Tuesday 11 May 2021

Grati -Tuesday 11th May 2021

                                                                             Hey friends!

Hope your all having a wonderful week wherever this Tuesday should find you. 

After a lovely weekend, I am slowly cruising into the new week and whilst Monday brought a beautiful day of sunshine, I'm pretty sure the rest of the week in Sydney is forecast to bring some rain. I'm not complaining, and what better way to grab a cuppa and scroll through this weeks wonderful notes.

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G'day Joy,

I'd like to thank you for making and sending a wonderful quilt to me here in Middle East. Although it's coming to summer and may not be used to much longer, I'll certainly be sending it home for use there.

I am currently deployed on OP Mazurka, as part of the Multinational Force Observers, helping to maintain peace. You may see that my title is Cultural Recreational Coordinator. This means that I run tours for MFO members to have a better understanding of the history of each nation, thereby enhancing the ability to facilitate peace between them. It also helps maintain the morale of the members here.

Thank you again for the quilt, and kind words in your letter, it was a great booster to my personal morale when it arrived.

All the best for the future.

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Hi Chris,

I am in the Royal Australian Navy. I wanted to thank you for the amazing laundry bag you made, this is going to help me a lot while I am at sea!

I am currently in New South Wales, helping with Operation COVID-19 Assist by helping people coming from overseas that are being quarantined in hotels.

I usually work with several helicopters at an airport/base. My family still live in NSW and I try to visit them as much as I can and surprise them sometimes in my uniform. I have a younger brother, who is 19, and starting his career in being a fitness trainer, at the moment he's working with my father helping him build awnings.

Soon I will be posting to HMAS Canberra, our biggest ship and sailing for 5 months, so my new laundry bag will definitely be a prized possession of mine.

Kindest Regards.

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Carole from Aberdeen Care Package Cadets presented a Vietnam Veteran with an Aussie Hero Quilt recently.

We are told it was much appreciated and totally unexpected. For those of you are not familiar with the Aberdeen Care Package Cadets, this small group of High School Students, coordinated by Carole and her husband Bob, have been sending 100's of care packages to the troops for years. 

You can check them out on Facebook. Well done all concerned.



....

Good Morning Sonia,

I am the lucky recipient of the laundry bag that you made. Thank you very much for spending so much time on it. I really appreciate the bag itself and the fact there are people out there who take the time to make our day a little brighter.

I saw the laundry bag out of a few and I really liked the fishing theme, the earthy colours of it, how well it's made and the pattern inside. It reminds me of being on a wharf somewhere and having a relaxing time. It's perfect thank you.

I am the Petty Officer Medic on board. We have been at sea for a few weeks and won't be home for some time. I really enjoyed reading your letter. My job is great. It can be hard, but many times I've just thought, wow, I'm in a great position and lucky to be here doing the job. 

I will treasure this bag, it's being put to great use and it brightens my day.

Thank you and I hope you have a good day.

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Dear Pennie,

Thank you so much for the laundry bags you've sent me. Well done.

Our soldiers, sailors and air men and women are thrilled every time I get to hand out the laundry bags - I put them at the front of the room and allow them to choose one that suits their personality and taste - no one fails to be delighted with what they receive and all are thankful to you and the others who make these bags with so much love.

Thanks again.

God Bless and thanks again for all you do.

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Hello Sonia,

I wanted to thank you so much for the laundry bag that you made and sent to HMAS Ballarat for her upcoming deployment! I have always wanted one and managed to just miss out previously. Not this time though, I got the pick of them all! I love the colourful pattern and sailing ship - a lot of my colleagues are very jealous!

If you aren't tracking, we are currently on a deployment through Indo-Pacific. It has been a busy couple of weeks already. We contributed to the Search and Rescue efforts of the missing Indonesian Submarine. For four days, we along with 10 other warships, drove around looking for debris and survivors.

Thank you again.

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Good Morning Jan-Maree,

I recently received an amazing quilt from your team Jo, Jean, Pam and Di, who have done an amazing job. I have also received a laundry bag from Ruth, who also did some sensational work.

I am currently deployed on Op Accordion and located in the Middle East. The scenery here is very bleak and the base facilities could definitely use some TLC. The quilt and laundry bag that you have created for me has made such a difference to the appearance of my room, and I think of it more like a piece of art.

I really appreciate the work you have put into the creation of my new artwork and it will go everywhere with me for the rest of my working career. I am totally amazed at this level of work that you all put  in and really appreciate everything you are all doing to make our lives better than they would otherwise be.

Thank you for the support.

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Hi Gayle,

I am just writing back to you from the Middle East to thank you for the amazing quilt you made for me. I am stoked with how it turned out, you did a great job!

I live in Queensland and am just over half way through my stint here, starting to miss home a little, but I did get to spend Christmas at home before I left, so I can't really complain to much compared to some.

Receiving gifts like your quilts really does make a difference and are invaluable. I really appreciate what you've done and I'm sure every other solider would say the same thing.

Cheers.

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Good Morning Noelene,

Approximately January 2020 I requested a laundry bag to be made with ANZAC theme whilst I was deployed in the Middle East.

Due to COVID restrictions by the time I received the laundry bag, it was late last year. I was cleaning up my shelves at home, and found the box and card you sent.

I am currently posted to Western Australia and hoping to move to Queensland at the end of the year.

I have been in the Army for 19 years after enlisting in 2002. I started off in the Northern Territory for 3.5 years then moved to Queensland for 11 years before moving to Western Australia and have been here the past 5 years.

I am a quartermaster (logistics) and thoroughly enjoy what I do. I have a son who lives in Queensland (from a previous marriage), he is 14 and a 7 year old daughter and 5 year old son with my new partner.

The pandemic has certainly caused a lot of limited travel so it has been hard to get back to QLD to visit family. I was lucky enough to see my son in December last year for a quick visit as I had not seen him since Sept 2019. I recently saw my parents in late March this year and I had not seen them since Feb 2019.

So we are looking to relocating back to QLD at the end of the year to be closer to family.

Well I hope this email finds you and I hope you and your family are well and safe.

I love the laundry bag you designed and made for me, it is so beautiful and thoughtful of you.

Kind Regards.

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I think we can all agree - full of the warm and fuzzies! I hope you enjoyed the read and a great rest of the week.

Till then.

Happy Sewing Everyone - Alex!



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