Grati-Tuesday 14 July

Hi all.
Well I had a great time last night meeting and talking to the lovely quilters from Campbelltown Patchwork and Quilting Guild.  What a friendly bunch and as always, it is so easy to tell the Aussie Hero story.  I am so immersed in Aussie Heroes it is always nice to get out and spread the story to new people and to see their response.
Last night's group was very positive.  

Some more lovely messages have come in this week.

Enjoy!
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Hi Pennie

Thank ever so much for my wonderful laundry bag. I love it. Your choice of fabric could not have been better - love the blue and nice to have something with a feminine pattern when we live in camo. 

The time you spent making it is greatly appreciated. The fact that you also work on health as I do makes it that more special. Sure that your time earning money for the "fabric" havoc keeps you busy. As I know that working in the hospitals can be under appreciated - a very big thank you for all the hours, nights, weekend, and holidays that you spend at work rather than family and friends. 

So thank you again for my lovely bag. 

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For a quilt top by Norma that was quilted and bound by Stephanie T

Hi, just a quick thank you for my beautiful quilt and laundry bag. I was blown away by the work, skill and effort that has been poured into it and am deeply moved by such a wonderful gesture. Thank you for your genuine support and kindness, it does not go unrecognised and I know I speak for my fellow members of the ADF in saying that we very much value your contribution to making our job that little bit more rewarding. Thanks again.

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Dear Mrs Glenys T,

                             

I would like to sincerely thankyou for your beautiful blanket and laundry bag  and especially the time and care that you put into it. I was profoundly humbled when I read your accompanying letter, your kind words of thanks and support were very well received I can assure you.

    

My intention is to get a photo taken with my 2 colleagues with their gifts as well so we will send you a photo of our 3 man team in the upcoming days. In closing I would once again like to say a big thankyou. Receiving your humbling letter just reinforces to me why we chose to do this job., to maintain the standards we currently enjoy in our wonderful country ( I have been to many and believe ours is still the best) and to represent the wonderful thoughtful people it contains - such as yourself.

Many Thanks

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Hi Jane,

I was very excited to see the Aussie hero parcel arrive in our last mail drop. I was absolutely blown away when I opened it and saw the amazing quilt you had made for me. I am very appreciative of the time and effort that you have put in to create this beautiful quilt and in such a short amount of time, during such a busy period for you. The poem written on the front is beautiful and its really nice to read before I jump into my bed at night. All the girls I live with loved the blanket aswell, they said it was just stunning and had all these beautiful, fine details. All your hard work has not gone unnoticed in the quality of this quilt.

Again I want to thankyou for the beautiful work, effort and thought that you put in to my Aussie Hero package, I remember asking my friend who I work on here with "How much does it cost to get a quilt sent to you from aussie heros?" and she said it was free. I was very surprised to hear that there are amazing people out there, like yourself, who put your own personal time and effort into something, for someone you have never met. I think its wonderful and I feel extremely lucky to be one of the recipients. All the best to you and your family, It was lovely to hear from you

Kind Regards,

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Dear Marilyn

I am writing to thank you for the amazing crafted quilt that I have recently received. When I received it I was taken aback that someone had spent the time and money to make such a thoughtful gift. I was moved so much that I honestly had to hold back a few tears. It is a very big thing to realise that there are people other than our families back in Australia thinking of us.

The quilt is now pride of place on my bed. When I get to shore and am able to send an email from my private email address, I will send you a picture of it on my bed, also showing you how we live when we are away. Whilst it is currently in the low 30's here, and will be in the low to mid 40's for the next six weeks, I am lucky enough to live in a very air-conditioned room, my new quilt is keeping me warm at night.

The reason behind my request for pirates was that when I get home I am looking at giving it to my 4 year old son, he is at home wondering why his daddy is not with him. I also have an 8 month old son who I wonder if he will remember me when I get home.

Once again thank you for your effort, it is very much appreciated, we love seeing the quilts on display around the mess decks. I am proud to serve our county and profoundly grateful for your support.

With warmest thanks,

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Good morning Sue G,

Thank you for my LB. The laundry bag you made me was so perfect, I love it. The XXXXXX and Australian flags are very special to me and you did such a beautiful job with them.

The boys received their laundry bags and absolutely love them, we're all so very grateful!

Thank you for lovely card and gift, it was so very kind of you. Also thank you for doing this out of the kindness of your heart, know that it means the world to us and we're extremely appreciative of your time and effort that goes in.

I hope to be able to thank you in person once I am home.

Have a lovely week.

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Morning Jan-Maree,

I would like to say a big thank you to yourself and Louise T at Dolphin quilters for my beautiful quilt. I have attached a photo of me holding it and it is now on my bed to brighten up my room.

Kind Regards,

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Dear Pennie

Thank you so much for my beautiful quilt – I absolutely love it!

The fabrics in the blanket are gorgeous, its great your friend can pick them up for you, 

Thank you so much for your well wishes, I am very much looking forward to returning home to my partner.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thankyou again for the quilt. I am so happy with it and can’t wait to find a place for it at home.

All the best

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Hi Jan-Maree, 

                            Just a quick note to let you know I received my fantastic quilt from Anne McA. What a great job she has done and it was a wonderful surprise to receive such a nice gift from a total stranger. I have done a number on operations over the years in various parts of the world (this is my third in the Gulf) and it is always appreciated when you know people at home are thinking of what you are doing (particularly nice at Xmas time). I must say though this is the first gift I will get to keep as all the others are generally food parcel type, so thank you very much for your thoughts and for coordinating all the ladies to make these quilts for us over here. 

Thank you 

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And an email for Anne Mc

Dear Anne, 

                     Thank you so much for your hard work and for taking the time to make a quilt for a total stranger. I have been deployed a number of times now through out the world (this is my third deployment in the Gulf) and received various care packages (especially nice during Xmas) from different community groups. This however is the first time I have ever received my own personalised blanket, so once again thank you very much, I will certainly get a lot of use out of it as it is the perfect size of our racks where we sleep.  I do commend you on your artistic licence as it is a  pretty good chopper, I have had motorcycles since I was 13 and currently have a 2008 Harley Davidson FXDB and a 1942 Harley Davidson WLA (WW2 military model). If you're yawning at this information I will understand, maybe pass on those stats to your husband and brother! 

So once again thank you very much for taking the time to make the blanket. 

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Good morning Sam, 

I would like to say a quick thank you for my quilt and letter. Considering this is your first attempt you have produced a very good quilt. The detail in the stitching for the bikes and the football players is fantastic. I can see why your son now wants one. 

This is my third deployment but it is the first time I have heard about Aussie Quilts. I think it is fantastic that you and the other volunteers give up so much of your time to make a quilt or laundry bag for a complete stranger so that we can feel a little bit more of home whilst we are away. The smiles that you and the others at Aussie Quilts have produced from your packages has helped with brightening the sometimes long lonesome days at sea. It is humbling to know that there are still people back home who value the effort and contribution of the Defence Forces. 

Thank you again for your time and effort and I am sure that if you choose to do this again you will bring further joy to a fellow service person.
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Hello Joan and Robin,

I received your beautiful laundry bag, thank you so much for taking the time and effort to make that for me.  I truly appreciate it and I love the design you created

They definitely have brightened up our living space.  We all get very excited when someone receives theirs, we all can't wait to see what they get and the designs are always amazing.  

I believe our chaplain will be organising a photos for your blog,  Hopefully mine will be up there soon!

I hear you may not have received my letter yet,  I sent it a little while ago so I'm thinking it may have gotten lost? Or I didn't write the address properly!

I will try again when we have our next stop.  I'll be extra careful with the address this time!

Thank you again for all your hard work and effort, it really means a lot to everyone who receives one.

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Good morning Pennie,

Just a short note to say thank you so much for my laundry bag. It is fantastic and is better than I expected, you have done a wonderful job. This is my third deployment to the Middle East and the first time I have had the opportunity to receive such a gift.

I admire your work as an IC nurse - this too is a noble profession and you should be very proud of the work you do. Please find attached a photo of myself and the lovely laundry bag you made for me.  Please feel free to put up on the page if you wish, it will come to good use!!!  

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Hello Stephanie D! 

Greetings from the Middle East!

So many thanks for the beautiful girlie Aussie hero quilt and laundry bag I received, I love them both so very much, they are perfect!

I felt so honoured that you begged to make mine and am so very grateful for the time and effort you put into making such a lovely quilt and laundry bag. I no longer have to dig around in the laundry to find my washing, I just have to look for the pretty bag!

I'm very much looking forward to our next port visit when I will be able to do some shopping and do my own stock up of shoes and hand bags!

Please keep an eye out on your mail as I've sent you a little something to say thank you!

Thank you again, Your beautiful quilt means the world to me!
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Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening Lyn,

I am writing to say thankyou very much for the quilt you made. I really appreciate it and the support that you are providing all ADF members.
Could I please ask that you continue to provide support to all ADF members as this is really appreciated.

Thanking you again for your support and generosity
Kind regards,
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Dear Stephanie,  Lorraine and Joan

Thank you so much for the beautiful quilt, I absolutely love it. It replaced an awful grey doona that was on my bed here when I arrived here and transformed my otherwise dull room. I sometimes take my quilt downstairs and curl up under it to watch TV in the air-conditioned lounge room, it's perfect.

We had mail delivered this afternoon and two more people received their quilts. If  you could only see how excited we all get when a quilt arrives and how much every single person here loves their own quilt. You are such talented ladies, the quilts are all so unique and beautifully made. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we will treasure our quilts always as they remind us of our time here in South Sudan and more importantly how lucky we are to have amazing people like yourselves back home thinking of us.

I also want to thank you for the gorgeous laundry bag. I couldn't believe that I forgot to pack a laundry bag when I came over.  When mine arrived, I was actually using a navy issue mesh bag, that I had borrowed from one of the girls here who had already received her laundry bag from you wonderful girls. I was very excited to receive my own and it is much nicer than the mesh bag.  Everyone uses their laundry bags over here. When you look into the laundry you can see them all sitting on top of the washers and dryers. 

I have attached a photo of my quilt so that you can see how lovely it looks. Thank you again, I really do love it and treasure it. You are very special people who do an amazing job making these personalised quilts and laundry bags that mean so much to us. I have a small gift that I want to send you from South Sudan to say thanks and I hope you like it.  I will get it in the post this weekend but the post is very slow and it may take several weeks to arrive but it should get there eventually.

Thank you again, take care

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Hi Alicia,

I just want to start with WOW, and thank you so much... the quilt I have received from you today is simply amazing, I absolutely love the colours and patterns you have used!!

Again thank you for all the work you do. It is much appreciated when we receive something as special and personal like this to remind us of home. Especially from those that go beyond like yourself that brighten our days.

I have attached a pic of myself with the quilt.

Thank you,

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Hi Ingrid,

I just wanted to send you an email to say a massive thank you for the beautiful quilt and laundry bag that arrived yesterday. You did such an amazing job and it most definitely exceeded my expectations!
I hope all is well with you back in Australia. Many thanks again for the quilt and laundry bag. I know I will get a lot of use out of both for the years to come.

Speak soon
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Hi Julie-Ann Searle,

I am currently serving in the middle east and now my clothes are safely harnessed to the wall. Thank you for the effort you put into the laundry bag.

It means a lot. It is nice to know we are appreciated. It has been a long tour.

Many Thanks,
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Dear Jo,

I must start this email by telling you how pleased and astonished I
was at the quilt you made for me. The thought and effort you have put
in is amazing and I feel so privileged to have received such an item.
To get a matching laundry bag was just too much!

It is generally so hot here that I sleep with the air conditioner on
all the time. I have the air conditioner on flat out in an attempt to
keep the room cool because the power often fails and the room quickly
heats up again. If the power doesn't fail, it gets cold in my room and
I have only had a sheet until now to keep me comfortable. I received
your quilt on Thursday and since then I have kept it beside my bed,
ready just in case and it is wonderful not to have to get up to fiddle
with the air conditioner in the middle of the night and just pull my
quilt over me instead!

Thanks again for the generous gift, it makes such a difference to me
knowing that people think of us well enough to contribute what you
have.

Kind Regards
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Dear Joan and Robin,

A quick email to pass on my sincere thanks and appreciation for the laundry bag you sent through with my initials on. It is really great, particularly good quality and I really appreciate the individual touches.

It makes me, and I know others, feel loved over here.

Thanks again.

Kind regards,
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Till next time..........please keep spreading the word and happy stitching!
Jan-Maree xx