What a wonderful weekend of fun and friendship we had at the Aussie Hero Thankyou Weekend for volunteers that was organised by Jan-Maree and her helpers. Finally I for one can put faces to names. Jan-Maree has asked me to write a little bit about our bus trip, so here we go.

At 10.15am on Saturday we were asked to assemble in The Rex Entrance where we were met by Wayne who very politely herded onto the bus all very keen to get going.

24 ladies and one very brave gentleman and Wayne boarded the bus and we were set to go for some retail quilter’s therapy.

First stop was Hobbysew at Belconnen where it was like letting children loose in a lolly shop, beautiful fabrics to choose from.

It was very hard to decide which ones we would purchase and I am sure we all probably bought more than we intended to buy because every time we thought that’s enough we would see another piece that we just had to have. Wayne made sure we were well hydrated before we left the bus.

The girls at Hobbysew were very helpful and probably needed a break after we left. I’m sure when we boarded the bus again the bus weighed a little heavier and our wallets a lot lighter.

Back on the bus we head off to Makerie at Gungahlin where Colin met us. First up we had a lovely lunch which recharged our batteries for more therapy.

I’m sure most of us thought we really didn’t need any more fabric but I for one came away with another 4 metres and had fun helping Toni choosing fabrics. Looking at the checkout line I wasn’t the only one that just had to have that piece. I spoke to the only gent on the bus and commented on how patient he was, his reply was that his wife was just as patient when he went to Bunnings. A great team.

Wayne weaved his magic again and got us back on the bus then off to Mt Ainslie for a photo stop and ice cream if you wished.

From all the chatter and laughter on the bus I think it is safe to say we all enjoyed the day and I reckon in the next few months we will see many of the fabrics in beautiful laundry bags and quilts for our service men and women.

A big thank you goes out to Jan-Maree and team for organising the day and also to Wayne and Colin for feeding and watering us and to our happy bus driver Steve.

Cheers Ann S

Excellent, that sounds like a great day out! Thanks for the write up Ann. I am glad to see you all had a good time.

Till next time, keep spreading the word and happy stitching!

Jan-Maree xx