Happy New Year everyone!

It is kind of hard to believe that the first of January is almost here again. I think it is true that the older you get the faster time flies. 

What a year we have had. We have surpassed 16000 quilts since we started and also almost 34500 laundry bags. 

We made quilts and bags for the Invictus Games Team, we supported our troops on Operation Kudu, Operation Lilia, Operation Paladin, Operation Accordion, Operation Aslan, Operation Mazurka and others as well. We have sent bags and quilts to our men and women in the ADF all over the country and wherever they serve. 

We have looked after those in compassionate need, and those who have come to the end of their service career.  We have also looked after the families whose loved one has passed on, reminding them that no-matter the cause of death, their loved one's service is valued and appreciated. 

We also enjoyed a very successful Annual Thank You Weekend, personally I believe it was the best we have ever had. 

As you celebrate tonight, please spare a thought for all of our troops who are not at home with their loved ones as they are serving our country, either overseas or around Australian. 

So here is to 2024.  Let's hope we can be as productive and supportive as we have always been.  May New Year's Eve next year find us all happy, healthy and celebrating another great year. 

 

Weekly Dispatch 29th December 2023

Hello Friday!!!

Another week of Amazing Quilts and Laundry Bags being sent off to our ADF pers!!

I think we can all agree, a great display of quilts and laundry bags, yet again from our amazing volunteers....

Please enjoy!!!

🌟 🌟 🌟

This week we dispatched 11 Quilts which takes our yearly total to 844 and our grand total to 16023!!

We dispatched 9 Laundry Bags which takes our yearly total to 1,671 and our grand total is 34,407!! 

Sue N

Philomena

Joy H

Janis K

Cheryl F

Bridget R

Bridget R

Bridget R, embroideries Inge C and appliqued portrait by Jan-Maree B

Chocolyn Laugh a Lot Ladies

Gayle W

Jenny N

Laura C

Lynn F using blocks by Dorothy C, quilted by Philomena H and embroidery by Keryn M

Lynn F, quilted by Wendy F and embroidery by Keryn M

Made and quilted by Carolyn M with embroideries by Keryn M

Philomena H

Rachel B and Toni F and quilted by Philomena H

Toni F

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Grati-Tuesday - 26th December 2023

Happy Tuesday Friends!

We hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying a relaxing Boxing Day!!! Here are some amazing letters of gratitude for you to read.

Grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy some well deserved gratitude!

...  

Hi Bev L,

I was recently deployed to the Solomon Islands, and I received the lovely quilt from you. 

First of all, I just wanted to say thank you for the quilt itself. It truly is far beyond anything I could have expected. I am so grateful that you took those disparate thoughts of mine, and turned them into the beautiful piece of art which you have created.

I can tell you that during the deployment (and previous ones I have been on), receiving these quilts is a true highlight for all. Whenever we see that one has arrived, we all gather around while the recipient opens it, then take photos as they proudly display it to a round of applause. Your efforts really do make such an incredible difference to us whilst we are over there, and we deeply appreciate all of your hard work.  

Thank you again, not only for the quilt, but for all that you do for our service men and women. I still cannot quite wrap my head around just how perfect for me mine is, and I know it will become a treasured item within my family. 

Have a great Christmas and New Year’s and all the best for the future.

... 

Good Afternoon Jo,

 

Thank you so much for your beautifully designed quilt. I absolutely love it!! It has made me smile and the colours and design are just perfect!

 

I have been deployed in Butterworth, Malaysia for 3 months doing a security rotation. It was an incredible experience and I really loved being away and immersing myself into a different lifestyle. 

 

Like you mentioned, I am very lucky with the job I do and get to meet and interact with all these important people. They all have their unique quirks and jokes and that’s what makes it so enjoyable! I grew up watching NRL as my dad is an avid Broncos lover so never really watched or knew much AFL until I joined the RAAF. I started playing AFL a few years ago when a lady asked to fill in for their team as they were short on numbers and since then I’ve learnt the proper rules and love playing! This year the club I play for in Canberra had 3 women’s teams!! It was the first ever club to have enough women to fill all three teams every week so like you, I really love how more women are playing traditionally male dominated games.

 

I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 

 

Thank you again for your time in making the quilt I really love and appreciate it.

 

Kindest regards,

...  

Dear Philomena, and Jan Maree,

Thank you so much for my fabulous quilt. I love it. 

Especially the flowers, the sun/sun, the ants, the greens, and the book title! 

You utterly nailed my request and it's even better than I hoped. The quilt has brightened my room as I recover from surgery and lifted my spirits after physio sessions.

It has also been welcome as something else to talk about with staff and visitors in a boring hospital room and the labels on the back have sparked new conversations . 

Philomena , I really appreciate you personally delivering it as well and our friendly chat.

With kindest regards,

...  

Hi Kirsten O,

Just a quick email to say thank you so much for the quilt you made me.

It is everything I could have asked for and more. I am coming up to 20 years of service next year and this is something I will treasure for many years to come and will be a beautiful memory in the years after I finishing serving (not anytime soon I don’t think!)

My kids also loved it and I hope it will be something that will get passed down through generations to come as a memory and keepsake.

Thank you again for all the time and effort that has gone into making this quilt for me, it is very much appreciated.

Kind Regards

...  

Dear Deirdre B-L,

I received this package from you, and I haven’t stopped grinning since.

Back in 2018, I received a quilt for my daughter and was amazed by the quality and effort put into it by the incredible ladies of AHQ.

Five years later and once again I’m blown away by what you have produced, and I look forward to showing my son his new quilt.

I chose African animals because he has a love for the Lion King movie, especially the elephants and lions. 

Everything on the quilt is perfect, from the placement of the animals to the design of the writing, and the back. I struggle to put into words how much I love it.

I, myself was born and raised in Perth. I’m currently posted to Darwin, but I hope to post back to Perth in the near future, to be closer to my parents, who still reside there to this day.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Once again, Deirdre, I will be forever thankful and appreciative of the gift you have made for my son, and for the letter that accompanied it.

...  

Good Afternoon Rita J,

 

THANK YOU so much for the wonderful Aussie Hero Quilt. I am so glad that I was lucky enough to be the recipient of your first quilt – it is stunning.

I have just finished up my job. After a very long 3 years, I received your package through the mail on my last day, brought it home, and had a well-earned rest on the lounge under it. I have a feeling it will be the first of many!

 

The Aussie Hero Quilt is a wonderful initiative - please know that your support of servicemen and women is truly appreciated.

 

I wish you a very safe, and enjoyable Christmas and New Year.

...  

Presentation of an amazing quilt to a very happy recipient!!!

... 

Until next week keep your letters, emails and photos coming in.  

Tuesday's would be so totally boring without them!

💟💟💟💟💟💟💟

Merry Christmas one and all....

I wrote the following poem in 2014 and nine years later it is still very appropriate. So many of our serving men and women are on duty away from home at the moment. Perhaps they are overseas on deployment, or they might be helping in flooded areas or storm damaged towns and perhaps they are on duty elsewhere keeping watch to ensure that our deployed folk are kept safe and all of our members on operation, wherever they be, are getting everything that they need. 

Here is a huge Merry Christmas to all of our serving personnel, from the most junior to the most senior. This comes with a very big and sincere thank you for your service. 

 I wish you a Merry Christmas, wherever you are...

 

How will you celebrate Christmas this year?

Will you be in the midst of those you hold dear?

Will you listen to carols, will you set your table

With the prettiest plates, just as nice as you are able?

Will you travel to Grandma’s, or visit a friend

Will you accept the invite someone else did send?

Have you bought all the presents, are they wrapped ‘neath the tree

In bright paper and ribbons so pretty to see?

Is your big meal of the day dinner or lunch

Do you do both, and all day you will munch?

Do you have roast turkey, or chicken, or maybe some prawns

Does the amount to be done see you up with the dawn?

 

Well can you please do me a favour wherever you are

And remember our troops serving both near and far.

Those in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force

Must not forget Defence civilians, of course.

Though all of them are where they need to be

To serve our great country, that means you and me,

They can’t be at home with the ones they hold dear

But are serving Australia both far and near.

They might have a Barbie, seafood or roast on a spit

And if they are lucky the ration of beer will be quite a hit.

They might have presents sent by family and friends

And probably care packages the Aussie public sends

But it won’t be the same as they would like it to be;

At home with their loved ones and family.

 

So please when you sit at your table this year

With those that you love and hold most dear

Spare a thought, raise your glass, remember some way

Our great Aussie Heroes who we should thank every day

For doing their duty and serving us all

So our nation is safe and we can stand tall.

Merry Christmas to all of you, whether near or far,

but especially our Heroes wherever you are.

 

By Jan-Maree Dec 14

Air Force News

 Hi all

Just thought I would share a lovely news article that was written about our Aussie Hero Dinner and published in the latest RAAF news. Enjoy the read.

If you can't read it clearly here, then you can click on this link or click on the picture to go to the actual paper online. 

Happy stitching!

Jan-Maree 

Weekly Dispatch 22nd December 2023

Hello Friday!!!

Another week of Amazing Quilts and Laundry Bags being sent off to our ADF pers!!

I think we can all agree, a great display of quilts and laundry bags, yet again from our amazing volunteers....

Please enjoy!!!

🌟 🌟 🌟

This week we dispatched 28 Quilts which takes our yearly total to 833 and our grand total to 16,012!!

We dispatched 37 Laundry Bags which takes our yearly total to 1,662 and our grand total is 34,398!!

 

Ann S

Ann S

Belinda P

Belinda P embroidery by Sandra P

Belinda P embroidery by Sandra P

Bev C and Geoff C

Bridget R

Bridget R

Bridget R

Bridget R

Bridget R

Bridget R

Cheryl F

Cheryl F

Colleen S

Colleen S

Colleen S

Colleen S

Colleen S

Colleen S

Colleen S

Deirdre B-L

Deni G

Ellen N

Ellen N and embroidery by Joan B

Ellen N and embroidery by Joan B

Garage Girls designed and prepared by Bev F, and constructed by Gail M and Sheena B

Jacqui D

Janine C

Janis K

Jo-Anne McV

Jo-Anne McV

Kathryn W

Kerry B, quilted by Alison C and Embroidery by Keryn M

Keryn M

Kirsten O and quilted by Philomena H

Lyn R

Lyn R

Lyn R

Lyn R

Lynn F from blocks made by Dorothy C, Quilted by Philomena H and embroidery by Joan

Lynn F from blocks made by Dorothy C, quilted by Philomena H and embroidery by Keryn M

Pennie T

Quilter Unknown

Rachel B and Jan-Maree B

Sally R

Sally R

Shirley D

Shirley D

Toni D

Toni F

Crescent Head Quilters

Heather B, embroideries by Inge

Cathie J

Hilary P

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