Day one at the Australian Quilt Convention

The Australian Quilt Convention got off to a wonderful start last night with their welcome cocktail party.  LTCOL Michelle and  I were invited as guests and Michelle did a wonderful job, giving a very heartfelt talk about how much what we do is appreciated.  I have to say she reduced all of us to tears when she spoke emotionally about troops receiving a care package with a gift that had been made especially for them from someone they did not know.    Many people came up to talk to her and thanked her for her service and her time last night. It was really lovely.  

Michelle had deployed last year and was in a very busy job that saw her move around constantly and never seemed to be around when requests for quilts were called for so one of her staff sent me a request for her.  Michelle received her quilt last night before the party started and let's just say she was pretty pleased.

Thank you LTCOL Michelle!  You were wonderful!

And how perfect is her quilt for her bedroom???

And then today.... was Day 1 of AQC.

WOW! What a day! This is going to be a short post coz it has been a long day but such a good one.  We have a fabulous booth.  Thank you so much to the folks at Expertise Events.   We have been so well looked after,

The lovely Lucy Caroll popped around to check on us - the tickets for her the amazing sewing machine are selling so well.  Whoever wins it is going to be so lucky!  Big, big thanks to the Victorian Quilters Guild for their help with the permits for the raffle too.

Please meet Greg Alexander, Managing Director at Bernina Australia. This man has a big heart. Not satisfied with giving us sewing machine to raffle, Bernina are also running twice daily laundry bag workshops.  The ladies who sit and sew a laundry bag pay $5 for the privilege.  Greg has announced that Bernina Australia will match that!!!  That is a $10 donation to Aussie Heroes with every laundry bag!  Thanks so much for your support Bernina,

And they are pretty cool laundry bags they are making too!

Marlene is one of our quilters and today we went to the Bernina Workshop and sewed her first one which she brought around to show us.  Woo Hoo! Well done Marlene!

We had such a busy day today.  So many lovely people to talk to who were glad to hear about what we do.   We sold lots of raffle tickets, lots of pins and patches and talked and talked and talked!

Now I am off to answer emails, have some dinner and then answer more emails.

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

Jan-Maree  xx