Grati-Tuesday 23 July 19

 G'day All,

First up we have some great photos from Townsville featuring some of the LBs we send them to thank them for their contribution to cleaning up after the Townsville floods. 

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Good Afternoon Helen,

Thank you so much for my lovely laundry bag! I especially love the kangaroo! 

I was gifted your laundry bag after joining HMAS Sirius and It has already been on quite a few trips to the laundry! I have attached a photo of me taken in Suva, Fiji as we are completing a South West Pacific Deployment. I have served for 6 years and I hail from Millthorpe NSW. I am the oldest of 8 grandchildren and I still try to keep my grandparents busy when I visit. 

Thank you again for sewing with Aussie Hero’s the laundry bag definitely brightens up our cabin.

Yours Aye,

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Hey Irene,

I am currently deployed in Iraq and just received a quilt that you made.

I'm originally for a town in South Australia and have just come back from my two week holiday there. I forgot how cold it can get down there but it was a pleasant change from the 40+ degree days we have currently been experiencing. 

Receiving the quilt you made definitely made returning to work much easier, you have done an absolute amazing job I absolutely love how it turned out. 

Apologies for not sending a letter, I would have preferred to send one however we have been pretty flat out working lately.

Thankyou for the quilt, it has made my room a lot more homie. Keep up the amazing work.

Kind Regards,

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Good Morning Pennie,

I would like to thank you for the laundry bag that you made, the sewing of the octopus and the tall ship detail was fantastic. I certainly needed a bag like this to ensure that I don’t have any of my washing misplaced.

The thing I did enjoy about receiving the bag was that someone cared enough to do something. It is easy for one person to be lost in the ‘big picture’ but a gift like this brings home that people in the Australian community really do care what individuals like myself do and believe me that is very appreciated.  

Reading your letter I was touched that despite being an emergency nurse you still had the time to make a bag. I could imagine that your job would be very hectic and stressful at time, my sister works in the same field as you and some of the stories she’s told me are pretty full on. I would like to thank you for doing what you do, saving lives every day is something that  takes a pretty special person to do, day in and day out.

I am a submariner based in Western Australia at HMAS Stirling, when I am not working and away I like to spend time with my family. I am an avid diver and fisherman though I don’t tend to catch that evasive big fish that fisherman tend to brag about, it’s always the one that got away!

Thank you again for taking the time to make the bag, there was a photo taken which I’ve been told will be sent to Aussie Hero Quilts.

Warmest regards

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Good morning Ruth,

With great delight I recently received the Laundry Bag.  I really like how it is the Egyptian flag colours and how it has my initials on it and a comment from you.  I will use it regularly and each time it will give me fond memories of my deployment on Operation Mazurka, Sinai, Egypt.

Thank you very much and for your commitment to us in Defence.

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Hey Jan-Maree,

I just wanted to say thank you very much for my quilt. And the wonderful work that you do. Several of my colleagues received theirs while I was away, to much delight.

It's a tough gig being away from family, but made easier knowing that it is appreciated.

Unfortunately it was posted back to me in Aus as my trip was cut short due to family health issues.

It looks great hanging on my wall at home.

Regards,

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Good Afternoon Ma'am,

I just wanted to let you know that the parcel arrived safe and sound and I couldn't be more grateful!! A big thank you to yourself and all the people involved with your organisation. To know that there are everyday Australians giving their time, love, and support to service men and women in this way is truly humbling and reinforces the fact that it is an honour to serve our country.

Thank you again for your tremendous service and continue the great work!

Regards,
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Hello Monika,

Thank you so much for making my beautiful quilt! I absolutely love it and all the colours. I particularly love the fabric with gum leaves and wattle – Australian natives are my favourite – and I absolutely love the little wombat. I am an Airfield Engineer in the Royal Australian Air Force and the wombat is the official mascot of the airfield engineers. I love that there are triangle pockets on the back – I have hung it up and it has made my room so colourful and homely! I also love my washing bag! What a lifesaver this is and I cant mistake it because it has my initials on it. I have to walk about 200m to the laundry so this bag will be well used!

I miss my family back home and my partner in my adopted home of Townsville. I am very lucky to get the opportunity to deploy and represent the ADF, but being away is very hard and it is lonely sometimes, even though we are surrounded by great workmates and friends here – its still not home. It is also very hard on my family who naturally worry about me a lot and miss me being able to talk to them regularly. I miss cooking and mountain biking and swimming in the ocean and trail running in the bush.

I also love sewing. What a fabulous collection of sewing machines you have! I also have my Nanas 1950s Singer machine, it is so fantastic and robust – it will sew anything.

Thank you so much for taking so much time and effort to creating such a lovely gift for me. It will be something I treasure for a very long time and will remind me of my time and experiences here away from home. 

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Hi Sue,

I was tickled pink to receive the lovely Laundry Bag that you kindly made for me.

A little about myself l have been married 32 years and like you have two grown up kids, each have two of their own now so we are grandparents and love it.

l have been in the RAAF for 28 years and have about 18 months left until retirement.

My wife is retired two years so gets time to spend with the grandies which she really enjoys. Recently she has joined the

CWA and is doing some volunteer work at our local Op Shop.

l have another 4 months here so will be home before Christmas which as you can imagine l am really looking forward to.

Retirement for me is 18 months away so looking forward to getting home and staying in one locality.

A lovely country area which suits us both and the kids are close by as well.

Any way l really appreciate the effort you have put into my bag, l loved the design you came up with and the guys here were quite envious.

Kindest Regards 

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Dear Irene,

I am trusting this finds you well. By way of introduction my name is Racheal and you have very generously sent me a beautiful laundry bag. I would like to thank you for brightening my day. The laundry bag is just amazing and you have done a great job.

These gifts from home are always such a great treat for us deployed pers. Even more significant when deployed with very minimal Australian personnel. To show our American partners the amazing work of people like yourself is a great honour.

Again, my sincerest thanks. I appreciate your continued service to the troops.

Kind regards,
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Hi Sandy,

Thank you so much for the quilt. It is lovely.

I have 2 cats and I can’t wait to go home and show it to them. I think they will love snuggling the quilt. Please pass my thanks onto the quilt team who helped make it.

Thank you for all the good work that you do. I know everyone here appreciates it.

Best wishes,

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Good afternoon Ruth,

I'm just writing to thank you very much for the wonderful laundry bag! I'm sorry for the very late reply as it has been a very busy time.

The colours and patterns are beautiful and fit in very well with my room over here. The bag has come in very useful over here and I like it alot.

Thank you again
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Good afternoon Sue B

I have just received your parcel and I’m over moon with what you have set me. Words truly can’t describe how appreciative I am with what you have set me as I can tell you have worked long and hard.

I’m so glad you’re a Queenslander as I’m a massive Queensland supporter and always will be. We were unlucky this year but I’m sure we will get the trophy back next year.

I hope you’re are well and once again thank you so much for the wonderful laundry bag and goodies you have sent to me.

Kind regards
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Dear Lynn,

I received your quilt today and felt I send to send you an email right away

I and am so happy with what you have done. I really appreciate the time and effort you have

clearly taken to make this for me and I will be forever grateful.

I am married (21 years) and have two children. I grew up in the Blue Mountains but now I live in Canberra. My daughter is 17 and my son is 14.

South Sudan is a very unique place with much hardship and poverty. The days here are very long but the weeks seem to fly by.

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Hi Kathy,

I just wanted to say thank you so very much for my quilt! It is taking pride of place on my bed, along with the toy from my nephew, (he was worried I would be lonely without my dogs, Poppy was sent to keep me company 😍).

You cover all of the dogs, my two little rat bags from home, and my work girl. When I wrote the list of things I like I honestly didnt expect you to manage to include all of them, it's amazing! It depicts a Welsh-Australian crazy dog lady perfectly.

Please pass on my thanks to your Welsh friend for her SME advice on the flag. I hope you have a truly amazing time on your travels. Europe will be beautiful and probably a tad warmer than SA right now. 🌞

I just want to make sure you know how much your time, efforts and thoughts mean to me and anyone else who has had the pleasure of recieving one of your quilts. It's something I will truly treasure and hopefully one day pass on to children and grandchildren of my own.

Best wishes and kind regards,

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

Jan-Maree xx