Whilst I was up to elbows in rehab and physiotherapy, there was some excitement in Melbourne that could not go unreported so here are the details courtesy of Nicole W.....
Long-time readers of the Aussie Heroes blog may recall a
story some time ago about one of our young sewing volunteers, Jessica L. Jess attended the 2017 AHQ Volunteers thank
you weekend, and showcased her quilts and laundry bags (for
a recap of Jess’s story – click here).
Earlier this year, a group of quilters who recognised Jess’s
great work, nominated her for the 2019 Australasian Quilt Convention Shining
Light Award, an award that recognises the achievements of a junior quilter and
sewer.
The submission acknowledged Jess’s community
work, and in particular, the work she did for her Year 9 Personal Best project,
for which she made a quilt and 27 laundry bags that ultimately were sent to
Australian defence force personnel serving here and overseas.
We are thrilled for Jess that she was announced as a winner
of this award at the AQC Gala Dinner on Saturday 13 April 2019.
Jess is such a delightfully articulate, warm and friendly
young woman, who is kind, hard-working, and clearly very talented. She made an excellent acceptance speech at
the dinner, in which she acknowledged her inspirational Mum, Melissa. Melissa is one of AHQ’s prolific makers of
beautiful quilts and laundry bags, all-round kind and wonderful woman, as well
as an outstanding role model.
Special thanks to Sue and Sandy, owners of SewingConnection in Pakenham, for their continuing support of Melissa and
Jess in their AHQ sewing, and for co-nominating Jess with us. And of course to
Jan-Maree for endorsing the nomination!
We are thrilled that Jess has received this well-deserved
recognition. Congratulations Jess (and
well done Melissa)!
Nicole and Caroline
From Jess
On the 13th April, my mum and I attended the AQC Gala
Dinner with Caroline and Nicole (two other volunteers from AHQ). I feel incredibly humbled that I was
nominated by Jan-Maree, Caroline and Nicole for the Shining Light Junior
Quilter award. The nomination was
supported by Sue and Sandy from my local sewing shop “Sewing Connection”.
The reason I was nominated came about really because of
my school project sewing for Aussie Hero Quilts. In the space of a couple of months I made a
quilt for a deployed service woman and almost 30 random laundry bags. This was an ambitious project and a huge
achievement for me considering I was new to sewing at that time. Since then I continue when I can to help my
mum with laundry bags. We’re currently
working on laundry bags for Townsville.
The night was great fun and I can’t tell you how nervous
I was when the award was being announced.
When the presenter from Expertise Events started to tell my story to the
audience I couldn’t believe it. Walking
through the audience there were so many words of encouragement. It was overwhelming. But SO positive. They all seemed to be really happy to see a
teenager pursuing the craft they all enjoy.
Which I guess is what the award is all about.
After the presentation I was approached by a gentleman
who was deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 and received a laundry bag whilst
there. It was wonderful to chat with him
and he reinforced the value and importance of why we all do what we do.
I wasn’t expecting an award when I got involved with
Aussie Hero Quilts. There are so many volunteers who all do an incredible
job. It is a bonus to be acknowledged
for the work that I’ve done. One thing
I’ve learned through all of this is that I get a lot of satisfaction creating
and making a laundry bag; figuring out how I’m going to put it together, the
colours, etc. I get even more
satisfaction though in knowing that something I’ve made brings joy and comfort
to another person.
By Jess L
Huge thanks to Caroline and Nicole for being the driving force behind nominating our young star for this award and for being there to cheer her on when she was awarded the prize. I so wish I could have been there but I can't think of anyone better to represent me.
Till next time... keep spreading the word and happy stitching!
Jan-Maree xx
Huge thanks to Caroline and Nicole for being the driving force behind nominating our young star for this award and for being there to cheer her on when she was awarded the prize. I so wish I could have been there but I can't think of anyone better to represent me.
Till next time... keep spreading the word and happy stitching!
Jan-Maree xx
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