HELLO EVERYONE!!!

I am always amazed at how grateful the recipients of our quilts and laundry bags are. It is so heartfelt and genuine when a letter is written with such personal detail to express their gratitude. This gift we can give them means so much to all, but it also means very different things to each of them, which is explained in the letters.  

I do love that it seems there is a little bit of rivalry on board in regards to who has the best laundry bag. The fact that each one thinks theirs is the best is amazing. This just proves that something that has its own presence can make such a huge difference to the morale of everyone. 

Hope you enjoy reading the following as much as I did.

Catherine

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WPH Emb Kerri

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Dear Lyn,

I hope you are well.

It was so lovely to receive your package in the mail. Thank you. I am settled in Western Australia and have a beautiful hard working wife, and 5 children, that support me and allow me to go away and have an amazing career in the Navy. I joined the Navy as a Steward when I was 17 and now have spent 23 years serving our great country. I have spent a lot of time away from home and it’s the small things that mean a lot, so a gift like yours is very much cherish. Thank you.

I enjoy camping, and going on adventures with my family and mates when I have time off. Not as often as I would like though. I hope to be able to travel more in the future and I am saving for a caravan for our future adventures. My wife works as an Accountant, so I am sure she will have a saving plan that will let us go on some adventures when I get some down time and COVID allows.

I live near the coast, it is nice to be near the ocean even though, I spend most of time out at sea. It is a small town. We are very lucky here, life is pretty much back to normal, excluding a few things like festivals etc that are not allowed to go ahead due to many people being in the one place. Otherwise, life is pretty normal.

The weather here has been really hot, at this time of year, but we have the afternoon sea breeze to cool us down in the evening. I am originally from a small town but have travelled to all states in our amazing country.

My kids range from 19 to 12, three boys and two girls. My eldest is about to join the Defence force shortly so he will be heading east for his training. It will be nice to have another family member in the Defence Force and I hope to get to see him when he passes all his training.

I will proudly use the amazing quilt and laundry bag onboard my ship, I am deploying soon and will be away for a few months.

I wish you and your family well and fair winds and following seas.

Thank you once again.

…. 

Dear Bridget,

The quilt and laundry bag you prepared arrived here recently. I would like to write to you to thank you for the thought and care you put into the design and construction of the two items. 

It was really enjoyable reading your letter. 

It is fantastic that you have chosen to give your time to Aussie Hero Quilts. As a deployed Australian Defence Force member, I can certify that it is a wonderful morale boost to get any mail. To open the parcel and to unfurl a hand-made, personalised quilt and laundry bag absolutely made my day. I have supported West Ham United since I was 12 years old and watch every game I can. Even if it is in the middle of the night. The quilt will be particularly useful to keep me warm during the cold nights here or at home in Victoria.

I am a Logistics Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force. I am deployed in the Contract Management Cell where I manage contracts ranging from linguist support services in the Middle East region, aviation fuel delivery, generator hire and maintenance, combat first aid training. It is a rewarding, challenging and dynamic role that I am really enjoying. It is my second deployment after deploying to the Middle East in 2012 to perform a similiar contract management role.

It is expected that I will come home in mid 2021. I will return home to my partner and to our home in Victoria. I am really missing her. Fortunately, the wonders of modern internet mean my partner and I can stay in touch every day. It is busy here and that helps pass time quickly too. We play indoor soccer together, in social competitions and also enjoy exploring the restuarant, bar and cafe scene with our friends. We don’t have any kids but we hope to start a family soon.

Again, thank you for the time and effort you have put into the quilt and laundry bag you sent. It is greatly appreciated. All the best to you and your family in the future.

Warm Regards.

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To Pennie,

I am Able Seaman Maritime Logisitics Chef. I wanted to thank you for the amazing laundry bag. I loved the Kookaburra’s as they are one of my favourite birds.

I am from South Australia, and a huge Crows Supporter. 

The laundry bags that you made for the crew are amazing, and everyone on the crew were really excited to receive their personalised bag and their reactions from everyone was just fantastic. In my 13 years in the Navy, I have never received anything like this before, and was blown away that amazing people like yourself would take time out of their days to make something like these bags. 

It brought a huge smile to my face, and very much appreciated.

Thank you once again, for the laundry bag and your wonderful service.

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

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   Hi Ellen,

I am writing to let you know I received your quilt and laundry bag and to say thank you so much. I love them both!

I’ve just read your letter.

I know the members here all feel the same way about our quilts and appreciate the time and effort that goes into making them. As a child, I remember my mum making a quilt by hand which took her a long time, and many pin pricks to her fingers.

My fiance and I are the adventuring type. We spent 6 years posted to the Northern Territory and loved the exploring we got to do. Also, lots of fishing. Now we have 2 small children (6 and 4), and have also travelled to Queensland in 2018 with them. What an adventure we had! Last year, we were lucky enough to travel through South Australia to Northern Territory and back through outback NSW. Not sure who enjoyed it more, us or the kids.

While I’m deployed, the family are in the process of packing up house and relocating back to the Territory. They get to have another adventure, traveling to Tasmania for Christmas and then from the bottom to the top. Guess I’ll just have to live it through their memories.

My fiance is also a serving member, both of us are in the Air Force. We love the lifestyle we have, getting the opportunity to see more of our beautiful country with each move. Guess that may slow down as the kids get older, and school becomes a priority.

I hope my letter reaches you, as I wanted to let you know a little about my family and I.

Thank you again for your contribution to the Australian members serving overseas. It’s certainly a great feeling knowing people in the community at home are thinking about us.

Kindest Regards.

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   Hello Anne,

Greetings from the Middle East airbase, it is winter here now and has been very short lived. For approximately 2-3 weeks the temperatures would drop as low as 8, which is not that cold but after acclimatising to 35+ it felt very cold. 

The quilt has arrived at a great time and serves as an extra layer for my bed to keep me warm at night.

I have noticed the mail lacks consistency and packages arrive in all sorts of time frames but given the circumstances back home, I understand the wait time. Thank you for making the effort to send them seperate, it turns out they arrived on the same incoming flight and the Christmas rush would account for that.

The laundry bag looks great. And yes, the boxing kangaroo has such amazing detail. I am impressed at how detailed embroidery can be. I love how colourful the bag is, and I can see my team eyeing off my bag with a little envy as I showed it off after unpacking it. It will certainly stand out in the laundry and be easy to find the machine I used. The quilt box got delivered to me a few hours later because the posties sorted incorrectly, and I think the range of fabric you selected is very lovely. The little gum-nut fairy is a nice touch and very cute.

I only know of Aussie Hero Quilts because of people who have deployed previously. I like hearing about all the positive ways people live to give their time and it is a bonus when you love doing it and allows you to have that creative outlet. Who doesn’t love Spotlight.

Bit about myself; I recently turned 34 and this feels almost like a birthday gift having received the laundry bag and quilt in the same week. I too, like to keep busy and love getting stuck into creative projects. My father was a tiler and I started mosaics as a teenager, using left over ceramic tiles and created all sorts of wonderful murals and pots for my mother’s garden. Now, I work with glass, stone, ceramics, and anything I can get my hands on that I think will look good.

I enjoy hiking, riding motorbikes, and in the water any chance I can get. I used to volunteer as an animal welfare carer for both wildlife and at a pound, but recently I have changed and started volunteering with Legacy Canberra as a Legatee.

 I work as a Crew Attendant. The SQN is the business fleet and we fly VIP missions for high ranking military and government members. It keeps me very busy and what seems like a fancy facade. Behind those doors, is hard work, long days and lots of time away from home. The upside is a very rewarding career so far, with too many highlights to name in the last four years I have been doing it. 

My deployment comes as an opportunity to have a go at something outside of my normal job role and expands my experiences. I work as an Immigration Officer for the ADF on my deployment. All members arriving and departing the base come through me and the team I am here with. We work on our camp and visit the Host Nation counterparts both and off base on a regular basis. It allows for many wonderful and challenging experiences. I have tried so many delicious foods and drinks.

I have a partner who is back in ACT and Christmas celebrations were tough this year because he was restricted to the ACT and could not visit his family, but he is keeping busy, rebuilding a cafe racer motorbike. I am home in a few months, and we cannot wait to have a month off together, ride our motorbikes and catch up with both of our families and friends. Christmas and New Years at Camp was incredibly fun and inclusive, it brings everyone together and makes being away from home a little easier.

A big thank you for your time and effort into the laundry bag and quilt. They will have a special place in my home for many years to come and will always be a good conversation starter and I will get to show them off with pride.

Sincerely.

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   Hi Pennie,

I would like to thank you for sewing me such a fine laundry bag, thank you very much. I appreciate the time you have put aside time to sew.

I have served ten years in the ADF as a Navy Clearance Diver. HMAS Gascoyne has been my first ship posting and let me tell you these mine hunters are floating esky’s, they are definitely not a cruise ship, more like a rollercoaster in rough seas. 

Prior to this, I served in AUSCDT One where I deployed to MV22 and various exercises around the world. 

Thank you for your sewing habit. It is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards.

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  Good Afternoon Pennie,

I recently received a laundry bag that you handmade. I just wanted to say, thank you, and that I absolutely love it.

I have been in need of a solid laundry bag for over a year now, and the one you sent me is perfect. We get given mesh ones when we join the ship, and they fall apart quite easily, but the one you made me seems like it’ll last me the rest of my career.

Also it’s a really colourful bag, which is something I like. It was especially fun when everyone on the ship got theirs. We all compared the colours and patterns and I got blue and white with a shell, which matches what I like.

The bags were so beautiful that it must have taken you a while. I think it’s really a testament to your thoughtfulness that you would put so much effort into a gift for a stranger, especially, with the work you do already, being so selfless.

Thank you for the wonderful gift. I hope you keep doing the wonderful work you’re doing.

Sincerely.