Cherry Sundays

Greetings all.

I was going to post the requests from HMAS Melbourne tonight but on reflection I decided that I should give these ones priority for a few more days.  Normally I post the requests in an email to all the volunteers on the list but I thought I would try something new for a change and see how it goes.

Melbourne requests will be out tomorrow night all being well.  I will post all the details and info you need to know tomorrow but just to put their requests into context their quilts need to be in the post no later than Friday the 6th of December at this stage though I would much prefer to get their quilts going even sooner if we can.

Priority Request

Well I did have three special requests with personal preference until about one thirty today and then, as often happens with AHQ, someone comes along just when you need them, in this case a brand new Aussie Hero Friend. Thanks Esther!!!

Love that!  :-D  

That leaves one request with preferences which is more urgent than HMAS Melbourne as as it needs to go in the mail fairly soon.

Green blue  looney tunes, snow boarding, movies and music

I do have some looney tunes fabric if anyone is interested.

Personal Preferences
Some time ago I canvased all the volunteers at that time and asked what sort of information they wanted to know about each request.  The general consensus was that most people like to have starting point for a quilt if they are not making one of their own choice.  That is why all recipients that I am in contact with are asked to give me their favourite colour and their hobbies or interests.  At the same time each recipient is told that the quilt they receive may bear no resemblance to the quilt they request.

As with all requests their personal preferences are just a guide though we do try to get people what they would like.  

For example, if you are able to do a music blue themed quilt and not all the other interests that would be just fine.  

Your Choice

As well as this one I also have around 12 blokes on my list who do not have preferences and would be happy with whatever you can make them.  There is just no point in me listing 12 lots of "Your Choice" on the blog.

If you have a quilt or would like to make a quilt that does not have a specific theme then I can always allocate one of these names to you.

I also thought I would take this opportunity to run through a few things - most of you will be aware of the way things run but we do have some new people so I thought a quick refresher might be in order.

Keeping on top of things

I am trying to get really organised in the next couple of days and make sure that there are no delays or glitches with the requests that I am not aware of.  If you are currently working on a quilt can you please send me an email and give me a progress report if I haven't already asked you.  This is really helpful as I can note down where you are up to and won't chase you unnecessarily.

Have you posted - please let me know

Just a reminder, if you have actually posted off a quilt please let me know.  Telling me that you are planning to post it the next day or whenever is not the same.  I have learned the hard way that sometimes Life gets in the way and things don't go according to plan.  In the past assuming that someone has posted a quilt without actually confirming it resulted in someone missing out on a quilt.  Luckily I was able to get hold of the recipient and get a quilt in the mail to them in Australia but I would prefer to avoid that if possible.

If you hear back - please let me know

I try to chase up every single quilt we send where possible.  That means that I wait till I think the quilt should have arrived and then I send a message to the recipient asking if they have received it.  This takes a lot of time but it is worth it if I can confirm that the parcels are arriving safe and sound.  Not all the recipients contact me to let me know their parcel has arrived - some go straight to their quilter which is just fine.  If you hear from your recipient can you please let me know so that I don't bother them unnecessarily with a message and so that I can mark them off my list.

Please share your thank you messages 

If you receive a lovely thank you message or letter would you please forward it to me. Everyone likes to read the messages that are posted on the blog and they are a great form of encouragement.  I can only share those I have though.  Remember I remove all personal information and anything that might identify the author.  No names of children, rarely any place names unless I determine it is general enough to not be an issue, no job descriptions etc.  Also if a photograph is included please leave me the email address as I need to personally check that the subject is happy to have their photo published on the blog.  The buck stops with me for what is published so I don't take a passed on message. I need to see an email from the subject of the photo themselves saying it is fine to publish and I prefer to email the recipient personally so that I can give them my undertaking that their photo will only be published anonymously and with their approval.  I also want to reassure them that it is absolutely fine if they would rather not have their photo published.

Request Lists in the Future
I am yet to decide how I will do the request lists in the future. I quite like the idea of putting them up on Monday night's post - what do you think?  Please let me know.

Quick Update
I always forget to do this so am so pleased I remembered tonight.  Here is a quick and dirty update on some of our joint projects.

The Pink Mystery Quilt - currently in Brisbane to be quilted
The Challenge Blocks from last year's dinner (check em out here is you are new to AHQ) have been put together by Gail and she has done an Awesome job!  I think they look wonderful.  Carol is currently quilting these.   I think they may end up being Wounded Warrior Quilts but I will decide later in the year.  I do plan to take both of these to Brisbane with me and display them at the Aussie Heroes Dinner being held there on the 30th of November.  I think these are really rather special!

The elephant quilt and the sharks or blue and white quilt are hopefully going to be put together on Wednesday at the next sewing day at my home.

Oh and last, but definitely not least, the Mystery Quilt for our very Deployed Quilter ......is off waiting to be quilted! 

If there are any other quilts that you would like updates on please do not hesitate to ask me.

Now every post needs some photos so I thought I would share a pic of the laundry bag I made for the good chaplain on HMAS Newcastle.  I had to wait till it had been received.   Remember he is a SciFi fan and I used lots of left overs from his quilt but for his laundry bag I also managed to use some "acquired" material from a Navy shirt.

You might note that the light sabre is made from the reflective strip that is on the shirt sleeves and when I took the picture with my flash it made the sabre look like it was glowing!  :-D

I was not sure how appropriate it was to give a chaplain a laundry bag bearing the words "Come to the Dark Side" but this is a well known Star Wars quote and his wife thought he would appreciate it! LOL  Thanks to Michele for the embroidery!

Sorry there is no more for tonight but I have to dash off  and drop two quilts to a quilter before 4pm.

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