This time last year for March 2012

AHQ -  March 2012 

Totals:  The first half of March was hard work sewing and organising in the lead up to the big parcel posting day on 15th. At that time parcels could only be sent on certain dates. Instead of a monthly quilt and laundry bag count, as we have now, a posting date total was kept.

Post to Afghanistan 15th March 2012: 

                                                                               

QUILTS		tally	LAUNDRY BAGS		tally
From Sydney – to AFPO	15	15	Sydney to AFPO	15	15
From Sydney to WO	8	23	Sydney to WO	16	31
Debra –	2	25	Susan	10	41
Christine –	4	29	Kathy	15	56
Larissa –	2	31
Caz –	2	33
Tracey Mistea –	1	34
Erika	2	36
Turramurra quilts -	6
Singleton Quilters	60

The Quilts and laundry bags, posted from various areas, made a total of 104 quilts and 56 laundry bags - but there may have been more that month. 

Laundry bags, quilts, labels and boxes

Facebook in March 2012:  Just before parcel posting day Jan-Maree wrote herself a note to check the facebook page -  to make sure nobody had dropped off before she announced having 60 followers.  And, she found another had appeared overnight so she was able to share a total of 61 followers and an average of 200 page views a day.  

The 8 flag quilts made by Marg from WA

We are all familiar with this photo of 8 flag based quilts that heads up the facebook page.  Marg from WA sewed, quilted and bound them all, bringing her personal quilt total to 13 plus 6 laundry bags. Marg also donated more flag panels to AHQ.  Thank you Marg.

Wounded Warrior Quilts 2012:  AHQ was asked to provide three quilts, to be held in the hospital in Kandahar, to be given to any wounded soldiers in transit to hospital in Germany.  Preferably they should be Australian in flavour as they would accompany the soldier to Germany and it was hoped the familiar Aussie-ness would be comforting.   WW Quilts must be vacuum sealed as the dust gets into everything and no one wants quilts to be dusty and dirty before they are handed to their recipient.  AHQs plan was to keep two more quilts on hold so that once a quilt has been passed on another will be sent off to replace it.

Helpers in 2012:  Jan-Maree attended a sewing day with the Turramurra quilters. She said they were lovely ladies and it was a wonderful day.  They held a workshop on quilt-as-you-go and they all got busy sewing.

Turamurra Quilters

BOMs Feb and March 2012:   The February Nine Patch BOMs turned up in finished quilts, ready for packing and the March Pin Wheel BOMs started to arrive.

A nine patch quilt ready for posting

Pinwheel blocks on 'the wall'

Packing to post 2012:  In preparation for the big posting Jan-Maree shared her method of folding a quilt and laundry bag for posting in the 2kg box. 

Fold and roll

 First up fold your quilt in half top to bottom and then in thirds - like the picture above.

Then you sort of fold/roll the quilt up and I try to make it so that the label is on the top when they open the box.  

Label on top

As the laundry bag below has initials on it I have folded it so that those are on the top. 

Laundry bag folded and in bottom of box

Remember to fill in the green customs form.

Value everything at $30 - don't want to make it look too expensive.

Call the contents "linen".  

Write FROM AUSSIE HEROES on the top left corner of the box so that the chaplain knows what it is. If you are sending a box of laundry bags, write laundry bags on the customs form.  You might like to include a letter and your email address as most Defence Force members have access to the internet and they might like to send a thank you.

And the AHQ work goes on all over Australia.

Laundry bag initials and  laundry bag completed

Laundry bags finished and packed for the post

Two quilts ready for layering and pinning

Quilt on layering table and 10 quilts layered and ready for quilting







And that's all for - This time last year... Janine C

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