Hey all,
Only one photo but a great array of wonderful messages to read tonight...
Enjoy the read
....
Hello Raeleen,
I would like to thank you personally Raeleen on making the quilt. The amount of time & craftsmanship that went into the quilt is fantastic and beyond anything I was expecting. You clearly have put your heart and soul into making these beautiful quilts for so many Soldiers. The Morale went through the roof when we were all handed our very own quilt over different periods of our deployment. I especially loved the personal letter. I am 13465km from home so to see such a quality product from Australia made my heart melt. We are all so appreciative of the effort that went into making the quilts.
As one of the many soldiers here in the Middle East on operation I thank you. I am so looking forward to coming home for Christmas.
Kind regards
......
Dear Ms Ball,
It was with surprise and great delight
that I was presented with your very special gift, a remarkable ‘G’Day Mate’ Aussie
Hero Quilt. Our Consulate-General colleague WO Colin Burrows presented
the quilt and poppy pin, and your letter, just before ANZAC Day. We have
taken the liberty of placing a photo on our post’s Facebook page of WO2 Burrows
presenting the quilt to me on the balcony of our building, overlooking lovely
Honolulu with Pearl Harbor in the distance. I will find a suitable wall
within our Consulate-General to permanently display our quilt. please
pass on our thanks to Lynn Field, Keryn Mulrooney and the Mystery Quilt Team
for this wonderful gift.
We were also delighted that WO2 Burrows
was able to source your ANZAC biscuits which we gave out on ANZAC Day with a
label promoting the Aussie Hero Quilts group. In my welcome remarks to
our ANZAC Day Reception, which took place aboard the USS Missouri in Pearl
Harbour for more than 32 guests, I said:
“As WO Col Burrows
has explained, we have gifts of hand-made ANZAC biscuits for all guests.
The makers of those biscuits have also hand-made for me a very special quilt,
which I shall display with pride at our Consulate-General.
The Aussie Hero
Quilts group represent all the grace and virtue of what we Australians call
‘mateship.’ Amongst other things, this group produce Wounded Warrior
Quilts for Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere – they make sure that no Australian
service person who is seriously wounded goes uncovered by one of their
quilts.
We thank Jan-Maree
Ball, OAM, founder of Aussie Hero Quilts, and their expert stitchers and
biscuit-makers, for their cherished gifts.”
I do hope that one day you or your
members are able to visit Honolulu, so that we might thank you all ‘in person.’
Please accept our deep appreciation for
all that you do, all you hold dear, and all you represent. You are such
important good-will ambassadors for Australia.
With kind regards,
.....
Good
Morning/Afternoon Noelene,
I wanted
to thank you for the laundry bag you made for me that I was issued on 27th
September 2018.
You bag
caught my attention, as I am quite the fan of bright loud colours! My
usual attire consists of bright shirts and hats, and even my bed sheets and
doona cover on my rack onboard HMAS Success are multicoloured!
Thank
you also for the note you included, it is always great to know that people out
there appreciate the sacrifices we make without asking anything in return.
I have
become quite attached to HMAS Success after all this time and multiple
deployments around the world, and was due to decommission her in July 2019,
however I have been offered a role in Cairns beginning in January 2019 where it
is very likely I will be promoted and go to sea on the new patrol boat class of
ships. This is something I have been chasing since joining, and the sea
change is a long time coming from Sydney to a more relaxed Cairns.
I can
ensure you that the work Aussie Hero Quilts and all of those who contribute
with sewing and even just well wishes are very cherished by every person in the
military.
Once
again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and hope to hear from you again
in the not too distant future.
Best
wishes for a safe, healthy and happy 2018 and beyond to you and your loved
ones.
Thank
you,
.....
Hello Noelene,
Thank you so very much for the lovely
laundry bag that you crafted for me, as well as the goodies. It’s
absolutely awesome, I love it!
Once
again thank you very much for the lovely laundry bag, it has brightened up my
day.
Take care,
......
Dear Jenny,
Thank you so much for your beautiful
laundry bag you made me with the purple stars. It gave me such a morale
boost today when I opened the package. I think you all do such an amazing
job and your work really does brighten our days.
Thanks
again
.....
Dear Lyn,
Thank you so much for the quilt, I
really LOVE IT!!
How special to have put the nurse emblem
on it and our motto.
The poppies are just perfect.
I too love to travel, we have a camper
van, and I can’t wait to get home and use it with my fiancé (soon to be
husband).
Our two dogs and both of us love to get
away.
I love the laundry bag too!! I
hope to get some use out of them. I will treasure them always and take
them with me on every adventure around Australia!!
God bless, thank you Aussie Hero
Quilter.
.....
Dear Cath,
Words cannot express how this quilt made
me feel, I had a very emotional week and when the quilt arrived it just brought
tears to my eyes and warmed my heart more than you could ever imagine.
This quilt had exceeded every
expectation, everybody that has seen it loves it!! J My room is so much brighter, the
colours and the detail are so amazing.
This is everything I am; I love the
1950’s style. The pink and grey are the colours I have in my lounge back
home, so this will take pride and place in the lounge for years to come.
The quilts and laundry bags that the
troops receive from all the Aussie Hero Quilts volunteers are appreciated more
than anyone could imagine.
I would like to thank you with all my
heart xoxo
......
Dear Jenny,
This week I received the
package you sent me with the Aussie Hero Laundry Bag, and other goodies!
I would like to thank
you very much for such a wonderful gift - I absolutely love the colours and the
detail you have put into it, which reflect my love for the ocean.
It is so vibrant and
beautiful, and to go to the effort of also putting my initials on there - makes
it extra special.
I have been serving in
the Middle East now for about 5 and a half months and I will be going home in
another 4 weeks.
I'm looking forward to
going home - to Melbourne.
I am looking forward to
going back home to my new house which was almost completed when I deployed, but
I haven't yet seen the finished product! It is down the Victorian Coast.
Given that you live on
the scenic central coast of NSW - you would probably understand how excited I
am to be going back to a house on the coast (its just a bit colder down in
Victoria where we get the Antarctic winds!)
Although some cooler
weather will be a welcome change from the almost 50 degree days here, in the
middle of the desert!
Thank you for all your
well-wishes and I would also like to personally thank you for the volunteering
you do for deployed troops. Everyone here is so excited about receiving
something from the Aussie Hero Quilts!
Best Regards
.....
Dear Cath,
First of all THANK-YOU! I can’t
tell you how much I appreciate the lovely care package and the laundry bag.
It is almost as if you knew me before
making the care package, all of the colours are my favourite and everything in
the package was exactly what I needed. Your letter was very touching; the
fact that you take time out of your busy life to put together such detailed and
personal care packages for Deployed ADF members admirable. I bet your son
is very proud of your contribution.
Once again, thank you Cath, I am so
appreciative.
It is such a joy watching everyone
receive their quilts and washing bags so eagerly. It is the highlight of
everyone’s weeks here as it brings so much excitement into our trip. Your
hard work and effort does not go unnoticed.
Kind regards,
......
Hi Sheena,
Firstly I would like to say a big thank
you for taking the time and effort in putting together my quilt and laundry
bag.
It was a pleasant surprise and something
that bought a big smile to my face. You have quite a talent for quilt
making with a lot of others saying it’s one of the best they’ve seen!
Once again, thank you very much for the
quilt, it is something I will cherish and look upon fondly for a long time to
come.
.....
Ashleigh,
Thanks for my quilt and Laundry bag. How did you know I prefer to be called MOG. No one knows me as Michael so it is fantastic. I am currently bouncing round the back of the C130J-30 which you have no doubt
got used to seeing in the local area. I am hopefully home just before Christmas
as this is my fourth tour here with the mighty Herc.
Thanks again
.....
Hi
Kathy,
Thank
you very much for the time and effort you have put into creating a beautiful
quilt for me.
You have
done an amazing job, and it put a huge smile on my face when I saw the photos
of my family! I was
not expecting the photos at all.
Thank you for your support
and gift.
.....
Hi Sue
Thanks so much for the quilt, it is awesome. I have placed
it on my bed from day one and it looks fantastic. It's a shame the Cowboys did
not have a good year this year but there is always next year. Thanks again for taking the time to do the quilt, it makes a huge
difference to us guys and gals over here in this sandy desert.
....
Dear Cath,
The laundry bag you kindly sent me is outstanding. And all the
goodies made it here relatively unscathed and definitely well received.
My two-year old son and I both absolutely love animals
hence the request; he also loves his Peter Alexander PJ’s always pointing at
the dog when he wears them, so it only seemed fitting that I got something that
can be shared with him. We also have a dog, a 10 year-old
spaniel x Labrador. He is very much a loved member of the family.
My current deployment away from home is only a few weeks away from
ending now, and I think I can safely say on everyone’s behalf who receive
quilts and laundry bags that it is definitely a highlight they look forward to.
One thing you notice here is how much Australian’s do support us while
overseas, we constantly get care packages and letters and it is very comforting
to know how much everyone at home cares and thinks of us. Particularly the
amount of letters we receive from schools; it speaks wonders for the culture of
support for each other that our nation has developed.
So again, thank-you very much for the laundry bag and other gifts
that have already been consumed by my co-workers and I; and thank-you for your
continued support to Aussie troops overseas, we definitely do appreciate it.
Kind regards,
.....
Raeleen,
Firstly I would like to thank you so much for a
awesome quilt.
A little about myself; I have been in the Army
for 25 Years and have served in three Corps (Infantry, Armoured and Transport),
I do enjoy being in the army.
It's been lovely to receive the most wonderful
Quilt you have made.
Kind Regards
.....
Dear Beverly,
This week I received the package you sent me with the
Aussie Hero Quilt. I would like to thank you very much for such a
wonderful gift - I absolutely love the design and colours you have put into it,
which combine my love for the ocean with the landscape where the ocean meets
the desert sands.
It is so beautiful, and to go to the effort of also
putting my name and deployment details into it - makes it extra special. I have been serving in the Middle East now for about 5
and a half months and I will be going home soon.
I am looking forward to going back home to my new
house which was almost completed when I deployed, but I haven't yet seen the
finished product! This quilt will take pride of place in my new home!
I would also like to thank Joan McK for the
sewing, and Bridget for the quilting - sounds like it was a great
team effort.
Once again, thank you Beverly.
.....
Hello Clarissa,
I would like to
thank you for the wonderful Queensland Laundry Bag that you made for me.
I really appreciate it and there is now no confusion in the laundry as to who's
clothes are in what washing machine. I share a tent with the Operations Officer
and the Australian Aviation Doctor and they are both very impressed with it as
well. I should say one maybe more then the other, as the Doc is a NSW
supporter so he was not as happy with it as us QLD supporters.
I would like to thank you
again for the QLD Laundry bag and I can assure you it will get a lot of use
over the coming years.
Cheers,
.....
Dear Anne,
I am an Officer of the Watch on
HMAS Success. I am writing this email to thank you for the laundry bag
that you made, it is the one with the Tropical Fish in it. It has pride of
place in my cabin space as it brightens up my area and my day when things get a
little tough.
A little bit about me. I am 40 and have a lovely wife and two children (5 and just turned 2). I chose
the bag design because I knew they would love it as they are really into fish
and we all enjoy our day trips to the Aquarium.
Thank you once again for your laundry bag it is very much
appreciated. Good luck to your grandchildren in their upcoming exams.
God Bless,
Dear Kay
Thank you so much for the
lovely card & beautiful quilt. There are so many flags on there. It will
provide me many hours of entertainment explaining to my baby boy where they are
in the world.
I know Mansfield well as I
have done some white water kayaking near there, a lovely part of the world.
Your trip sounded amazing and
I can’t wait to travel myself with my family.
Many thanks once again
......
What a great bunch of messages.
Till next time... keep spreading the word and happy stitching!
Jan-Maree xx
Wonderful
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