Happy Tuesday Friends!
Welcome to the first blog of March.
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Recipent with bronze medal.
Hi Deb K,
Firstly, wow and thank you. I was lucky enough to be gifted your laundry bag for the Invictus Games and I wanted to reach out to say thank you so much for your time, dedication and your personalised touch. I was so surprised to have received one and I absolutely love it!
It was also extremely handy during the Invictus Games, as the laundry was about 2km away from the accommodation, so not only was it stylish, it was also extremely practical. It also made for some great talking points when other nations saw it.
It was such a privilege to support our Australian team at the Invictus Games and your caricature of the doctor with a smile on his face and jumping for joy (and running) was quite accurate. I was definitely pinching myself quite a few times at being able to be part of Team Australia in Vancouver, Canada, and interacting with so many veterans and serving personnel from around the world. Unfortunately it also did get quite busy so I was running around quite a bit as well (but also it was great to keep warm, as it was -16c in Whistler!). Living in Darwin, it was definitely a bit of a shock to the system.
I’ve attached a photo of myself holding the laundry bag in front of the Invictus Games sign and the caldron. I AM is part of the motto for Invictus Games and represents the purpose of the games to provide a platform for personal achievement. Many competitors from Team Australia, as well as many attendees, are fighting their own inner battles but with invictus, or unconquered. We are often reminded of the poem, Invictus, by William Ernest Henley:
‘It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.’
Once again Deb, thank you so much or your time in volunteering in making the AHQ Laundry Bag. I really genuinely appreciate the effort, time and love you have put into making it. I am sure I speak for everyone who was gifted one that we are all touched by your genuine work and we all love it very much. It’ll be something I know I was cherish for a long time.
With kind regards,
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G’day Christine C,
I wanted to reach out and thank you for the Laundry Bag for Invictus 2025. The detail and elements that go into it was incredibly touching and very humbling – we had a lot of comments on them by other nations and the laundry services over there, one gentlemen stated he was going online to purchase one as soon as he got home, not sure he quite got the idea but there may be a wider business there in the future!
Its been a bit of a road over the last 2 years for the family and I and we are deeply appreciative of the support from Aussie Hero Quilts, it has meant a lot to us. I was saying to Jan-Maree at the presentation of the Laundry Bags that both my girls won’t sleep without their Quilts on their beds at home and they were the first items into their bags for the trip to Canada for Invictus. I will not be sleeping with my dirty laundry but needless to say the bag will be coming with me on all future trips.
Very Many thanks,
Dear Jan-Maree
Just like to pass on my Thank You for your organisation and especially to Ruth S for providing the hand made quilts and laundry bags to members of our task force. Being on my eighth deployment I see the value that your organisation has on our members morale especially those who may have poor relations with family back home. Service to one’s country comes with much sacrifice and organisations like yours and the members that you have working for you make it all a little less lonely. Thank You again for your selfless service to us as deployed members. It does sustain us and is valued.
Note from Editor – Ruth S made all the Laundry Bags but other volunteers made the quilts.
Good morning Anne Hnr
I had the great pleasure of opening your parcel last night when I returned from leave, and I absolutely love it. The colours and the design are fantastic and to be honest, far more than I expected.
The reason behind the designs is really two fold. Firstly, I have two oversized boys, my eldest is 21 (6”9) and my youngest 18 (6”11). Both competitive basketball players. One is currently in the US (where I just got back from) and the other is about to go. My youngest and I are both Houston Rockets fans, and the whole family follow the Perth Wildcats, so this may not go down to well with your grandson, sorry!
Secondly, I am also from the UK originally and served 15 years in the British Army before transferring to the ADF in 2011. I have been a passionate rugby fan since I was 8 (now 45) and have followed Harlequins since then. I was fortunate enough to play for the British Army before my knee decided to give out and after multiple surgeries I decided to take up the whistle.
A bit more about myself. I have been married for almost 25 years. We are a very sport orientated family and love watching Basketball, NRL and the Swans. We have had postings in Darwin, Perth, Melbourne and currently Sydney which we all love. Across my service, I have now accumulated almost 30 years in the British Army and the ADF combined and can honestly say I am still loving it. I have one semester left to complete my Masters in Business and will finish this in June this year (Hooray).
This has been my second item from Aussie Hero Quilts, and has come at very good time, as my laundry bag from 2012 is now on its last legs. I think that I can without hesitation say, your support is exceptional and really does bring a smile to the faces of all members that receive such fantastic works of art (the biscuits go a long way too).
I hope that the move of your eldest son goes well and that you get to enjoy the complete family in the near future.
It was great to get to know a little bit about you and your family and the history behind Aussie Hero Quilts. So please accept my sincere gratitude for taking the time to make my personalised Laundry Bag, the nice gesture of the Bikkies and the time to send a letter.
Warmest regards,
Good Afternoon Cassandra P,
I had the pleasure of receiving your quilt today and it is amazing, a real credit to your craft and I would like to thank you and Monika for your hard work.
While I’m not a dedicated fan of the show, my daughter is, some of my fondest memories of her are the little baby dances she does when the Bluey theme song comes on, honestly its adorable. The quilt will be a fond reminder of those times as she grows up, and something to hold on to when I’m missing her whilst deployed.
A little bit about me, I emigrated to Australia in 2006 with my mother, father and sister from Scotland. Starting as an apprentice (fitter Turner) with a company called Precision Parts based in Wagga Wagga in 2007. I joined the Navy in 2011 as a Marine Technician and have severed across five platforms throughout my career: HMAS Parramatta, HMAS Stuart, HMAS Anzac, HMAS Hobart and now HMAS Sydney.
Currently I’m living in Sydney with my partner (soon to be wife this year) with are beautiful daughter who just turned one last Christmas. I do make regular trips to Queanbeyan to visit my parents, it a lovely area, me and my daughter do enjoy are park visits, her favourite being the swings.
It’s nice that the community bands together during times of strife, the 2020 bush fires where a hard time for my family as well, both me and my father (he’s Army) where deployed over the Christmas period assisting those in need. But it lifts the heart to see us all working together to pull through.
I wish you and your family all the best.
Kind regards,
Good day Pennie T.
Thank you so much for the quilt and laundry bag that you made me. They are beautiful and I really love them.
I really love having my dogs on my Laundry bag as I miss them so much.
My wife and I would also like to travel to Shetland one day, do you recommend it?
That’s a shame that you didn’t locate any Shelties.
I recently just came back from my leave. I was lucky enough to have my wife joining me to travel to Europe. We spent two weeks together travelling across the continent. We spent couple days in France and I agree that there are just so many things to see there. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to visit Western Front, hopefully next time.
So for your travel to Europe this year, have you organised everything? You must be very excited. I am a little bit jealous here, I just miss going on holiday again.
I really appreciate the quilt and laundry bag that you made, it reminds me of home. Thank you.
Kind regards.
Good Evening Ruth S,Yesterday I received an amazing laundry bag from you whilst deployed overseas. I apologise for the delay in this email (I note the date on the letter you sent with the laundry bag was in December)! Unfortunately it can take quite a while for the mail to catch up with us in some of the locations we find ourselves.Thank-you so much for the effort you have gone to with the laundry bag! It is amazing and brought a smile to my face! These must take a lot of time and effort given the unique aspects of each one, so thank-you for the work you have put into it. It’ll stay with me forever and be a nice memento to remember this deployment by!Thank-you again for the work you are doing in supporting those overseas.Regards,P.S. Sorry to hear you are a Port Adelaide supporter. Haha But I am looking forward to the footy season getting underway again!***
Dear Ruth S,
Thank you for your thoughtful letter and the wonderful laundry bag. Coming from an AFL state, I have to say I’m impressed that you managed to find something from the NQ Cowboys! It truly means a lot to receive something made with such care, and I’m really grateful for the time and effort you put into creating it.
Serving in the Air Force, I deeply appreciate gestures like this—it’s always uplifting to know that people back home are thinking of us. Your generosity has certainly brightened my day.
Being a proud nana of three grown-up grandchildren must be so special! I have two nephews and a niece myself, and I know how much joy they bring. I can only imagine how busy and fulfilling it must have been watching yours grow over the years.
Thank you again for your kindness and support—it truly makes a difference.
Take care and best wishes,
Pennie T and Clarissa L,
Just a thank you both and shout out to the entire team at Aussie Hero Quilts for my quilt and laundry bags which saw both arriving at Headquarter Middle East recently.
As the mail here is a bit hit and miss, to be notified that I have two packages waiting for my collection I was most excited. Not knowing what to expect – as what I opened was far more than a quilt and laundry bag.
To receive a personalised quilt and laundry bag, both beautifully packaged in a bow, personalised letters and Tim Tams felt very special.
I was overwhelmed with the designs you created from the less than average creativity guidance I offered. What I received not only made my day, but both now sit very proudly on my bed and in my room to provide colour and tells the story (and a daily reminder) of where I’ve proudly served and the things I enjoy doing, and parts of our country important to me.
This quilt and bag will proudly stay with me for the remainder of this deployment, my career and hopefully when I retire make it to the ‘pool room’.
I have sent out AHQs details to the reminder of our team here at HQME who recently rotated so they get to share a similar experience.
I take my hat off to all the volunteers at Aussie Hero Quilts for supporting our deployed members over many years, with your time, creativity and support to such a charitable cause.
Please reach out with anything we can do in support.
Very much appreciated.
Until next week keep your letters, emails and photos coming in. Tuesday’s would be so totally boring without them!
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