Happy Tuesday Friends!
A very beautiful collection of wonderful sentiments, photos and stories behind the quilt and laundry bag requests. Hope you like reading it as much as we did!!!
Grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy some well deserved gratitude!
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Hi Beverley C ,
Thank you. You are a wonderful human being. I was so very delighted to receive your gift and I admire the care and craftsmanship you put in to it. I find it deeply gratifying to know that there are such generous people out there. I note that all the components of the Solomons flag are hand stitched, including the stars which must have been fiddly work. I assure you it will get well used for many years.
I’ve lived in Townsville for a couple of decades now and I have a much loved wife and four kids. My two kids live in Victoria with their Mum, the other two are my wife’s, they’ve left home so we’ve just become empty nesters.
I have always wanted to do a Wildlife Carer’s course. Having three dogs and a cat and a very small yard makes it a bit difficult. One day I will do it regardless. Many years ago I collided with a kangaroo but the joey was thrown free. It was very small but bounced about unsteadily on its feet. I took it to a local wildlife carer who nursed it until it was old enough to be released. I’m particularly interested in Fruit Bats. I love the idea of a flying mammal. They’re supposedly very caring mothers and quite intelligent. 239 rescues is an incredible achievement, I bet the feed costs alone are prohibitively expensive.
Before I left Townsville I searched everywhere for a laundry bag. All the usual chain stores and Spotlight but couldn’t find anything that wasn’t cheap looking and made in Bangladesh or some other exploited country. When I got here they gave me a small machine made nylon thing.
I am extremely grateful for your work and your kind thoughts.
All the best to you and yours.
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Dear Lyn K,
I was honoured to receive your Quilt today when I returned from leave on-board HMAS Stalwart.
It will take pride of place on my rack (bed) when we deploy again in a couple of weeks and it will come in handy as we will be going to the northern hemisphere where they are moving into their colder months.
I am on-board HMAS Stalwart, and my job on-board is to help produce all the meals for the ships company.
We are based out of Rockingham, which is one hour south of Perth, where I live with my wife and two of our five children are still living at home, the older three all live within 30 minutes of us.
I have been in the navy now for 23 years.
Thank you for making me this beautiful quilt, you have done a remarkable job.
PS…Go Swans
Kind Regards,
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Good Morning Joy H,
Thank you so much for the amazing quilt and laundry bag, they are the most beautiful pieces of art I have ever received.
I thought I would let you know a little about me, since you have so kindly let me know a little about yourself as well.
I have been in the Navy for 11 years, I moved to Nowra at the beginning of my career and that’s where I meet my partner. I have two sons, one who is 5 and the other who is 10 years old and they also loved seeing your amazing work, might need to hide it from them so I don’t have to share.
I joined the Navy from Melbourne straight after I completed high school and where the rest of my family still lives and I love to return to visit often. HMAS Sydney is my third ship that I have served on and I have been on a number of deployments which has seen me travel a considerable amount which is great, but nothing is a great as being at home with my partner and sons.
Thank you again
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Hi Heather B,
Firstly, thank you so much for the creativity, time and skill put into my fabulous new quilt!!!!!
I have been force assigned to 10 operations overseas. I know I am in the Navy, but most of those have been on land with Army. Long story.
Anyways, your family has an impressive military background, that’s for sure!
And, thank you for your service!
Warmest,
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Good morning Jan-Maree and Team,
I am on HMAS Brisbane, I just wanted to say thank you so much for my lovely new laundry bag, I was lucky enough to get a space themed, colourful beauty that I am so happy with. It is a design that I would have picked if I was making one myself (although far superior quality to anything I could manufacture, lol).
Unfortunately my bag did not have a letter inside so I can’t thank the creator personally, but may I pass on my gratitude to you and you’re entire organisation. I have served in the ADF for 21 years and was lucky enough to receive a laundry bag once before, but it is always a special moment when such a lovely, handmade delight is presented.
Thanks again, please know that you are truly appreciated by all of us!
Kind regards,
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Hi Anna C,
I am sorry for the delay in expressing my gratitude for the amazing laundry bag you made me!
The attention to detail and quality of it is amazing!
Haha you definitely did pick the right rugby code, I was quite chuffed to see that detail put into the laundry bag!
Receiving it has honestly been the highlight of my Invictus journey so far! To know that there are amazing people like yourself, happy to put in hours of work for someone they don’t know, honestly warms my heart!
I’ll be taking it with me to Germany. Although, I’ve had to hide it until I go, as my 18 month old daughter has been trying to wear it as a cape.
Thank you again!
Kind regards,
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Morning Anna C,
I've been away on course so finally back to the ship and able to receive the amazing doona and bag you whipped up! I definitely had a massive smile on my face when I opened it up and saw it, you best believe I took a photo and sent it to the family straight away, they’ll love it
You did indeed find the right person and mum, our gorgeous boy was a gentle but loving boy, may have brought a tear to my eye when I read that the quilt was for him, my girl is a blessing to have and I love her dearly so Thank you again for including her in the bag! It’ll keep me close to her when I’m away on deployments as you would understand that dogs can be a massive impact on your life, she’s definitely been there for me through also so Thank you again 
Was very nice being able to get info about the person that made the quilt, I myself love gaming as most greenies do, been into anime as well just like your daughter so when you said the outfits I knew exactly who you were on about, no doubt the cosplay came out wonderful!
Thank you once again for my quilt, it’ll be something I’ll cherish for my career and even when I leave.
Kind regards,
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The following are 2 happy recipients being presented their quilts.
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Hi Fran T,
Thank you so much for my beautifully made laundry bag! I’ve used it this morning to do my laundry. It was very thoughtful of you to put the 2 scriptures and poppies on it as I love everything biblical and poppies reminds me of the sacrifice many made to defence our freedom and world peace. My husband is from England so we wear our poppies on Remembrance Day and ANZAC Day every year. They carry deep meaning for me – so thank you! We have only one daughter and she lives in Hawaii with her partner.
Thank you for using your God given gift in sewing (and caring/ encouraging) to bless many people with the quilts and laundry bags that you sew. I am sure they are greatly appreciated. I know I will treasure mine and it will be going to any courses/training exercises/ deployments with me!
Thanks and blessings,
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This is a message from the CO of HMAS Brisbane. We recently gave them 140 random laundry bags for which they were very grateful.
Jan-Maree,
Thank you again for the laundry bags, they have been well received. We sailed from Sydney this morning for deployment and will (hopefully) be back just in time for Christmas.
Yours aye,
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Dear Bobbie S (and the Mystery BOMers),
I was thrilled to receive the Aussie Quilt recently and I thank you for your efforts and the other members to make these quilts.
It is really appreciated and something I will always cherish.
Kind Regards,
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Hi Sheena B,
Just a follow up on the fantastic Aussie Quilt that you made for me. I decided to show (give) the Richmond tigers quilt to my special needs daughter for her 28th birthday. She absolutely loves it and is very happy to “share” it with Dad! She has been taking it to bed with her so that it can go on top of the covers. It’s such a shame that the tigers did not make it to the finals, so we are using it to watch some of the other games instead.
Once again thank you so much; as tigers supporters, it has brought much joy to our household. Deep down I know it’s mine and in recognition of my service, but I am very happy to share it for the right reasons.
Kind regards,
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Hello Kerry B,
I have just recently received a quilt from yourself, Joan B, and Jan-Maree B. I cannot thank you enough for this gesture. I am absolutely thrilled and honoured that three complete strangers would go to this trouble for me. Thank you so much.
My wife and daughter were at the Sydney Quilt Show where my daughter submitted a quilt for judging. They came across Jan-Maree's display, and everything happened from there.
My father served in WW2. He was a Rat of Tobruk. He was wounded in action in August 1941. He sustained a severe bullet wound to his upper lip, which required plastic surgery. You can imagine what that was like in 1941 at an Army hospital. He then went to New Guinea in 1943. He was a schoolteacher all his working life, and passed away in 1996. Dad was mentioned in despatches.
My war was Vietnam, and, like so many others, it affected me mentally.
Thank you again for your gift to me. It is appreciated so much
Best Wishes
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Dear Bobbie S,
Recently, Australian Army Chaplain Bruce delivered an 'Aussie Hero' quilt to me at my home. I understand from your letter that accompanied the quilt that you were very much involved in both coordinating the making and then the making of the quilt. Perhaps the easiest way to explain the circumstances that led to my receiving the quilt would be for me to include my 'thank you' note to BH.
Chaplain Bruce. This is a short (and very inadequate) note to thank you for going to the not inconsiderable effort to deliver the quilt to me. To say I was surprised would be an understatement.
GC should (and will) be congratulated for organising this, as I said, not for me, but far more importantly, for the non-commissioned members of the 5 Sqn detachment who were involved in the Caribou search and rescue. I recommended a number of them up for awards at the time, and (as GC says in his letter you delivered with the quilt), it was scandalous that none of them were recognised for actions that, in more than one instance, were a very long way beyond the normal call of duty.
For me, the initial rescue of the survivors and in the days after, the recovery of the dead, including taking some back to their very remote villages for burial, was an extraordinary experience in more ways than one. (Believe it or not, this included GC and I coming 'under fire' if that's the right way to describe having around thirty very unfriendly tribesmen launch a volley of arrows at our aircraft as we lifted off from their village while searching for the crashed Caribou.),
I was lucky enough to witness some amazing things, both from a professional/operational perspective as well as in what might be labelled 'cross cultural human interaction' at its best.
Regards and best wishes, and thank you again for delivering the quilt to me.
Also included with the quilt was a letter from Jan-Maree B from Aussie Hero Quilts. In that letter, she mentioned how she first came to learn about the American organisation that gives quilts to injured American servicemen and veterans. Perhaps unusually for a recipient of one of the quilts you help make, I have some knowledge of that organisation.
Some years ago, my wife and I had a six hour wait for a connecting flight in Seattle. It turned out to a very fortuitous delay, for a charter flight of WW2 and Korean War veterans returning from an overseas battlefield tour came in to Seattle during our stay, and (to put it mildly!) much was made of their return, with a (very large) guard or honour of 'bikie' Vietnam veterans (all in their 'bikie' leathers), uniformed soldiers, sailors and airmen from local military bases (who had all volunteered their time on their days off) pushing the elderly veterans in their wheelchairs through the arrivals area, and a large group of school age dancers who put on a very professional Andrews Sisters/1940s dance performance.
After all that, the young dancers were all given a quilt to present to each veteran. I have to admit to that being a very emotional moment for, not just my wife and I, but many of the Americans around us who had stopped to watch the whole ceremony.
Would you please pass on my (and my wife's) thanks to all those who were involved in making both the quilt that I received and those quilts going to the other RAAF airmen who were involved in the incident that led to GC asking Jan-Maree to present the quilts to us. My wife, who is a very adept quilter herself, has asked me to congratulate you all on the high quality of the quilt.
Regards and best wishes,
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Until next week keep your letters, emails and photos coming in.
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