Happy Mail 3 April

Hi All,

I am writing this on Tuesday night and I am not sure how much time I am going to get to edit it tomorrow.  Firstly there is a sewing day at my home tomorrow and secondly there is the problem I have with my laptop at the moment.  Since this morning my word documents and photos have been unable to be accessed as required to load them to the blog or just to save new ones!  Grrrr.  I hope my friendly computer guy will be able to come and help me during the day but that is yet to be confirmed.  

Anyway, the bottom line is that I can't show you the cool BOMs that I received from Liz J nor the two cool quilts from Katrina.  I also wanted to show you three more cool BOMs that I received from Janine, but which had slipped by me and I only found them yesterday!

Not happy Jan-Maree!

Thankfully though I had already received and uploaded these ones.  

Dorothy's red, white and blue selection!

And I received a laundry bag from Millie

What I can share with you though are some thank you messages.  

Dear Julie Ann,

On behalf of myself and the Rotary Wing Group Team thanks for the Laundry bags that you sent us. They are awesome and we appreciate the effort that you've put in and the personal touch that you added to each one. They couldn't have come at a better time especially for myself as after 3 deployments to East Timor over the years and a few weeks in Afghanistan I was in desperate need of a new one ;).

I haven't received the other AHQ box yet that you mentioned in your letter but I'm sure it will be a great little surprise and I look forward to receiving it.

From all the guys here we really do appreciate all the support we get from people like yourself back home, and the gifts you send really do raise morale and make the deployments more enjoyable so thanks again.

Kindest Regards

Hi Liz,
I just wanted to say that I just got the Broncos laundry bag a week ago and I reckon it is awesome. My family don't like it because they are all NSW supporters (their problem, not mine).Please thank your friend Janie Pearson for the work. Regards.

Hello Stephanie D,

My Name is Chris and I have just received a laundry bag you made for me! Thank you very much for the laundry bag it will be well used! It is wonderful to receive things like this from home and to hear that those back there are thinking about us.

Regards

Hi Stephanie D,

Just quick message to take say thank you very much for the laundry bag. 

It is awesome and will get a lot of use.

Once again thank you

Thank you Julie-Ann S and Aussie Hero Quilts for taking the time and effort to make and send me a laundry bag and quilt, I am currently using the quilt on my bed, I cannot thank you enough for the contribution you have made to my deployment. I only received the parcels earlier this month after changing location as I was working in a different part of Afghanistan for the first 3 months of my deployment, sorry for the late reply as I have been busy with work but once again I am so grateful for the service you provide to our troops.

For Rita M

I have received the Quilt.

It is amazing and i have used it everyday. I reminds me of home so so much. 

I have also left a photo on the Aussie Quilt facebook page with a thank you note as well.

It is very much appreciated, and we are lucky to have caring people like yourself still around.

So I thank you so so much. 

The next couple are on facebook

Got my quilt and laundry bag today!! Love them! Thanks so much to Leone and Joan! Xox

My husband received his quilt and bag today and he was amazed by the lovely gift you sent him! I'm waiting for him to send me a photo! Thank you thank you thank you! Xxx

This one is for Nancy on facebook

I would like to say a massive thank you to the Quilter that made my quilt and laundry bag. Both are being put to great use! Thanks again, 

This refers to one of Rita M's quilts

Jan-Maree and Team, I would like to say thank you for my Aussie Hero Quilt I received on HMAS TOOWOOMBA recently. As one of the Pilots on the ship I was stoked to receive a quilt with aeroplanes and helicopters all over it! It was really nice to see that people back home are thinking of us whilst on our operational deployment. Keep up the great work. Kind Regards,

One for Carolyn M

Hello, 

Yes my quilt arrived and my laundry bag, thankyou so much I'm very grateful! 

Things are going well up here, time is going reasonably quick, I'll be home before I know it... hopefully! haha Thanks again for the quilt, I really appreciate it. 

For Rita M

Got my quilt in Dubai and wacked it straight onto my rack. Loving it! Had to take it off a couple times as the ventilation onboard was abit bad up here so it was getting quite warm with it on,..never fear it's close by if need be! Thanks again so much, it's so much better than I expected :) And I believe I'll have it for years to come.

Yours SIncerely,

For Pauline D

Thankyou to Jan-Maree and all the folks who make quilts for the troops they are well received. Mine is better than I could have hoped for.

Sincerely, 

For Melissa

                My laundry bag has arrived and it looks amazing thank you very much for all your effort and thank you for thinking of us all while we are up here.  Its great to know that there are people thinking of you out there while on these operations.  Again thank you very much. Regards,

For Elizabeth

Thank you for the blanket and washing bag it received they are very lovely. It makes the trip better when you receive a gift from a stranger and know that people care. thank you

Hopefully I will be back tomorrow night with some photos and the like.......if I can get my computer fixed!  

:-(

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

QOTW 15 mar

Welcome to Quilts of the Week for March 15th

The tally so far-

 13 quilts this week and 51 laundry bags.

260 quilts and 622 laundry bags for 2013

1261 quilts and 1987 laundry bags in total

Let's start tonight's list of quilts off with this lovely Southern Cross quilt by Hilary.

When you send a quilt top or even a completed quilt top to me to finish or send off there is a chance that it may receive some applique attention before it hits the road.  Sometimes it is possible for me to personalise a quilt really easily with a bit of applique for someone specific.  For example, this quilt made by Carol, received a Phoenix as the fellow it is going to is at Camp Pheonix.

This quilt top was made by Joy.  I quilted it and then appliqued the black swan as requested and as luck would have it, the state colours of WA are black and gold!

This is another joint effort.  I made the top and back and then sent them up to Belinda who quilted them for me.  This is for Mr 6'8" and that is how long his quilt is.

I just have to show you Belinda's awesome quilting - I am so glad they show up so well on the flag!

This quilt is by Janelle.  We are hoping this will go to a helicopter crewman.

This gorgeous quilt was made by Jean D and this is her first Aussie Hero Quilt.

One by me!

Julie Ann so liked making the 80's blocks that we did a while ago that she made a few more and ended up with a quilt full!

More of Julie Ann's work

Melbourne Storm must be popular - this version by Kylie!

Another by Kylie

The next three batches of Laundry Bags are from Karen B.  Sorry about the blurry shot  - I just could not get it to save any clearer.

Louise made the following quilt top and it was quilted by DeEmEss.  I had to crop the bottom off so as not to spoil the surprise.

Maddy made this for an Extra Long fellow.

Maddy also sent off these laundry bags.

This lovely quilt was completed by Sheree, a newbie to AHQ.  

 I just have to share the gorgeous extra little details that Sheree included.

Sheree also stitched in the recipient's name but I had to crop that out for obvious reasons.

Stephanie made this next six laundry bags 

Don't you love the Space Invader!!!  It came from this blog and because Stephanie is super AWESOME she has stitched another one and is sending it to me to include in this fellow's quilt!!!

Sue N completed a dozen laundry bags this week, but I am only showing 8 because she made two of each of the first batch.

I have one very special thank you message for you all to share tonight.  This one was sent to Joan who is actually mum to one of our HMAS ANZAC heroes.  She is now making laundry bags and she received this most wonderful thank you message.   I just had to write and ask permission to share it almost in its entirety as it really speaks to why we need to keep doing what we are doing as well as it goes some way to explaining just how we are benefiting the troops in more ways than one.

Hi Joan and Robin,

 I'd like to thank you for the DVD and laundry bag that I received yesterday. Mail is always appreciated, and unexpected mail is an absolute joy. Whilst I have not had a chance to watch any of the DVD I have scheduled some time later in the week to watch it in part. Having 12-14 hour work days, seven days a week does much to accomplish moving forward with the mission, but leaves little time for relaxation, and whilst XXXX has some scenic majesty (in parts) it does not offer any entertainment, so I am looking forward to an opportunity to sit down and be amused. I also appreciate the laundry bag, for whilst I have deployed to several other areas than this in my career I have found one thing in common that leaches away the human spirit, and that is the sheer lack of colour other than a range of greys and browns. Although there are 37 different nations represented in this camp, the colour choice tends to be drab greys and browns (with a few Aussies in hues of green) all in dull camouflage pattern.The buildings are all beige and grey (when not covered in snow they are shrouded in dust), so being able to return to my room at night and see such a splash of colour as this bag provides does a lot to maintain a sense that this is all temporary and there is much to look forward to once the deployment finishes. I thank you for your gifts and appreciate the effort that you have made.

Cheers,

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