As Austin Powers would say.........

and I can't believe I am quoting him, or allowing my husband to suggest quotes but 

"Throw me a freakin" bone here.  I am the boss, need the Info"  

  In tonight's post I am going to cover all sorts of little bits and pieces to do with the day to day Aussie Heroes business that make it easier to stay organised - or should I say - make it easier for me to stay organised.  I will try and post them in a logical order .....but no promises  LOL

State Your Business

Please, when you email me to tell me that you have posted off a quilt or a laundry bag, or to ask if someone needs a laundry bag, or to ask any other question about a particular request, could you put the name of the recipient in the subject line or in the first part of the text of the email.  Some of you have made lots of quilts now and I can no longer search on your name to find who you are talking about.  

We currently have 167 quilts under construction or should I say 167 requests allocated and being worked on.  Don't ask me how many quilters as that is not so easy to count up but some of you have more than one on your list.  I can search on a name or on a theme or on your name but the more info I have the easier it is and the quicker the search.

So, please always tell me the name of the person you are referring to.  That would be SOOO helpful.

To Laundry Bag or Not To Laundry Bag

When you offer to take up a request can you please let me know if you intend to make a laundry bag?  I don't mind either way but I need to know and there are too many of you (nice problem to have) for me to be able to remember the personal preferences of each of you.  If you can please tell me that would be really helpful as well as it means that at the same time I am allocating the request to you I will be contacting one of my laundry bag making lovelies and asking them to do another please.

Check First, Sew Second

Another request.  Should you hear about a friend, family member, next door neighbour, dog-walker's uncles' brother who is deploying can you please check with me BEFORE you make a quilt?  I am not going to say you can't do it!  I am not the Quilt Police afterall BUT do you really want to make a quilt if Penny Whatshername (should that be Penny W?) is already making a quilt for the same person.  How would you feel if you found out that the quilt you had lovingly crafted for someone was a duplicate?

I will tell you a story.  My friend, Louise, sent me a text last night telling me that she had a friend who knew someone whose son had deployed and not only that, but another friend of the same family was also about to deploy.  Now, Louise, did the right thing and checked with me first.  Of course you would think that if the son had received a quilt from us, in fact if he had requested the quilt himself AND received it, you would think he might have told him Mum!  Think again.  Do you know how many times the WIVES ask me if I know if their husband has received their quilt as the hubby has not mentioned it?  When I make some enquiries I find out the quilt has arrived saf and sound and the fellow just forgot to mention it probably as his first priority was checking on his family.

In the case of Louise's story the son had a quilt already - had had it for several months actually and the fellow who is due to deploy?  ALREADY ON MY LIST.

So, all I ask is that you please check first.

Pedantic about Posting 

I will always ask you to confirm that your parcel is ACTUALLY in the mail.  I love to know that you are planning to post it on a certain day BUT I won't be happy till you tell me it has actually made it to the Post Office.  I have been caught out badly before and the time I am thinking of that fellow missed out on his quilt as it was sent so late and I had to send him another one once he arrived back home.  I had been told the infamous 

"I am going to post it tomorrow!"    

Sometimes life gets in the way so please help me out here.

Photos Please

Just a simple one.  Please don't forget to send in photos of what you are making.  It makes the blog more  colourful and interesting to read and also makes it easier for me to keep records.  If you want some help on taking better photos - don't ask me!  LOL.  Last year I solicited some help and wrote a post including photographic tips which you might like to refer back to - it is here if you are interested.

Missing Something?

If I forget to share a thank you message you have received, or don't post something in the Happy Mail post that you think I should have or worse, if you have notified me that you have posted something off and I have not included it in the Weekly Dispatches please let me know.

Have I got it Wrong  :-(

Have I given credit to the wrong person for your work please always let me know and don't feel you have to apologise for contacting me.  I am, sadly, only human and I make mistakes all the time (just don't tell my kids - they want to know that they can read the blog!)  I am more than happy to be (politely) corrected any time.

Keep an eye on the time

Lastly, please keep an eye on the time, or more importantly, the date.  Requests need to be completed in a timely manner.  I generally set a deadline or posting date for each request and it is really important that you stick to it as much as possible.  If you can't please let me know.  We all know that life can get in the way - unexpected things can happen which throw all our careful planning to the wind - just please let me know.  There is usually something that can be done about it, if not by you, then by me, and afterall the most important things to consider are 1. the recipient needs to get their quilt and 2. Aussie Heroes is not supposed to add any stress to your lives - well hopefully not anyway.

I can't let you go without adding a little bit of colour to the post with a picture.  Any quilter knows that if you put a quilt anywhere on the floor in a quilter's home, the resident dog will ALWAYS lie on the quilt in preference to anywhere else in the house.  This is Snickers (also known as the DIVA) road testing one of my latest quilts!   You can see that she has a whole snuggly bed to lie on, and usually she does, but LOOK there is a quilt, so she just has to lie on that too!

Ahhh, its a dog's life!

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