan-Maree

Just a quick note to thank you for my Aussie Hero Quilt. I was absolutely blindsided when Leo (chairman of our Board) presented it yesterday – it is absolutely gorgeous! I live down the coast now and I spend most of my time volunteering for WIRES and RFS – I think I am busier than when I was working! Haven’t sewn in ages but hope to get back to it next year – I need more time for me!

Have and very Merry Christmas and New year

Recipient in Green top

Recipient with fellow air traffic controller showing off their quilts

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Good Morning Ruth S,

I wanted to reach out and say thank you very much for the laundry bag!

I loved it and it made my day when I received it, the chocolate went down a treat as well. I started using the laundry bag right away and everyone was jealous!

Thanks for making the deployment that little bit more bearable!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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Good Afternoon Pennie T,

I firstly want to apologise for my late response. After receiving my Aussie Hero Quilt I have been meaning to write to you for quite some time now and have only found the time now once everyone from the Battalion has gone on leave.

I have been back in Australia now for a couple of months and the Battalion has been so busy since being back. I was able to explore the UK and Scotland whilst being deployed over there and absolutely loved every minute of it.

The Job over there was quite rewarding and you can’t help but feel sorry for the Ukrainians and what they are going through.

I was able to get to the Edinburgh tattoo which I highly recommend putting on your bucket list if you haven’t already seen it. I got up as far as Glencoe Highlands and spent a fair bit of time exploring Edinburgh and Stirling.

I wanted to say Thank You for my quilt it was exactly what I was after, I really could have used it over there as I hadn’t experienced cold like that in a very long time.

I think it is quite honourable in what you are doing with Aussie Hero Quilts and you should be very proud, you have made this soldier very happy and warm when the colder months come back around.

I’d like to wish you a very Merry Christmas , Happy New Year and all the best for the future.

Keep up the good work as it doesn’t go unnoticed.

Thank you again.

Kind Regards,

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Good Afternoon Aussie Hero Quilts

I just wanted to send an email before Christmas and say a massive thank you to all of your team for their support. Our team (OP Mazurka) have start receiving their quilts and laundry bags which has created a lot of excitement among a lot of members who are on their first deployment particularly at this time of year.

Once all of the team have received theirs (we are having some delays with our mail currently) I will be sure to get some photos and send them through.

Thank you again, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Cheers,

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Hi Anne Hnr,

Thank you so very much for taking the time and effort to not only create me an amazing and unique laundry bag but also for your very generous letter (and snacks!).

I must apologise for my delayed response, I have been back in Australia for a few weeks now however unfortunately was home sick for a couple of them with your letter safely at work.

I did not know a lot about Jordan prior to going either however it was such an incredible country with history that truly boggled my mind. There is extensive presence of Roman, Biblical and more modern history spread throughout the country. Of particular note was that I saw more Roman Theatres in Jordan than I ever did when travelling through Italy! We were fortunate to be able to explore occasionally and I was able to visit the Dead Sea which is one of the most unique experiences – it would be impossible to drown there however is so salty that you can’t spend too long in the water. Visiting Jesus’ baptism site was fascinating and the photos of Petra do not do justice to the scale and awe of how impressive the monuments there truly are.

I really appreciate you sharing some insight in to your life and it was uplifting to read you describe your interests, family and surrounds in beautiful Tasmania.

The ASLAV on the laundry bag was incredible, very high definition and has come up amazing. As people move through their military careers they often do many diverse jobs, as is the case with me, and some colleagues were requesting some different references to various stages of their careers on their bags which was the inspiration for the ASLAV. AWC was a bit of a unique one however I’d be surprised if there weren’t some more AWC requests from my colleagues at the time. It stands for ‘Aussie Walk Club’ and became a bit of a movement while we were on base in Jordan. It started with a couple of the guys being injured and unable to run so they would walk laps of the running track at lunch and chat. It became a bit of a ‘drop in’ activity for the Australian’s for those that felt like a chat or to get a break from the computer screen at lunch and get some sun. It grew rapidly with many countries eventually participating every day, including the most senior ranks of our international colleagues being particularly invested and attended frequently. It became a great way to socialise, make connections and disconnect from the deployed-life that everybody was living. On our final walk we had nearly one hundred people all walking laps and making lasting connections. They renamed the oval the ‘Aussie Walking Track’.

The team was really appreciative of all you and your colleagues efforts and support and when the quilts and laundry bags started to roll in, everyone’s spirits were definitely lifted and the laundry room became a lot more colourful with everyone’s bag having a different story to tell! Thank you for all your support through your terrific organisation, volunteering your time like that is an incredibly humble way to serve the people of Australia and I really thank you for it.

Last day of the working year for me today, I’m off to Sydney to see my family for Christmas before doing a road trip to Adelaide (where I lived when working with ASLAVs) for a wedding and catching up with old friends. I’ll be coming home the long way back, via the Great Ocean Road, which will be the first time for me and am really looking forward to it. I’m also looking forward to the great pubs and bakeries that you find along the way of big road trips!

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas, with plenty of quality time spent together and wishing you a terrific 2025!

Thank you again for your support in making the laundry bag, it is the first thing I packed for my trip and I will cherish it forever – thank you.

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Hi Sheena,

I hope this email finds you well.

This email is in response to your letter written July 2024.

Sorry I have been a bit tardy on answering but I have been battling with Health issues with a loss of a leg and prostate cancer.

I’m going back for further treatment, Theronostics (Being Nuked by infusion) otherwise only the other option is the Ultimate.

Thank you for the beautiful quilt, a total surprise and unexpected.

The quality of your workmanship is amazing and is deeply appreciated.

Please accept my appreciation and gratitude for this quilt, you people are amazing.

Thank you,

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Hi Janis K,

I want to say a big thank you for my Quilt! It’s incredible and the detail is unreal. Hands down the best Quilt I have ever received! You are very talented and we appreciate the time and effort that goes into making quilts for us. This Quilt is permanently staying on my bed whilst deployed until I leave!

These custom quilts/laundry bags really go a long way and make our time away just that little bit easier being able to make it a bit more home-y. I hope you continue to enjoy retirement and it sounds like you have a wonderful family. I also hope you have a very Merry Christmas and New Year with everyone.

Thanks again Janis for everything yourself and everyone at Aussie Hero Quilts and Laundry Bags do for us.

Kind regards,

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Dear Jan-Maree B,

 Of course I remember sitting next to you at dinner last year. It was a delightful evening and it was wonderful to catch up with so many old faces and to have contact with the new. Delightful more so as we had a wonderful conversation about Aussie Hero Quilts. as, until then, I was unaware of its existence.

When I mentioned that 85 Transport Platoon was having a reunion you asked to be put in touch with our reunion coordinator as “you had an idea”. Of course I did find out that you provided personalised laundry bags from all the attendees, but it came as a surprise to them. All of them, and me too, were impressed with the quality and the detail in the making of each bag. There was obviously a lot of skill in their production and a considerable amount of research to have found the personal details of all our attending members. They were a big hit and contributed to the conduct of a most successful reunion.

 My bag was made by Ruth S from South Australia and I did send her an acknowledgement of my gratitude and thanked her for her contribution to our event. It was most appreciated and I believed that would be the end of our association with Aussie Hero Quilts.

 I was therefore surprised to find out that my presence was required at a function to welcome new Duntroon graduates to our Corps to allow me to be presented with a quilt! This function was held yesterday and I was doubly surprised to discover that it was a personalised quilt for me as I had thought that it might have been a presentation to The Roadrunners.

 Gail and Joan B’s product is magnificent! I have sent her a message of my gratitude and appreciation. In my study is a King single bed for grandchildren visits and my SCANS (Senior Citizens Afternoon Naps) and it will take pride of place there. My wife and three adult children see it as a wonderful way of depicting my career and a wonderful keepsake. I attended Duntroon straight out of school and had a happy and I believe successful time, both personally and from the family perspective. It really is the only life that I have known.

Thank you for explaining the rationale for forming Aussie Hero Quilts; you and your team are most generous and go a long way to overcoming the public response to our service on return to Australia. It is most gratifying to see that there is also political support to our members of the Australian Defence Force and their deployments to ensure our Nation’s security. Congratulations and well done; may your good work continue.

 Again, thank you. Could you please extend my gratitude to your many volunteers and let them know how much we appreciate their work. They are very skilled and very generous; their work and thoughtfulness are most appreciated.

 Kind regards and best wishes,

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Good Evening Marilyn S,

 I have just received my laundry bag in the mail yesterday and I love it, thank you so much! The old school Disney fabric you picked are so cute and I am so excited to use my bag.

 I am an imagery specialist (photographer) there is only about 35 of us in the Navy and I have been in for just over 5 years now. I am originally from the Gold Coast (my family is still there) although I live WA, it’s just myself and a 9 year old border collie named Thor, he is very cute and a big sook that loves a cuddle. Mum has flown over to WA to visit for Chrissy, I will visit the rest of my family on the Gold Coast in April next year.

 The Dandenong Ranges must be beautiful, 6 children yourself and so many grandchildren and great grandchildren to love. It’s amazing that you all live so close and get to spend lots of time together. I only have one brother and a niece and nephew so my family is tiny compared to yours. I can imagine it would be very busy at your house when you all get together. I bet Christmas is a blast but a big day for food and presents!

 Have a wonderful Christmas and thank you again for the laundry bag and the Christmas ornament. So beautiful and kind of you to take the time to make this for me. I appreciate all of the volunteers from AHQ and the amazing work you all do!

 Merry Christmas and happy new years!

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Until next week keep your letters, emails and photos coming in.

Tuesday’s would be so totally boring without them!

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