Thank you messages

G'day all.

Well what a day Australia Day was! I hope you all had a fabulous day, especially our troops serving both here and overseas.

Yesterday I shared on the blog that I had been honoured with an OAM so I think most of you know by now. I just wanted to take the opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of you who sent messages, texts, emails and even called in response. I am truly humbled and indeed blessed to be involved with such a wonderful group of people and that includes those that sew for us, the Aussie Hero Friends, and our wonderful recipients and their families. 

My local newspaper published an article which you can read here, there was in interview on Channel 7 and as well as one on Channel 10. Channel 10 shared this segment of their interview on their Facebook page here  in case you missed it.

I know there are some of you who do not look at Facebook.  Can I encourage you to find someone who does and ask them to show you the posts from yesterday so that you can read the comments.  There were over 100 comments on the post I wrote yesterday and another 40-50 on the post sharing the excerpt of the TV interview. Whilst they congratulated me, many of the comments, from past and present recipients and their families, also paid tribute to their quilter and all those who sew for Aussie Heroes.  I know that some of you will recognise the names.

Yesterday was a very special and humbling day and one I will remember for the rest of my life. 

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Now it is time to enjoy some of the thank you messages we have received for your work this week.

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Good evening Cathie J,

Firstly let me apologise for the delay in sending this email. I did, however, have the pleasure of returning from my holidays in Europe to have your amazing quilt waiting for me! When I opened it and saw all the work and effort you had put into making this quilt I was blown away! I know you said that you are a novice quilter and my personal dealing with quilts is not overly large but you are already doing an amazing job and should feel proud with your efforts.

Thank you to yourself and your family for the appreciation given, I went into the Royal Australian Navy and onto this deployment doing this as my job and although I never seek appreciation, I always accept it when given.

Once again, I can't thank you enough! You have given me an amazing gift to which I am forever grateful.

Keep up the amazing work Cathie!

All the best to you and your family and friends.

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Hi Kim N,
Thanks for the quilt and the supplies, the snakes didn't last long once they got opened but everyone enjoyed them.  The quilt is on my rack now and its nice to have some color to brighten it up.  You definitely have a great view, I'm counting down the days to get back to Australia and enjoy the beach - nothing beats an Aussie beach. 

Thanks again
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Hi Jo,
Sorry it has taken me a while but I just wanted to say thank you for the lovely quilt you made for me. The blue and white diamond pattern was perfect.


I really appreciate the time and effort the hero quilt team puts into our quilts - it is a fantastic thing you do 😊
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Dear Jan-Maree Ball,

Thank you so much for organizing the quilts for us on HMAS Melbourne. I know we all really appreciate the effort and the amount of time that would go into making
one of these quilts/ laundry bags. It was really cool seeing the girls open their boxes and seeing the quilts for the first time and then showing them off to the mess.
Their faces lit up. I know when I got mine (made by Carolyn), it really was nice to have that turn up just in time for Christmas. I really appreciate all that you have done to get all of this
organized for us on here.

Thank you (: .....
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G'day Jan-Maree.

I just got back from holidays today and had my quilt waiting for me. It's amazing! Better than I ever expected. Every time someone gets one at work all I can think is how well all of you out do yourselves!

I am super appreciative of the laundry bag and quilt made for me.

I will be sending my thanks for the quilt through to Cathy J as well.

Thank you again for organising this, it really is one of those things that should never go unrecognised. 

All the best,

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Hey Lynn S

I wanted to send you a email to personally thank you for the quilt that you made.  When I opened the box my jaw dropped with awe, I instantly loved the piece of work you had created.  When all the lads saw it also they loved it and some even wanted to buy it off me haha  The tim tams were a great morale boost to some of the lads who have had it worse off than me.

Thanks again so much for the quilt and I hope you have a great year.

Thanks,

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Dear Marianne,

I deeply wish to thank you for the awesome laundry bag you hand crafted and sent to me as apart of the Aussie hero quilts project.   The choices made in developing the laundry bag were spot on and the selection of puppies was amazing, I love them!   Your technique and abilities in making the bag make it hard to believe that you are learning new styles of stitching.  I specifically love the silhouette of the Melbourne as this will assist me to maintain the memories of friends and adventures I have had over this 7 month deployment and the prior 12 months of working the ship up to the combat standard required for the Middle east region. Once again I really appreciate the laundry bag you made and I will treasure it.
I wish both you and Colin all the best with what ever lies ahead in the future.

Very much thanks and love
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Dear Rita,

Thank you for your very kind letter as I gather you are aware that we do not get to see the news from home very often, we have TV with over 200 channels all in Arabic which is very funny, but good to have in the back ground and one channel that focuses and the world news but is generated from the UK.

More importantly and above all thank you for the fantastic quilt, its wonderful.

I have just returned from my scheduled leave on the Gold Coast, I was fortunate enough to have leave over the Christmas period - I have never had the opportunity to have Christmas with my family whist deployed before.

We had a wonderful Christmas, the kids had a great time, and now I am back in the Middle East yet again.
This is my 7^th tour in this area in 24 years. The country never changes although the work loads vary and so do the people you work with. I do enjoy the challenges and I also see how we are contributing to stability and security in this area. I have had a few tours in Iraq, one with the British forces and also a few in Afghanistan.

I have also been lucky enough to undertake an exchange posting to Germany and Poland within my career and that had some fantastic experiences within each location.

The weather here has cooled down a fair bit, although in another 6 weeks it will start to warm up again, on average the days are sitting around 25c and at night around 18c, in a few more weeks it will starts to rise to 50 day and 35 by night.
I am looking forward to going home in April, and cannot wait to see my family and be able to have food when I want it and be able to watch TV.

I would again like to sincerely thank you for the laundry bag, I have always been a huge fan of Star Wars, even in my 40s I still enjoy watching the movies, and more recently the new release.
My son also loves Star Wars and will gladly use the quilt on my return to Aus.

Again with all my thanks, thank you for your wonderful quilt it is priceless to me.

Yours sincerely,
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Hi Jan-Maree

First of all, thank you for the well wishes over the holiday period. I hope you your family, (and extended quilter family) had a happy holiday period.

All of the guys received their quilts in good time. All of the guys are very happy with the quality and design of their quilts. 

On a personal note, Thank you so much to you for organising and your quilters for for the hard work put in to make and deliver a fine quality product to the lads in HQRS Platoon on OP Highroad.
We have finished our rotation to Afghanistan and are all now back in Australia with our families.

Once again thank you for the hard work you and your quilters do. Not only for our Platoon but for the ADF in general. Keep up the good work.

Cheers 

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Hi Joan

I received your "Aussie" laundry bag in the mail just after Christmas 2015.  Many thanks.

 It serves as a wonderful replacement to my ageing old one, and is very easy to identify amongst the other white bags in the laundries here in Iraq.

 Sincere gratitude for the efforts you make to support Aussie troops abroad.  Although this is my fifth overseas deployment, it is never easy to leave family and friends behind.  The journey is made a little nicer knowing that the efforts of ADF personnel are still appreciated by the Australian population.

 I will continue to keep an eye out for your laundry bags and quilts whenever I travel.

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Hi Ann,

I am currently serving with the Australian Army in Iraq. Today I received one of the laundry bags you made and sent to us. Your timing could not have been better as I was beginning to fear for my socks falling through the holes appearing in my old one haha.

So my thanks to you and your family, as well as everyone at Aussie Hero Quilts. Your continued support to serving members is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards

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