Happy Wednesday Friends!

Happy New Year!!!!

There are, as always, some beautiful sentiments in the following gratitude letters.

Grab a cuppa, sit back and relax while you soak up some well-deserved gratitude!

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Sue N,

I want to take this opportunity to stop and say a heartfelt thank you for your contribution to the Aussie Hero Quilts movement, and the personal work you did for my ship and her company. It is work like yours and the broader work of AHQ that makes many servicemen and women feel appreciated and makes the hard work and long hours feel worthwhile.

I also wanted to thank you personally for the quilt and Laundry Bag you crafted for me, they will be cherished and well loved in Diamantina for many years to come.

Fair winds and a following sea.

***

Hello Gail Mac,

I'm the very honored recipient of your wonderful laundry bag that I have been gifted!

A little bit about me, I'm in the RAAF currently posted in Brisbane, but am soon to be posted to Darwin in 2026, which I'm looking forward to! I joined the Air Force in 2018. My brother joined the ADF a year or so after me and is currently an Army Officer and his fiancee a Navy Officer! Though we also don't have much family history in the ADF either, apart from our Poppa serving in the National Guard Battalion briefly towards the end of WWII.

Along with my brother, I also have an identical twin sister who is my bestfriend, she also lives in Brisbane so it will be sad to not be able to see her everyday whilst in Darwin, but we already have several trips planned together which I'm looking forward to. Our parents live in Adelaide on a property, which i love going back to visit them whenever I can! During my free time in between shifts, I love to travel, read, hang out with my friends, and babysit my 3 young godsons, who are 3 and 1, the 1 year olds being twins too!

My role includes preparing all things related to passengers and cargo, including loading and unloading aircraft, preparing and building cargo, and even calculating weight and balance for the aircraft to fly successfully and safely. A large component of our job is supporting our aircraft all over the world too, and travelling to many different places across the globe is definitely an incredible highlight of my career. As you can imagine, supporting every type of aircraft within the Air Force does have its challenges, but I love my job and being able to lead a large team and work in many diverse work environments always brings me joy.

My deployment was overall a special one for me, where assisting those in need has always been a career priority of mine, and humanitarian aid was a large component on why I joined the RAAF, so being able to help was very special and important to me. I have deployed several times in my career so far, but my time on this deployment will always remain close to my heart.

I have attached a photo of me with the other members that deployed with me who have also received theirs as well.

I really wish to pass on my thank you and appreciation for Aussie Quilts and to you Gail for my Laundry Bag, I will always look at it and remember the special moments from my deployment, and am honored to be able to receive this! I truly love the style of the laundry bag, you are very talented, thank you so much for your time and effort on it!

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Kind Regards,

***

Dear Beverley F,

Thank you so much to you and your helpers for the magnificent quilt, I was quite overwhelmed when it was presented to me by the president of our local RSL. I have never seen anything like it before, and it will now hang proudly on the wall of my den. My grateful thanks again form me and my wife.

A happy and safe Christmas to you all.

***

Dear Ann S,

Thank you so much for the delightful quilt you made for me, I was absolutely thrilled to receive it and feel very humbled to be the proud owner of something so unique and special and I can assure you that it will be loved and cherished forever.

You are very talented and I absolutely loved the design you came up with. However, I was disappointed that I was unable to be present at the dinner at the war memorial to see it on display although you did a remarkable job and I am very honoured you made it for me.

I just wanted to share a bit about me. I live in Canberra with my husband and two children. One is15 and loves basketball and one is 12 and loves school, colouring-in and painting rocks.

I work full-time with the Department of Defence and have been a Specialist Reservist Public Affairs Officer with the RAAF since 2017.

When I left Air Force Headquarters, I had so much knowledge on aircraft types and Defence processes that becoming a reservist was the perfect fit and now enables me to mentor and train others.

One day I hope to deploy although I will wait until my kids finish school. They would miss their taxi driver and chef way too much!

I love my reserve work and have been given many fantastic opportunities. No one year is ever the same and next year.

Aside from my reserve work, I am also studying part-time and am in my third year. I love learning about people, their personalities and behaviours.

Thank you again for sharing your talent with me by creating something so unique, immensely delicate and beautiful, it will be treasured forever.

Wishing you a truly wonderful and blessed Christmas and I hope 2026 is an amazing year for you and your family.

Best wishes always,

***

A presentation to a very deserving recipient:

Good Afternoon Jan-Maree,

I have attached a photo of the recipient with the quilt, which he loved and had with him everyday until his passing and insisted he also have drapped on him for his funeral.

Thank you once again for everything and all the family is really thankful.

Kind Regards,

Wendy V, Emb by Marianne

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Hi Angie T,

I wanted to reach out and express my gratitude for the quilt that you made me, you did a fantastic job, I love it.

When I return home, I will be looking to frame it as a reminder of my time in the middle east.

Thank you for taking the time to write me about your life.

Reading it reminded me of all the things I love at home, particularly with regards to your caravan trips and your neighbours cat Asher who adopted you.

Please give Asher some pets for me, my wife and I have our own cat Harry who is also spoilt rotten.

Please also pass on my thanks for Joan B; her embroidery is very impressive.

It is comforting to know there are people who are willing to volunteer their time and effort for someone half way around the world; you and those who volunteer for Aussie Hero Quilts are a sterling example of what makes Australia so great.

I think you're admirable and I hope you are proud of what you do.

I hope you, your husband, and your family have a great Christmas and New Years.

From a very appreciative Officer, Thank you.

Best wishes,

***

Good morning Bev F,

I would like to start off by saying thank you for the beautiful quilt that you made for me and I was very pleased to hear about the special touch you put to it with your own photo of the museum on there.

We are very appreciative of the hard work, time and effort that would go into making one of these quilts and I know from the members I am deployed with, we were all very excited to receive these quilts and gave us something to look forward too. We are currently deployed here in on a 6-month rotation with all of us having our birthdays whilst deployed.

A little about me. I am a mum of 3 and have a Son 12, Daughter 11, Daughter 4. We love to go camping and spending time on the River Murray with friends jet skiing over the summer or heading down to Renmark to enjoy some family time. This will be the first xmas away from the kids so a little harder on all of us but have promised to go on a holiday as soon as I get back in March next year. I enjoy playing Netball and represent the ADF in some of their national teams. My daughter has also found a love of netball, my son plays basketball and youngest just loves the water and is always swimming. In my free time if I'm not running around after the kids or going to a sporting event I love to bake. I previously worked at a bakery before I decided to join the defence force. Last night the base put on some xmas baking event so got my cup filled with some xmas traditions of being able to still bake some xmas cookies whilst being here. I joined later In life in when I was 30 and have not regretted the decision and hope that at least one of the kids will also join.

Thank you so much Bev for all that you do for deployed members, it really does bring joy receiving the beautiful work that you create. I know even my kids are going to love what you have created.

Lisa xxx

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Dear Clarissa L,

Many Thanks for the laundry bag. I love it!

Rest assured, it arrived in good order.

Please passs my thanks onto your granddaughter for her fine craftsmanship!

Kind Regards,

***

Dear Bev L,

Thank you so much for your incredibly thoughtful letter and for the time and effort you've put into making the quilt and laundry bag. It truly means a lot to know that there are people back home who appreciate what we do and go to such lengths to show their support.

I only received the package a few days before Christmas, so it felt like getting an early present! I absolutely love the quilt and laundry bag. I've shown them to a few people, and everyone agrees they suit me perfectly.

Your description of the process and the team behind Aussie Hero Quilts was fascinating-I had no idea how many hands and skills go into creating these pieces.

I also enjoyed reading about your life and interests. It sounds like you and your husband have had some incredible adventures.

It's great to hear about your family's connection to the military as well; I can see why this cause is so close to your heart. My family also has a very big military connection on my mother's side we can track family members back to every conflict Australia has been in since the Bore war and my father`s side had multiple members in WW2, Korea and Vietnam. So, it must be in my blood to join.

Please pass on my thanks to everyone involved in making this happen. Your kindness and support make a real difference to us while we're deployed.

Take care, and all the best for the year ahead.

Warm regards,

***

G'day Ruth S,

This is an email to thank you for sending me a Laundry Bag.

I have been in the Royal Australian Air Force as a Public Affairs Officer since 2006. I am a Reservist, but I have spent many of these years working in the Air Force full-time.

You might be surprised to learn that the question of 'what's our access to laundry like?' is often one of the first we'll ask when looking at our accommodation. It's one of the many things that we take for granted at home. I was actually very excited for the opportunity get an Aussie Hero Laundry Bag created, as for the last ten years it's been the dedicated item that I wish I had when I am deployed away (canvas shopping bags don't quite remind me of home).

The one you have sent will take pride of place in my deployment bag. My young family (8F, 5M, 3F) has already given it a test run on a weekend away, and sharing this bag with them allowed me to explain the value and appreciated that we have for the work that you do.

Thank you once again for providing this Laundry Bag, and for all of the work that you do for everyone in the ADF, their families, and veterans. Every single one of us appreciates it.

Cheers,

***

Cheers Catherine D

Until next week keep your letters, emails and photos coming in. Wednesdays would be so totally boring without them!

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