Grati-Tuesday 17 November 15

By the time this post is published I should have been home a couple of hours.  It has been a wonderful and busy trip away but now it is time to get back into it- there is a lot to do between now and the end of the month!

Sit back and enjoy the thank you messages.

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Dear Joan and Robin, 

I am an Australian on deployment with the Army. I am delighted to say that today I received my first parcel in the mail. It was from the two of you.

Thank you for you time and effort, it means a lot..... I really like the laundry bag and will be getting some great use out of it over here. 

I have attached a photo of the bag and I for inclusion on the Aussie Hero Quilts blog.

Thanks once again for your support to the troops, your efforts don't go unnoticed.

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Dear Sue, 

Thank you so very much for my beautiful quilt, it is absolutely gorgeous. I have it on my rack and it certainly brightens up the room. The design is just lovely.   I can't thank you enough. These quilts are such a lovely gesture and everyone onboard just loves them. It is something I will treasure forever. 

We are all going well out here - almost at the half way mark. It's been a long 3 months but everyone's still in good spirits and getting things done. I'm the doctor onboard, and fortunately my skills haven't been required all that often yet. Lets hope it stays that way. 

Thank you

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I have received two fantastic works of art, The Quilt from Linda has far exceeded my expectations and the laundry bag (my pillow case)

from Heather is a welcome addition to my traveling kit.

I really appreciate the time and effort that went in to the design and ultimately the creation I especially like the personal touch of my name at the top.

of the quilt and the Makin' Tracks on my new pillow case

Again Thank you very much 

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Dear Fran,

I had to write to you to express how grateful I'm to have received your quilt. It's beyond perfect and I couldn't have imagined anything better! I giggled a little to myself when I asked for a pink and white quilt with puppies and ponies on it as I am 26, however everything else about the ship is so serious its nice to have something young and sweet. 

I don't have horses anymore (they are kind of hard to move around with), however I spent all of my teens competing in equestrian.  I have since replaced the horses with my two fur babies Hugo and Charlie, which are currently living with my very caring and understanding parents. 

When I heard they made quilts for deployed members I was so keen to get one as I think they are just the perfect thing to have as a keep sake and very personal. Unlike yourself I can hardly sew a button back on and I think I will have to get mum to teach me how to as it's pretty neat what you can do. 

Thank you again and I hope your husband has a successful deployment and I wish your family all the best.

Kind Regards

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Dear Lisa E & Benjamin,

Thank you so very much for the laundry bag you have designed, you have done an excellent job and should be very proud of your efforts.

I am currently deployed to the Middle Eastern Region onboard HMAS Melbourne conducting anti narcotics and anti weapons smuggling with the Royal Australian Navy. We are approximately half way into our 6 and half month deployment and we are all looking forward to coming back home to Australia.

Benjamin, You have done a wonderful job. Thank you for your letter also, it is great to receive your support.

Thanks heaps to Everybody at Merino Consolidated School for you support.  

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Dear Lisa E, 

Apologies for the late response as it has been a very busy time for us up here and I finally have some time to write. I have attached below a letter to Tomas for him to read. He is more than welcome to respond if he would like too. 

In addition, thank you very much for doing this for us. It really means alot to us getting these made for us. I've seen a lot of the other laundry bags that were made and the kids have all done such a spectacular job. Getting mail while we are away really lifts our spirits up so much when we are so far away from Australia. 

Take care. 

Kind Regards,

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Dear Tomas,

Thank you very much for making the laundry bag for me. You did such a great job with it, even I don’t think that I could have done the same job as you. I think the rest of the guys in my mess are a bit jealous as well so you should be proud of it. I especially like the Cricket Bat and Ball on it. Cricket is my favourite sport and I have been playing it since I was your age. What are your favourite sports?

So far we are almost 4 months into our deployment and we have been very busy on the ship. We have been to some very amazing places so far and we still have a few more to go until we can start to travel back to Australia.

Anyway mate I’ve got to get back to work now. I hope this letter finds you well. Take care and remember that you can do anything that you put your mind too.

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Good Afternoon Lisa E,

Words can not describe how grateful I am to have received such a wonderfully 

designed laundry bag by Tamia. She is very skilful and rest assured it will be 

put to good use. IT LOOKS AMAZING. Receiving gifts from yourself makes 

what I do a hell of a lot easier. Knowing we have citizens like yourself who take 

the time and provide such a service to myself and other mates within the forces

is truly inspirational. 

This is my third deployment to the Middle East however the first time I have been lucky enough to receive an amazing gift from someone like yourself.

Thank you Lisa and Tamia for your amazing thoughtful gift, It truly does make a difference

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Hi Denise,

Thank you very much for the quilt, It was unbelievable the job you have done on it and will cherish it for life.

So I am deployed on HMAS Melbourne in the Middle Eastern Region and we are approximately half way through our 6 and a half month deployment. I am an Aircraft controller on board so basically my job is to keep our embarked helicopter onboard safe whilst they conduct their searches for illegal vessels. Our mission up here is to counter narcotics and weapon smuggling which we made the news not to long ago for a big haul of heroin aprox 430kg, everyone was pretty happy with the result and hoping we can get another one prior to our return journey.

Once again thank you for the Quilt I absolutely love it, when I work out how to get photos from my phone to the computer I will send a picture of me with it.

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Dear Saleena

I just wanted to say many thanks for the wonderful quilt you made for me, it looks fantastic. It's fantastic that there are people like yourself giving up your time to do such a wonderful thing.

It will be put to good use

Thanks again

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Hello Sue M.

Just about an hour ago I received your amazing Aussie Hero Quilt and I have to say I love it!

The quilt itself is beautiful, the handwritten note with all your family news is magnificent and just the fact that you took the time to do all of this for a stranger is powerful and says a lot about you! THANK-YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a mature age NAVY Reservist Medical Officer. This deployment is a great experience and ranks among all of the other ones I've had in my career. I've had a few but none of them have involved receiving a magnificent quilt like this!

There are others in my Aussie group, most of whom have already received a quilt, and like me, they all treasure theirs. The sanctuary of your room, which we all share with 1 other person, brings a lot more color and warmth to our lives with the quilt lining our beds.

As the days go by the weather is becoming colder with more and more snow accumulating on the surrounding mountains so your timing for this quilt cover is impeccable. It will stay with me throughout my life even when I'm home and the memory of you being the one that made it for me also.

Thank-you again from the bottom of my heart and I hope all those grand-children in your life have happy, healthy and prosperous lives.

Warm regards,

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G'day Jan-Maree.

I would like to thank yourself and my quilter for making an amazing Quilt, I received it a week ago, and this is the first chance I have had to send off an email.

The lovely lady who made my quilt (Jacqui) didn’t leave me an email address so if you could pass on that I think its amazing, and thank her for all her time and effort that went into making it.

Thank you for all the great work Aussie Hero Quilts does, it is a great foundation and appreciated by all those who received a quilt on HMAS Melbourne.

Regards

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Good Evening Joanne,

        A big thank you to you for your fine work on the Port Power Quilt and Laundry Bag. 

They are fantastic with great detail in the workmanship.

Kind Regards, 

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G'day Jacqui

I was able to get your Email address of Jan-Maree. I would like to say thank you very much for the amazing quilt you made me.  Thanks for all the time and effort that went into it.

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

Jan-Maree xx