Grati - Tues - Day

The posts for the rest of this week and next might be a bit short as I am a  bit short on time.  I have two sixteen-year-olds doing Year 11 exams at two different schools with two different schedules.  One of the schools does not hold the exams on the school grounds, but in the local church, so that means he can't even catch the bus to them one way.  My schedule is all driving this week.   
Next week I will be away for a few days taking one of them up to visit his new boarding school (his choice honest - he is not being sent away) to get his new uniform etc.  I will be writing my posts in advance but I am not sure we will be doing Happy Mail Wednesday as I won't be here to check the mail.  Also Quilts of the Week next week might have to be changed around a little if I don't have time to load up all the photos in time for Friday night.  I am sure you will all cope but I thought I should tell you why things might look a little different.

Some more gorgeous thank you messages have arrived. 

This quilt was requested as a surprise by this fellow's wife.

Naomi - 

I received one of your amazing quilts a couple of weeks ago. 

I am writing to tell you of my appreciation for this fantastic thing.  I would have written to you earlier but shortly before receiving your package we had some particularly bad news with the loss of some of our lads which required a bit of involvement and we have been extremely busy in the time since then. 

Thank-you for the quilt, it is one of the nicest things I have received and proudly sits on my bunk. The package caused quite a bit of jealousy amongst the other people I work with. It reminds me a lot of home and all the nice things to look forward to. 

You are a very special lady and very clever to make such a nice thing. Your work is really appreciated and is a huge morale boost for people like myself. Thank you and thank you to my beautiful wife.

This female soldier has actually written to us and is waiting for her quilt and laundry bag to be sent to her, but in the mean time she has written to us about the laundry bags that we are sending to the Special Ops Task Group (SOTG).

Thank you for your recent shipment of Laundry bags. I see them all the time in the laundry and the guys getting around with them- they go quick when they arrive ( still yet to nab one for myself). I think a couple of they guys were going to write back to the letters they received in their bag- hopefully they have. Do hope some of the good ones pass on their thanks.  

Please thank all your helpers for the bags- they are fabulous. 

I have let her know she can expect a laundry bag with her quilt.

Angela received a lovely thank you, also from one of the "good ones" from the SOTG.  He included a photo but we can't publish it as he has protected identity status but I still think it was really generous of him to trust enough to send it.

Hi Angela,

I'd like to thank you for your laundry bag. we received a box of them

here in TK and within a matter of maybe 2 hours they had all been

claimed. When something like that arrives the box is placed in the mail

room and it's first come first served. Luckily I happened to have walked

past as it arrived and took first dibs on the black laundry bag with the

giraffes, rhino's, gorillas and elephants (not going to lie, it was the

first one I looked at and didn't let go of)

I'm not sure if any other members have sent you a thank you email yet,

and if they haven't I thank you on behalf of all of them. It makes it so

much easier to find our laundry when you have a awesome laundry bag

instead of the simple white net bag everyone seems to turn up with.

"The Chatting Chooks" are doing a wonderful thing, putting smiles on not

only our faces over here, but to the Wesley National Ward. Keep up the

wonderful work and hopefully someone else will be receiving such an

awesome donation as well soon. I know this bag will live on well past my

deployment. My niece already says she wants it after seeing it in the

background on skype, i may hide her birthday presents in it when i head

home next year.

Thank you so very much for the Laundry bag

Now, allow me to introduce you to Nancy!

She is one of our quiet achievers.  She lives in the Eastern Goldfields of WA and as the headline says, her life is all about quilts.  She not only quilts for Aussie Heroes but has quilted for all sorts of Charities for years and continues to do so.  She seems to have her whole town sorted to donate or helo out in one way or another.  Nancy has finished more quilts for Aussie Heroes that any one other quilter.  I send her quilt tops to finish, blocks to put together.  She has several ladies who make tops for her and with her - she is just remarkable ...and very humble!

Thanks for all you do Nancy!

And thanks to Maria for passing on this article because Nancy never would have!

Once again  - something special from Facebook that I need to share here to make sure that all of you are aware of it.

Firstly here is an update on Ben,  the young marine who was injured in the process of extracting our special forces guys from a mission.  His mother has commented on Facebook and left us a link to the above article which is the story of what happened in Ben's words.
She also left a message for us

Hi there, this is CPL Ben Hockett's mother, we are very proud of our son and we appreciate you honoring Ben with an Aussie Hero Quilt!  Thanks so much!!!

:-)

And just before I go - is anyone interested in a Brisbane sewing day - Kylie is happy to arrange one and she is a quilting teacher so is happy to teach beginners.  Contact me for further info if you are keen.  

Also, don't forget sewing day in Penrith this weekend.  10-3pm BYO lunch and all materials provided.  Numbers limited so contact me if you are interested.

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