Grati-Tuesday 9 August 16

G'day all.

I hope to write a better post at some point to show you around the new Aussie Heroes HQ but this will have to do for now.  This is the new set up in my temporary home.  It is not perfect and nowhere near as well set up as my old sewing room was but it is lovely and light and airy so youtake the good with the bad.   Huge thanks goes to all those who have contributed funds to the Go Fund Me account or to Aussie Heroes in general, as I would not have been able to arrange much more than a desk without your help.  

Big thanks to Selena who bought me a new sewing machine.  Your kindness and generosity just blows me away.  Also thanks to Daryl from Horn Sewing Furniture, Shane from Chatswood Sewing Centre, the wonderful team at Bernina, all of whom have looked after Aussie Heroes and myself with wonderful prices for items we have bought.  Thanks also goes to Rajiv Chaudhri, Chairman at Alive 90.5, Chief Executive Officer at Stayconnect, who donated my new laptop and to Bev Jordan from the Hills Shire Times who connected us. 

Special thanks to my mate (a friend from the RAAF all those years ago) who spend three hours assembling my sewing table for me.  And a huge thank you to my lovely husband for his countless trips to Ikea to buy furniture and so on.

More thank yous to come when I show you more photos.  

Please just remember that whilst we are back up and running and forging ahead, we are still catching up.  Some people have missed out on quilts (please let me know if you are one of them) and some will have to receive their quilts when they come home which is not ideal.

But for now, a massive thank you to all of you who have and who are helping to get us back up and running.  

And because I still receive lots of emails asking how we are going with our house, here is a brief update.  As of last Friday the house has been completely demolished.  All that remains is our spa and some of the paving... the rest of gone.   Not quite a CLEAN Slate but now the way has been made for a new house. I don't expect things to move too quickly.  Plans, discussions, council and all have to come before the building starts and I expect the earliest we will see bricks and mortar make an appearance will be sometime in the New Year. If I am wrong that will be a bonus.

Every step forward is a step in the right direction.  :-)

And now for this week's messages...


Dear Su,

Firstly let me thank you for the quilt that you have made for me.

To say that I was pleased with it would be an understatement!

What you have tried to do with the many flags of the United Kingdom and depicting the formation of the union you have done well.

I will dearly cherish the quilt and the thought and hard work that has gone into it, even ‘Dante’s’ hairs, not that I have found any.

Anyway, I will close for now, have to get my head into some uni books.

Thanks again for your time and efforts, greatly appreciated.

 .....

Good afternoon Janeene, 

I would like to say a sincere thank you for the laundry bag and quilt that you so kindly made for me. I have taken photos and sent to all my friends and family back home. I love it. So do they. 

The Tim Tams went down a treat as well, Thank you! I shared them with 2 others in my office. 

Anyway, best I get back to work. Thank you again for the Geelong Quilt and Laundry bag. I will treasure them forever. 

Go Cats!!! 

......

Dear Steve & Jenny

I’m writing to thank you so much for your wonderful work with the laundry bag & quilt.

I absolutely Love both of them. I have shown them off to mates in my accom  block and they all agree on your fabulous work.

By the requests submitted I guess you know I like mountain biking & guns. Well the later one is my job within the Army & that’s about it.  I don’t have my gun licence or go hunting. So Army as a job is as good as it gets. I repair & maintain all the small army weapons.  I enjoy my job much like I did when I was a kid pulling things apart & re-assembling them with hopefully no parts left over.

I am a reservist on CFTS, Continuous Full Time Service for the duration of my 7 month deployment. I have now been off work for work for what will be close to 12 months. My “Civi” Street Job is a fitter in the mines but having now done 10 years in the Industry, I would love to get a job back home.

Home for me is Tasmania. Tassie will always be my home. It’s like a big playground for me . So many places to explore & enjoy.

Thinking about weather I can’t wait to get home out of this heat. Showers here of a morning are all one temperature, hot hot hot and more hot. So like having a cold and only being underneath for as little time as possible.

Well thank you one again for your huge generosity of a typical Australian. More so for your awesome skill and handy work with design & production of the quilt & laundry bag. They are definitely a highlight of my deployment.

Oh & thanks so much for the biscuits – Loved them.

......

Hello Anne,

Thank you very much for the quilt and the laundry bag you made for me. I'm really happy with how they turned out and I know everyone else on board that has received them also feels the same. I think it's such a wonderful thing for you to give up your time to make these quilts.  It put a massive smile on my face when I opened it. A little bit about myself, I have been in the Navy since 2011 as a Communications Information Systems sailor which I really enjoy. Like yourself, I have family that were in the military, both my parents and my fathers father were all in the Navy so we have that in common. 

Thanks again

.....

G'day Bridget,

Today I was very surprised and happy to have a AHQ laundry bag delivered to me.

I spend most of my day monitoring all that is happening across the whole Area of Operations, and providing situational awareness to our command here in the Middle East, and back to our Headquarters in Canberra.

Aussie Hero Quilts (and laundry bags) are a great reminder of home and why it is important to deploy away from our families.  They greatly boost morale for all who receive them and add some colour and a piece of home to our sparce rooms and plain laundry activities.

I placed a special request for my quilt and laundry bag to be in the theme of super heroes as I am the father of five, with three girls and two young boys at home.  My two boys, 6 today in fact, and 2, are doing it tough at home without their Dad about. Upon my return I intend to gift the bag and quilt to my boys as a reminder of Dad going away, and for them to have next time I deploy. 

This is my first land based deployment within an Army, Navy, and Airforce headquarters. I've been in the RAN for just over 15 years now, and was with the Army for 5 years before that. I've deployed many times on Ships, but never to the Middle East before.

With regards to your son, if he is not sure about the Army, he could perhaps consider the Navy.... we have cool white uniforms... but seriously, the Army Reserve is always a good way to go if someone isn't sure... you can train and gain experience without the larger commitment of full time service, and if he likes it there are avenues to become full time.  I was in the Army Reserve initially, before I moved into full time service and eventually transferred to the Navy. It was one of the best times as a young bloke, going to Uni and training in the Army on weeknights and weekends.

Again thank you very much for the work you guys do and for the laundry bag. It will stand out from the plain ones we are issued upon our arrival here and hopefully keep the sock monster from taking all my right socks...

All the best.

.....

Dear Sue,

I received your quilt today & I am blown away. It is amazing & exactly what I was after. It is the most perfect keepsake that recognises both my time over here and my wife's time at home without me. I showed her the quilt via skype & she loves it just as much as I do.

I honestly cannot thank you enough for the wonderful work you have done for me and no doubt many other people. Your ongoing support of the military is appreciated by all.

Many thanks 

......

Good afternoon Joan and Robin,

Oh my God! This is the best laundry bag on base.

Everyone keeps asking me where I got it. The Aussie's know where they come from, but the US guys here are just in awe.

The laundry over here is full of Hero bags on top of washing machines.

This is the most perfect bag ever. I left my pups with my mum back in Jan. I only have 1.5wks to go.

My bag arrived over a month ago, but my apologies for not thanking you sooner.

Not a day goes by where I don't miss my dogs, but at least I'll see them again very soon :)

Thanks so much for my bag, it honestly made my day. 

Kind regards,

.....

Dear Bridget,

Thank you for my beautiful laundry bag, it’s gorgeous! I love the bright orange colour and the fish design fabric.

It’s very well made and I think it is too beautiful to just be used for laundry! I have it displayed in my ‘room’, that way I can see it every day. Sometimes things come back for the wash damaged and ironically, I don’t want that to happen to my new bag just yet. I want to admire it a bit more. 

That is a lot of quilts and laundry bags you have helped make – very impressive! It would be very satisfying when you finish one and send it off.

I’m currently on a three month deployment and I am an unsworn member of the Australian Federal Police (not a police officer, but a civilian). I used to be in the Army so have experienced deployments before: the mess food, the walk to the shower block (the toilet is there too) in your thongs and the walk back squelching to your room.  It’s all a bit of an adventure sometimes. It can also be a bit monotonous and tedious as you can feel cut off and isolated, so a surprise parcel from home is really something!

How do you find the time to quilt and sew with caring for a family, working and everything?  It is impressive!  

Thank you again for the lovely bag (the Aussie flags are awesome!), and please know that your work is greatly appreciated.

Cheers and thanks,

.....

Hello Tanya

Recently I received a beautiful Quilt full of Marvel an DC characters on it.

Thank you so much for such an awesome quilt. I am so happy with it.

Before I forget, let me introduce myself. I am working in Dubai for 6 months and doing really well.

I like keeping fit and eating healthy, and also enjoy new training ideas on the internet.

Other than maintaining my fitness, I like watching TV series like Banshee, Game of Thrones...etc

Anyway, I want to thank you once again for your time spent on the Quilt and I am very lucky to receive it.

Kind regards,

.....

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