Happy Mail Wednesday 27 March

Welcome to Happy Mail Wednesday again.  

Some lovely things to show you tonight so here goes.

First up some special happy mail.  

This message was left on facebook for us by one of our special Aussie Heroes who is about to return home.  He has been one of our biggest supporters and has been receiving and distributing our laundry bags for us where ever he can.  AND he has clocked up over 37 years of service in the RAAF!  A real gent and an absolute Aussie Hero!

Hi to all the ladies, gents and children who are a part of the Aussie Hero Quilters. I am just finishing my tour overseas and would like to pass on my thanks to you all for the efforts you have put in making the Quilts and Laundry Bags for us. It is very heartwarming to get so much support from you all, I can say that coming home to my room with my Quilt on my bed gives me pride in the Aussie spirit of mate ship and support for one another. Thanks guy's my quilt will be on display in my home as a reminder of the great work and support you are giving to the Aussies serving overseas. Keep up the good work.

A hard act to follow but here is a good story and it goes like this....

Janelle made this awesome helicopter themed quilt and sent me a picture.  Well of course we had to try and find an appropriate person to give it to so I emailed my handsome friend here (on the left) and asked him if he was able to find just the right person to present it to.  He wrote back and said he felt he had found just the right person if Janelle didn't mind him giving her quilt to an American.  This lovely young lady is currently on an exchange posting to a unit in Australia.  Whilst here she has been deployed to Operation Slipper.  She is "over there" working on helicopters.   Now my feeling, and Janelle agreed with me, is that if that is what the fellows over there think is the right thing to do, then that is just fine by me.  Americans have given our guys and girls quilts in the past and it is so nice that Janelle has given our blokes the opportunity to return the favour.

So here is a picture of an Adopted Aussie Hero and her new quilt.  
Looks like a perfect match to me!  Don't you think so?

Now time for some of our more traditional Happy Mail.

These three quilt tops came from Jill Maree plus some VERY WELCOME prepaid satchels from her daughter! Thanks to both of you.

The next two quilt tops came from Carol S who also supplied the backings.  

Love that curvy piecing.  Very clever!

We received a few more BOM blocks for March.  I am loving these.  If I thought they were more popular and you would send in more I would do this again.  I can just see a whole quilt filled with Aussie sayings or quilts with just one row of sayings somewhere.  These are so much fun.  

This first one is from Tania DM and this is her first gift to AHQ!  I love it Tania.  You can do as many of these as you like.

And these ones came from Jeann - more fun!  

Two cool choice phrases from Janine

I know there are more of these BOMs on their way from one or two other brave souls.  I am almost impatient to get them so that I can do something with all of them.  FUN!!

And now for some Happy eMails!

Hi Terry, I would like to thank you for the quilt. It looks fantastic and fits perfectly on my rack. I can see a lot of work has gone into it. Thank you for the lovely letter also. 

Hi Jan-Maree, 

I thought I would let you know I have received my package and I absolutely love my quilt, thank you so much, I have written a letter back to Carol and I will put it in the next mail drop we have have.  It was quite a coincidence that Carol spoke about her rescue dog Milo, as I am a massive lover of animals and have 2 rescue dogs and a cat myself and am hoping to help out at an animal shelter when I return to Australia. My friends on the ship asked how she knew I liked animals, to which I said Carol didn't know it was just a nice coincidence :)

If possible could you please pass on the message that I received my quilt? Once sent the mail might take a while to get back to Australia.

Once again thank you very much and if I can figure out how to get a photo onto the defence computer, I will send a photo of my quilt put to good use on my rack :)

Kind Regards,

Good morning Jan-Maree,

I would like to sincerely thank you for the wonderful Laundry Bags you sent over to our Unit. It is such a fantastic organization that you have founded. I was truly blown away when I received the boxes. The deployed personnel were very grateful and have put the bags to good use already.

If at all possible I would like to request a few more as some of the Unit did miss out and they were such a big hit with all concerned.

Once again I cannot thank you enough for the thoughtful gesture. It is the little things like this that really have an effect on moral. It is an amazing feeling to know that a complete stranger appreciates the sacrifice and dedication to service. 

Thank you.

And this is my favourite email for the day because this is one of the most purely fun quilts I have made.  I emailed this fellow to see if his quilt had turned up on Toowoomba and this is the response I received.  It just made me smile!

OMG I did:) Thank you so much for that. I love it and I can't wait for show it to my families:) You are guys are so kind and thoughtful. I'm so proud to be in the Navy.

Till next time.................keep spreading the word and happy stitching!

Happy Mail 6 March

There has been lots of lovely mail arriving this week.   I am really enjoying the last of the February BOM blocks as they arrive.  I think these are going to make some awesome quilts.  

First up these blocks from Janine

Liz J

Dorothy

Lynn has been sewing in overdrive again and sent in these six quilt tops.

Gail made this quilt top from blocks that Kylie sent down and it has now gone off to Angela in QLD for quilting!

Last but not least a lovely thank you for Rita M

Thank you for the lovely quilt and laundry bag. I have just opened the parcel as I have just returned from being in country for the past two months. You have done a marvelous job, I'm speechless. I was speaking with Jan Marie before I left to go in country and mentioned how great a job all you guys do. I'm the postie over here and I get to see first hand the looks on the troops faces when they receive their quilts and laundry bags. I can honestly say that you all have a positive effect on us over here and we do appreciate everything you are all doing. 

Just received a few more goodies in the mail but they will have to wait till tomorrow night as I have to rush out and buy some fusible webbing to put more patches on laundry bags!

Till next time...............keep spreading the word and happy stitching.

Happy Mail Wednesday

Guess what tomorrow is!  The big reveal of the blocks for the 

The Inaugural Aussie Hero Friend Dinner Challenge Block.  

Woo Hoo! But that is tomorrow night!  

For tonight we have some happy mail to share or all sorts of varieties.

Julie Ann sent me this lovely quilt which has been made specifically as a Wounded Warrior 

Quilt, accompanied by its own laundry bag.  Just a reminder that all Wounded Warrior quilts are 

now held in Sydney to expedite their passage to Operation Slipper whenever they are needed. 

And something that I don't think I have told you up to now is that with every WWQ these days I 

am sending along an laundry bag that is as Australian as possible as the wounded are 

transported without the chance to pack anything so I am sure a laundry bag won't go astray, 

even if it is just used to carry the quilt.

I am assuming these are the last of the January BOM blocks.  So far there is a lovely nautical quilt with a quilter, there is another nautical top and a tool themed top being put together by a friend of mine and at least enough blocks left for two more quilts.

 Janine C (QLD) sent these ones in - love the hot air balloons.

Liz J sent these in - lovely and fresh with an aviation twist.

 Louise sent me these three quilt tops 
Love the wombat.  I think he is a very under appreciated little fellow so it is nice to see him pop up!

 

Judith gave me these next two quilt tops.  Can't you just imagine a farm boy loving this quilt?

Cows in the squares and sheep shearing in the border.  Perfect!

And this is so simple but very striking!

As well as the Challenge Block I put a call out to anyone who was interested to make some crazy patch blocks for a fellow who said he wanted an 80's inspired quilt.  I am hoping to be able to show you the end result next week.  I have finally received the required number of blocks and am planning on putting it together  as soon as I finish the current quilt top i am working on.  In the mean time I sent the fellow an email just to give him a brief update and told him that his quilt is a work in progress and it would take a little longer than some of the others but it would be coming soon-ish.

I thought you would like to see his response.  Especially those of you that contributed blocks.  

You have gone to so much effort for me - I cant thank you enough! I am SO excited to see this quilt!! 
Thanks HEAPS!!! 

Don't know about you but that put a smile on my face.  Pat yourselves on the back you crazy patchers!

What follows are a few of the requests I have received of late.  I do not normally post these, I usually have enough to post, but when I can I like to share as much as I can of what goes on behind the scenes.  So for a Happy Mail extra tonight enjoy the read...

Just a quick email to say a massive thank you, most of my guys on the list I gave you have either received their laundry bags or quilts. 

I've got both of mine now (quilt by Peggy and Laundry bag by Angela) and they are fantastic!!!

Am I able to add one more person? He saw my quilt and was jealous haha, just doesn't have your email so I was just going to put his name forward. 

What the above person didn't know is that the person to whom she was refering as not having my email managed to find it and had already sent me the following email.

I would like to request a hero quilt, I have served for 25 years and this is my third deployment there is 4 months left on my deployment.
Thank you for organising this for the soldiers, sailors and airmen that are have been deployed. Too often the Australian public forget, ignore or resent the sacrifices we make to ensure our society is safe. We have all chosen this life and to forego the normal luxuries of society to serve our country.  The skill and dedication that is required to make a hero quilt shows the member that they are thought of and honoured for their duty.
Thank you again for your efforts and those of the public who make the quilts. 

G'Day Jan-Maree, I am currently serving with XXXXX in AFG.  Whilst in XXXXX's office, I happened to comment on the quilt that is hanging with pride of place for everyone to see and he mentioned your name and all that you do for deployed servicemen and women.  So on that note, I would like to request and would be honoured to receive a quilt made by your merry band of ladies. 
I thank you in advance and in anticipation 
Regards  

This fellow wrote to tell me of his group of RAAFies in TK and to ask if they could please be included in the list for a quilt.  I wrote back and explained what I required and also slipped in that I am ex-RAAF myself.

Here is part of his response.

Firstly, from one proud RAAFie to another, XXX(the name of their group) very much value and are grateful for your efforts.   Its the efforts of ventures like yours that make us feel less further away from home and for that we are most appreciative.

We are here till the middle of the year so there is plenty of time so anytime you can fit us in between now and June would be great. Looking forward to hearing from you, 
Kind Regards, 

And this fellow is one of my "laundry bag distributors".  If you have sent off laundry bags in the last few months chances are one of your boxes have had his name on it.  This email was to let me know that he is heading home soon and we need to stop sending to him for obvious reasons.  This is part of what he said.

I have really enjoyed our short association with Aussie Hero Quilters and yourself and find it difficult to express the gratitude we feel towards you and your teams efforts and considerations towards us. I have been thinking of something to say to express my thoughts and thanks. The best I can do is a saying that means something to me, 'it is not who I am inside, but, what I do that defines me'. For me this means, you and your quilters have taken action that counts, your team has defined themselves to us; as people with good hearts, can be relied upon in tough times, and are Australians. For that, thank you. Please stay well, stay safe and thank you again.

Hi Jan-Maree,
I have heard about Aussie Hero quilts and I would love to get one if I could. One of the guys I work with received one the other week and it is amazing.  I know a few other people who have them and they all love them.  Could you also tell me about making the quilts. I do a lot of sewing but have never made a quilt before and I was thinking that when I get home it be nice to return the favour and make a quilt that I could send over to someone.

And finally, a thank you message for Tess which was sent to me to pass on.
The subject line of this email read 
Thank you from the bottom of my heart

G'day Tess, I just received your blanket in the post. I had to write you an email to thank you so much for your dedication, time and effort to make this for me.  Its amazing to think that there are kind hearted people out there like yourself that take the time to make something so lovely for other people. 
Your package has really made my day.. wait no my whole week.  My mother in law was very handy on the sewing machine and I know she would have appreciated the quality of your work.

 I enjoy my job and I get satisfaction knowing I am doing my part for the mission and my country.
Your generosity is very well received and a few of my colleagues have also received blankets from your talented team in Australia.  They have become a very sought after item, so please know that every quilt or laundry bag is putting smiles on the faces of the people who get them.

Kindest Regards and warm wishes to you and your family.  

Well that is it for tonight

Till next time.......keep spreading the word and happy stitching!

Quilts of the Week 18 January

Christmas and New Year are behind us and I think we are slowly getting back to normal - just you wait till you see the totals!  But first, enjoy the photos!

Carole S (NSW) completed her first quilt for Aussie Heroes.

Caz made a laundry bag to go with Carole's quilt.

And then she tool a wattle teatowel and made this lovely quilt!

 Angela

Annette S

Carol

Carolyn

 Cath is also new to AHQ and made the following three quilts

 Cheryl R made this cutie but what does not show up in this photo is that the words and the Bananas are APPLIQUED! as in the letters are cut out of coloured fabrics and individually made!  Great Job!

 Christine C (WA) sent this off and what you can't see is that this is a food themed quilt - headed for a COOK!

 Di K sent off her first AHQ as well.

 Fran T

 Janelle is also a newbie! 

Cheryl T made the following batches of laundry bags

Julie Ann stitching two for 7RAR  - love those pigs!

Janine (SA)

 Kiwi Karen made two quilts and five laundry bags to send off and then came along to the Penrith sewing day and bought fabric for her next lot!

Keryn

Heather H made this quilt top and the wonderful Paul and Paula quilted it for us.

Another two quilted by Paul and Paula and this time the tops created by Louise.

 Liz B

Liz is back with three wombats, two black swans and her ever present kangaroos.

Squares made by Marianne and Mary, backing supplied by Roberta, 
put together and quilted by Liz.

Maddy

Peggy from QLD took blocks made by Sue Niven in VIC and put this together.  

Tess

59 quilts and 131 laundry bags for 2013 and 

1005 quilts and 1510 laundry bags overall!

Yep that's right!  We made it past 1000 Quilts!  and 1500 laundry bags!!!!

Congratulations everyone!

I hope you have all been madly stitching away at your Australia Day laundry bags.  Remember they will be included on a special Australia Day Post but the photos must be in by 10am SYDNEY TIME on the 26th if they are to be included. And NO, Amy, Queenslanders do not get an extra hour.

Till next time.................keep spreading the word and happy stitching!