Grati-Tuesday 27th October 2020

 What does LEGO, Echidna's, an Australian themed quilt, the Kansas City Chiefs' and Quilt made of Flags (just to name a few) have in common?.... They are just some of the awesome laundry bags or quilts made by our talented volunteers and loved by their reciepents in this week's Grati Tuesday post...

I love that each week brings a vast array of themes in each of the laundry bags and quilts that make their way to their new home, and in turn we get a little window into the personalities of both our volunteers and reciepents. For me, just when I think I have a favourite, something completely out of left field will blow me away, a bit like the letter this week. 

Hope you enjoy the read as much as I do. Have a fab week friends!

.... 

Good Morning Alison,

I'm the new owner of LEGO girl!

I am in the process of writing you a letter as it is much more personal, however, I needed to get this email to you to share my excitement.

Firstly, thank you so much for the quilt. It is even better than I had imagined and I absolutely love it - honestly I think she even looks a little like me. I appreciate all the hard work and effort you went to in making her. I never would have guess it was so hard to source the fabric either, so thank you for all the effort you went to to fulfil my request. LEGO is one of my favourite hobbies and it's something that brings me a lot of joy - as you can imagine on a small boat bringing LEGO  to sea isn't really practical so having this quilt will bring me so much joy.

Thank you for telling me a little bit about you and your life. I'm honestly so impressed by the work you do. 

I am 32 years old and have been in the Navy for almost 11 years. i joined in 2010 after studying primary teaching for 2 years. I am a Maritime Warfare Officer, which is honestly a fancy word for someone who drives ships. In this role at the moment, I am the Navigating Officer on a patrol boat. My job is to berth the ship, create and execute the navigation plan, coordinate the program for the ship and train our junior officers (and a lot of other little jobs which happens when you only have a small crew). I have been in the Northern Territory for 18 months after driving a LHD (which is a 230m long helicopter landing dock).

My husband and I - who is also in the Navy, love it up in the NT - it is getting a bit warm at the moment though. We have been extremely lucky that COVID hasnt affected our lives up here that much. We did have to cancel our dream honeymoon to Northern Europe 1 week before we were due to leave as it was planned right as COVID hit - but we have our health and we can travel again in the future.

Again, thank you so much for the quilt. I will cherish it forever. 

.... 

Dear Janice,

I am writing to you to thank you for the amazing quilt you created for me.

I had only received it a few days ago but could not wait to open it in front of all my colleagues. Once I did I was overwhelmed with what a fantastic job you have done, particularly after I only provided you with some colours and no actual theme to go by. Loved the corps badge in the middle too.

It gave me great pleasure to read your letter as I believe it is important for us to know who the person is that has spent so much time, effort and love into making our special gifts.

I have been serving for nearly 20 years and have spent this time within the dental corps. My husband is also a serving FT member who has served a couple of times here and he too has his own hero quilt. Now I can say I have my own too.

We have three children, 17 and twin 10 year olds. You could say we are very busy with sports and tutoring and life in general. We are currently posted to Queensland where COVID restrictions are minimal and everyone is slowly moving back into normality again. 

I enjoy spending time with my family and staying fit by going to the gym and running a few times a week.

I cannot thank you enough, as receiving this quilt will be one of my absolute highlights from this deployment.

Kind Regards.

.... 

Good Morning,

Thank you so much for the laundry bags you have provided for our deployment. We really appreciate them and love all the unique designs.

Thank you

.... 

Hi Anne,

Firstly, thank you very much for the beautiful quilt and laundry bag. I didn't give you much inspiration to work with! Only the theme - Australia. 

You have done an outstanding job! The colours, material and workmanship are amazing! You must have dedicated a lot of time creating the quilt and laundry bag. I really enjoyed finiding the spider print material at the bottom of the laundry bag.

 You are right in saying the air conditioning in our rooms are very cold. Although some nights the outside low reaches mid to high 30's. I find myself putting on jumpers to keep warm. The day temps can reach low 50's with high humidity, so it is a challenge. The quilt and laundry bag have been especially useful and added some colour to an otherwise drab environment.

A little about myself. I currently live in Queensland. I have 2 boys aged 3 and 5, and my wife who also served in RAAF for 15 years. I have been in the RAAF as an aircraft technician for over 16 years and this is my 3rd deployment in the last 5 years. This is the first time I have received a quilt and laundry bag.

40 quilts is quite a feat! I know there are many grateful ADF members out there thankful for your dedication and work! The quilts are well received and a widely discussed topic among members on and returning from deployment. 

We have been confined to base for our rotation. This wears a little thin after a while, but as you know, it is for everyone's safety and no one complains. It could be a lot worse. I will most likely be back in Australia in the coming months, I will be very excited to return to my family. I know my boys will be ecstatic and I can't wait to see them.

Thank you again, take care.

.... 

Hi Ellen,

I hope you are well!

Thank you for the laundry bag! I really appreciate it and know it will go a long way on the trip. I received the brightly coloured one with the Echindna patch on it.

It is lovely to hear about you. I, myself, have just graduated as an Occupational Therapist and have an interest in Neuro rehab and hand therapy.

I hope everything goes well in the future. Stay safe.

Thank you again for the laundry bag.

Kind regards.

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Dear Marianne and Aussie Hero Quilts sewing group,

Thank you all so much for the quilt, it looks and feels amazing. 

It always brings so much happiness to everyone when a new quilt shows up. Everyone is so grateful for all the hard work you must put into these lovely designs.

I hope you are all well in these difficult times and hope everything returns to normal soon.

Best wishes.

.... 

Hi

I greatly apologise for the late reply for the fabulous quilt gift.

The whole experience with the ADF spread over 34 years this year. I have served my country proud and now I have a beautiful quilt.

I would like to say how proud and chuffed to be honoured and receive the wonderful quilt and thank you again for such a wonderful gift.

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Hi Fran,

Thank you for my quilt!

In typical military fashion, my room is beige with biege highlights so the quilt brightens it up immeasureably.

Regards

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Hi Jenny,

I would like to extend my greatest thanks to you for making my hero quilt. 

I absolutely love it and it's so well done! Myself and everyone else truly appreciate what you and your friends do and it puts a smile on all our faces even our here, thanks again.

.... 

G'day Wendy,

I received your quilt the other day and think it's amazing. I really appreciate the time and effort the ladies from Aussie Hero Quilts put into supporting the troops whilst we are away. You do such an amazing job of making the items suit the individual from their unit to company logo's.

The Hero Quilts have definitely evolved over the years. From my first deployment in 2007 to now I have received, my kids love the quilts and laundry bags and try to swoop them up straight away when I get home.

I live in New South Wales. It's an amazing place we live in, by deploying to these places it really makes me appreciate everything we have at home and not take our freedom for granted. 

Thanks again not just for making the quilt but your continued support to the troops.

Kind Regards.

.... 

G'day Ruth,

I received your laundry bag the other day and think it's amazing. I really appreciate the time and effort the ladies from Aussie Hero Quilts put into supporting the troops while we are away. 

You do such an amazing job of making the items to suit the individual from their unit to company logo's. The Hero Quilts have definitely evolved over the years.

Thanks again Ruth, and enjoy the rest of the year.

.... 

Good Evening Bronwyn,

Recently, we had a farewell party prior to being deployed and as a going away gift, we were given these awesome laundry bags which had great patterns/styles and to be honest, none of us were expecting it so it was a really great surprise. 

I would like to express my gratitude to all those that took part in organising and making these, especially Bronwyn, who made mine. 

All of us on deployment who grabbed these laundry bags have been using them and it really livens up the dark and gloomy laundry rooms that we have here on base.

Thanks again, love your work, very much appreciated.

Kindest Regards,

.... 

Hi Sheena,

The quilt is amazing!

I'm already in it and I've shown everyone here your amazing handy work.

I'm currently living with Americans so my team, the Kansas City Chiefs goes down really well here. They are jealous of course.

Thank you for all your efforts, it's perfect and thank you for sharing a little about yourself.

Be safe.

Kind regards.

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Hi there Janet and Keryn,

Just to let you know I received the quilt on Saturday.

Thank you so much, my husband absolutely loved it.

Thanks again, you guys are doing amazing work.

.... 

Good Morning Alison,

Sorry it has taken me a while to send this to you, I start typing then something with work always pops up.

My quilt is amazing and I absolutely love it. I may have gotten a little teary when I first pulled it out of the box and laid eyes on it. I never thought I would be getting something so gorgeous. Well done to you and your little team. 

I thought I would give you a bit of a back story my obsesssion with cows lol. First off, I grew up in New South Wales, on around 1200 acres, so the country is in my veins lol. We had a sheep and pasture farm. From this you would think I had a sheep obsession. Sorry you would be wrong lol.

Anyway, when I was in my early 20's I bought a farm and we had baby calves that I use to get up to at 4am before work to give them their milk and I would go off to work. As the calves started to get use to my, they started to nudge or start sucking on my fingers and I would go to work and tell my colleagues. That year, for my 25th birthday they got me a cake and put cow/calf figures all over this chocolate cake.  I took them home and displayed them. So for the next couple of years, they kept on getting me cow stuff and then my family caught on to it and since then I have loved cows and have added to my growing collection.

In my collection, I think I have nearly anything you can think of with cows. Dinner sets with salt and pepper shakers, a broom and dust pan, cookie jar in the shape of a cow. The list goes on.

All the best.

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Dear Beverly,

I received my laundry bag and quilt from you today and I wanted to tell you how appreciative I am for your time and efforts. They are lovely and something I will cherish for years to come as a momento of my time on deployment. Everyone is always excited to recieve their bag and quilt as they are a reminder that not only are we thought about by our families when we are away but also from other members of the community.

A little background of my own, I am a mother of two, my daughter is 23 years old and my son is 20. My husband has just completed 20 years of service in the Army. Needless to say, my family has seen it's fair share of deployments and time away from loved ones.

Thank you for your support and your passion to support defence members with your skill at sewing. Please know that you and all the volunteers at Aussie Hero Quilts bring a smile and heart felt appreciation from everyone who recieves your lovely gifts.

Bless you and your family.