Fabric Anyone?

Before I get on with tonight's post I just wanted to say
 hello 
to all those overseas people reading the blog especially those in
"over there". 

Not a very exciting post tonight for those who are non-sewers but just make sure you come back tomorrow night to see the bumper, and I mean BUMPER crop of quilts heading off overseas.




I told you last  night about the new arrangement for dealing with donated fabrics and first chickadee to play the game is Cathy.


Cathy has been doing some sorting through and she has found some fabric that she is happy to donate to anyone who would like to use if for Aussie Heroes.  Send her an email if you are interested. [cathyatstudio28@gmail.com]

They are Timeless Treasures.....100% cotton and there is approx 3m in each...

 The beer label fabric is 2 x 1m pieces and

 1m of Australian Digger fabric.

  
There are 2 WA flour bags and

 and there is about 3m of butterfly fabric.

 Don't forget, send Cathy an email if you are interested. cathyatstudio28@gmail.com


Sue has also got some fabric up for grabs for quilt backs and laundry bags.

Just send her an email Sue Niven  - purrfur2craft@gmail.com
Sue also has an interesting offer for Aussie Hero Friends.  She is happy for people to send her scraps and she will cut them up and send them back to the sender or forward them on to others to sew with.   If you would like her to cut it up for you send her the fabric and the cutting instructions and a prepaid satchel so she can send it back to you.
If you are interested send her an email.

Who is joining the Lovely Warrant Officer's wife, Jennie, 


and I 


for a sewing day in Canberra?

We have been invited to come and sew at the Duntroon Community Centre on Saturday 4th of August.  This is a regular Saturday Craft Day for the centre and it will be open from 0900 till around 1430 (that is two thirty for you non-military types).

I will bring some of the fabric that has been donated so all materials will be supplied.

The Centre is located on Gymkhana Drive in Duntroon.  You don't need ID to get on the base so everyone is welcome.  Tea and coffee provided.  BYO lunch and snacks.  

Please note - they are a nut free centre as a 3 year playschool runs there during the week and a couple of the children are highly allergic.

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

Happy Mail Wednesday

Last week I received an email from Craig of C.A Boyle Textiles Pty Ltd  letting me know that he had sent off a small box of fabrics bits and pieces for Aussie Heroes.. Look what turned up.   I haven't had a chance to go through it all yet but already I have seen plenty of calico for laundry bag linings and even some black and white Aussie Fabrics.

Thanks so much Craig!

More Shoo Fly Blocks turned up this week.  These ones are from Judith

and I think they will combine beautifully with these ones from Bernice.

Just love those lighthouses and the skulls.

Edith sent two great masculine quilt tops.

The day I received this one I also read that the Lovely Warrant Officer visited the Dubbo Zoo with his family and whilst there he got to feed the lions!  Seriously jealous!  His lovely wife, who writes a great blog called Posie Patchwork commented on her blog that "those images are a post unto themselves, along with his reaction".  I sure hope she does a post about it but I wonder how she will disguise his looks - his head inside the mouth of a lion perhaps?

This Rainbow Monkey Fabric always makes me smile.

Edith also raided her fabric stash and sent me a bunch of Aussie prints too and we know they come in handy!

  And look at these gorgeous bird blocks.  These would be fun to play with!

 Leonie sent me a lovely quilt - her first - all ready to quilt - she even put a few pins in.  

Also included in the bundle was the binding for the quilt AND another roll of binding from Coral.

Thanks ladies.

 Now check out this bundle sent to me by Lyn .  This is a HUGE pile of 50 pillow cases courtesy of the Community Quilting Group from Sew Creative Gatton in Queensland.  They made them last year as part of the Million Pillowcase Challenge last year and these were yet to be distributed.  Given that I keep reading that our service people are enjoying having our quilts and laundry bags around to brighten up their bed spaces I think these will go down a treat too.

Thanks ladies!  

And make sure you check out next month's Down Under Quilts.  Lyn has a quilt featured in it as well as our story being in it.  In fact, generous lady that she is, when Lyn saw that we were mentioned in this issue as coming up next month she sent me a lovely email saying the following

"It felt great to see my quilt was to be featured in the next issue of Down Under, but even better to see it will also feature Aussie Heroes."

What a lovely think to say!  It is those thoughtful little gestures that mean a lot.  :-)

  

 I am still waiting to find out more about sending quilts and laundry bags to our dog handlers and their wonderful little mates but in the mean time Julie Ann has sent me this great laundry bag.  I have just the quilt to team it with and I just need an address - working on it.

New system for donating fabric.

I think it is time for a new system of distributing donated fabrics.  Lots of you are sending your fabrics to me and that is great except that I still don't have a lot of Aussie Hero Friends here in Sydney and I now have plenty to work with.  My idea is that if you send me a picture of what you would like to donate and how much in each piece, every week or two I will put the pictures up on the blog and anyone around Australia can put their hand up to receive it, rather than posting it all to me.  That way if Marg in WA would like some of the fabric that Tammy in Queensland has then they can arrange it between them after it has been on the blog.

Hope that makes sense.  Of course if you are sending me something anyway and just want to pop a bit extra in, always happy to receive.

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

More thank you messages!

Well, word is definitely spreading which is great.  

On the 20th of July we had 309 Facebook followers, as of last night we are up to 336!

Requests have started to come in again so I hope you ladies out there are stitching or ready to stitch.  I have had requests from spouses and fiances, a request from a lovely fellow who saw a quilt on a friend's bed in Afghanistan and loved it and a request from a female serving member who found us via Facebook.

The latest requests have all been snapped up by quilts that I knew were in waiting so please let me know if you have a completed quilt ready to go.  

Also, I need some more masculine quilts please.  I seem to have more feminine quilts on offer at the moment so we need to balance that up a bit if we can please.

And please don't forget to send me photos, particularly of the laundry bags as well.

I would really appreciate it if you could email the photos to me rather than just post them on your blog or Facebook as it is so much easier for me to keep track of - with an email I can print it out and tick off the various things I have to do and the various places I have to copy the photo to.

Every little bit helps to keep me organised and keep the stats accurate.

Please send in your details for the Register

Also, if you are sewing for Aussie Heroes and haven't sent me some contact details for the Aussie Heroes Register please consider doing so.  All I need is name, email if possible, facebook contact, address or locality (whatever you are comfortable with).  It makes it so much easier for me to find you.  And if you have sent me your details in the past, BEFORE the register was set up please don't assume I have them - I may not have recorded them separately at the time and now it is too hard to trawl back in email history to find them.

A case in point is Liz who made this gorgeous quilt.  I can't find your contact details!  

Please can you email me again so I can reach you when needed?

New Email Address

We have a new email address for Aussie Heroes now.  Instead of using my personal email address the "official email address" is 

friendsofAHQ@gmail.com

Thanks to the wonderful Naomi we have a button for it on the blog now so that will make it easier for you to find it if you are new.  Those in the "know" (which is so NOT me) tell me this is better as if my laptop dies (gasp - don't even think it!) all the AHQ emails will not be lost.  Also this means that if I ever get to go on a holiday again (that is if our 16 year olds ever consent to travel with their boring parents or even better, leave home!) then someone else will be able to take over briefly.  I may love Aussie Heroes but I am not taking you away with me!

And now for my favourite part - 

 couple of thank you messages.

This first one came from a lady who mentions receiving her quilt in a care package.  

No idea whose quilt so you can all pat yourselves on the back!

I would like to say thank you to the ladies and yourself, from Aussie Hero Quilts, for the beautiful quilt that I have just received in a care package.

My mum does quilting and I realise how much time and love goes into making each quilt. I look forward to getting it home so that I can hang it on a wall in my house.

All over us that are deployed appreciate the work and effort that you put into what you make for us and we thank you very much for thinking of us.

So again thank you so much it is a beautiful quilt.

Now you might remember a few weeks back that Liz sent off this gorgeous quilt.  We call this quilt Granddad's quilt.  His boss requested we make it for him to give to his cherished little one and we have been waiting none too patiently to hear that it arrived.

From Grandpa

Please let me first say thank you so much for what you do. Yesterday I was the lucky recipient of a hero quilt that was made for my granddaughter. 

It was totally unexpected and it means so much to me, I know that she will absolutely love it. 

She is 18 months and she is our first and hopefully the first of many. 

My wife was extremely touched as well. The lady that made it comes from WA and I will be hopefully contacting her as well to let her know that it has arrived safe and well and is appreciated. 

I have one question though, I would like to know who nominated me for one of these quilts. If it is possible for you to let me know that would be greatly appreciated. I would love to be able to thank them as well for their kindness and caring thoughts.
I have attached a picture of XXXX so that you know who will be sleeping safe under the quilt. 

Just tooo Cute!!!

Well I emailed the boss and she confessed her part in it and tells me she received a  HUG.  Don't we all love a hug!

Wendy and her mother, the same Wendy I met for coffee in Melbourne a few weeks ago, received a thank you overnight as well.

Good afternoon Aunty Wendy and Nan,

I write as an Air Force Officer deployed to Afghanistan. Today I received from you a wonderful hand-made laundry bag. This has made my day. I do not currently have a laundry bag, so I can assure you that this will be put to great use.

Thank you.

I am deployed as an Duty Air Movements Officer (DAMO), working with a small team to provide air terminal support for Australian cargo aircraft. It is a rewarding job, and I am grateful to have a wonderful team working alongside me. I am due to return to Australia in October, and am most excited about driving my car, visiting my mum and dad and seeing my friends.

I am also looking forward to seeing green grass.

Thank you for you parcel, they are always well received.

Kind regards,

How gorgeous!

Chris was also on the receiving end of a lovely thank you for this great quilt

I today recieved the quilt you created, and I LOVE it. Thank you so much for your support to the troops and thank you for taking the time and thought to make this quilt (and linen bag) for me, it is fantastic and will add colour to my room and will be something I treasure both whilst here and upon my return home. It is wonderful to know that there are people out there such as you in support of us Defence personnel over here.
words are not enough to express how much I appreciate this. Thank you
Kind regards 

You will be pleased to know that Matilda and Ruby's quilts from last night's post are all spoken for now!  Great work girls!


Don't forget our sewing/working days coming up.


Sydney this Friday 27 July
Canberra Saturday 4th August
Penrith Sunday 12th August


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

Two Very Special Quilters

Tonight's post is only going to be a short one because I am just going to focus on two very special quilters and their assistant!

Their names are Ruby, Matilda and Lola.  

These three sisters are granddaughters of Chris who is one of our generous longarm quilters in SA.   You might remember that she ran a sewing day back in July.  You can read about it here and here.  At the time Chris sent me pictures of the girls working on their quilts on and around that day.  What a fabulous school holiday activity for them, and getting to spend time with their grandmother as well.  

All I can say is lucky grandma!

Both Ruby and Matilda have been sewing for about 12 months.  They have made some small things before including stuffed babooshka dolls and cushions with applique, blanket stitch, back stitch etc. They sew with Chris occasionally & are both quite competent on the machines. 

This is the first “real” quilt for both of them.

This is Miss Ruby, aged 9. 

 She has almost finished the middle panel.

 And here she is with her finished quilt! 
 Way to go Ruby! 

Of course, being such an experienced quilter, Ruby needed another project for the sewing day so this is the second quilt top she worked on and completed.  This one is yet to be quilted but with those colours you just know it is going to cheer the room of a soldier somewhere.

Now we have Miss Matilda!  

She has reached the ripe old age of 7!  

And here is her finished work of heart.  If I was there Mum or Grandma I would just about be bursting with pride.  Not only are they learning new skills but they are sewing for others.

Now, I mentioned two quilters and their assistant!  I have already shown you this photo but I think she deserves a repeat performance.  
Please allow me to re-introduce you to Miss Lola!  
All of 5 years old!   
Lola is campaigning to use the machine now &  Chris will start with her when she is 6 – a couple of months away. 

Haven't they just done a wonderful job.  Now all you "grown ups" who tell me you can't quilt or sew.........what do you say now?  Are you really going to allow yourself to be shown up by two (albeit very smart) little girls?

I am on a mission.  

Ruby wants her completed flag quilt to go to a male.  The one with the Aussie Map on it can go to either male or female. 

Matilda thinks hers is most suited to a female.

I want to find three recipients for these quilts but they have to be special people. 

I think effort like this really needs recognition and I really want the girls to receive a thank you, an email, a letter, something.

So, do any of you out there know someone worthy of such special quilts?

Email me (djlmball@bigpond.net.au), leave a comment or leave me a message on Facebook.

Let's find appreciative homes for these quilts!

Stop Press - 3 worthy recipients found!

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

Current Totals YAY!

HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY!!

I am hoping in the next few weeks to put a tally on the side bar of the blog to record how many quilts and laundry bags have been sent away so first I needed to check the numbers!

Oh my goodness!  Even I was surprised at the number of quilts.  Since 1 January this year when we started officially - 

396 quilts have been sent off!   

WOW!

That is Awesome!   At this rate, given that the word is spreading, much more quickly these days  I would not be surprised if we reach 1000 quilts by Christmas time - sounds like a pretty good goal to me and quite achievable.  

Seriously it is AWESOME!

As far as laundry bags go - just going off the photos I have received - the tally stands at 240 but I think it is actually much higher than that as often people send me a picture of the quilt and not the laundry bag.  When I have time (LOL) I will see if I can amend that figure, but in the big scheme of things this blog is not about stats, but about actually doing something.  We know we have sent LOTS - we are not out to prove anything to anyone.  I will check laundry bag numbers when I can.  

Having said that though, I will be updating the tally every Friday from now on once I publish the quilts of the week.  After I have been to Canberra and had some blogging help from Jennie, the wife of the Lovely Warrant Officer, I will have the tally on the side bar for you to see.  YAY!  

By the way, if you haven't checked out Jennie's blog you are missing out!

This is a bit of a business update post tonight.  

We have had loads of new Friends start following the Facebook page so I though I should go over some bits and pieces they might not know.

Firstly welcome everyone - new Friends especially!  

Would you believe that we have had 20 new Facebook followers in the last 4 days!  

Woo Hoo and not all from one source either so that is pretty cool.  

Welfare Mailing

First off, let's look at how we are sending the quilts these days.  Our main way of getting lots of quilts overseas is via the welfare mailing system.  

The next mailing dates are 6 November - 8 December.   

There is another mailing period 15 March to 15 April.  

Can I please encourage you to try and sew a quilt for each of these mailing periods whenever you have time.  These are the quilts that get to people that we can't always reach ourselves.  Last mailing period at least one made it out to the most remote patrol base the army has ever served in.  The fellow who received it said it really did boost his morale and I think that is powerful.

I suspect there are a few people out there quietly beavering away on a quilt or two for Christmas which is wonderful, but if I can also encourage you to plan for one for the April mailing as well that would be great.  We have from April to December to sew for the Christmas mailing but the April one is a bit tougher.  

Everyone will breathe a sigh of relief after the Christmas mailing finishes on the 8th of December and we will all be straight into getting ready for our own Christmases.  

Then it will be January and school holidays and before you know it kids will be back at school and it will be February and there will only be a matter of weeks till we can start mailing again.  

I am not going to set goals and be urging everyone to sew just a little bit more for the ANZAC Day mailing as I know you will all do what you can.  But if I mention it now, maybe you can make a few blocks, or cut a few extra strips or whatever and have something quick and easy and ready to go.  Just a thought!

Special Requests

As well as the Welfare Mailing Periods we also send quilts as a response to requests!  And I am so pleased that this year, the number of quilts for requests is around 250.  Now not all of those are individuals - some are groups.  The Singleton Quilters made 60 quilts for the group of a local teacher's son!   The Turramurra Group made 15 quilts for one group!  Another 15 quilts were sent to the team that replaced the Lovely Warrant Officer's team earlier in the year.  Then there was the group in Egypt!  And we all know the WONDERFUL RESPONSE we got from Egypt!  If you are new you REALLY need to check it out! CLICK HERE 

There are a few groups coming up too.  I am hoping for another 15 quilts to go to the next team to take over from the lovely WO's current team around end Sept/early October.  These will come from the Quilts in Waiting so if you are sewing a masucline quilt and think you will get it ready for that deadline - great!  

We already have 25 quilts ear marked for the next rotation into Egypt.  I have heard that there are 12 new members arriving in August but not sure when the rest are changing over. 

There is a wife in Canberra who is currently making a quilt for her hubby (she knows who she is) and once he has his quilt we are expecting to be able to send more quilts to his team.  Giggle!  She is currently trying to find out roughly how many guys he works with without letting on to him why she wants to know.  LOL!

And I also might come home from Canberra with some more contacts - 

I will be asking VERY NICELY!  

I am still hoping to get some  info on sending quilts to the dog handlers too and will hopefully hear something in the next week or so.  

These things take time as communications are not always easy and often the people we are talking to are out and about for days and not always sitting at their desks.   

Patience is the key!  

(Yes Chaplain, patience is a virtue.)

Quilts in Waiting

What I really need to have an idea of is how many quilts are out there underway.   If you finish a quilt can you please send me a picture of it so that I can put it in my quilts in waiting file.  This is my first port of call - these are the quilts in there at the moment.

This pretty one by Kaye

 The gorgeous Eye of the Tiger by Liz B

 And another pretty one by Fran

So, if you are sewing away and finish a quilt please email me a picture so I can add it to the collection.

It is really important that I know how many quilts are out there, particularly going to Canberra.  I can't promise more quilts to a certain area if I am not sure we have them.  I often get emails from people saying they have started a quilt, or have completed a quilt top but I get so many that I just don't have time to keep track of them.  What I need is the emails that tell me a quilt is finished and include a photo.  

So please please, please if you can do this that would be really helpful.

Additionally I am trying to build up the numbers of WWQs (Wounded Warrior Quilts) that are ready to go and short notice.  We all hope these quilts will never be used but if they are used they are so valuable and so much appreciated!

I currently have four WWQs in waiting 

The Turramurra Twins made the first three

And this another joint effort by Pam and I though Pam quilted it and bound it. 

But I would feel a lot better if there were more.

Gosh, I can't believe it is less than two weeks till I go to Canberra and there is so much to do before then.  I have one meeting confirmed and am still trying to tee up another few.  It is a slow process liaising between the Middle East, RAAF Richmond and Canberra but I am hanging in there.

Pre-Paid Satchels

If you are waiting for me to fill a satchel for you please be patient.  I currently have four to do - please don't send any more at the moment - cutting fabric for 12kg of satchels is a lot of cutting and mostly I have to do it on my own.  Luckily Caroline is coming over the help on Friday (with a sharp rotary blade I hope) and we will cut as many laundry bags as we can.  I also have to cut a heap to take to Canberra.  

If there are any other Sydney ladies that have time to do some cutting at home, or have time to come and help on Friday please leave me a comment or send me an email.  

Dates that you need to know about - 

Sydney Working Day - Friday 27th July

contact me for the address

Canberra Sewing Day - Saturday 4th August

Duntroon Community Centre - see here for full details but all materials will be supplied.  If you can sew a straight stitch you will be fine and if you can't sew you can still drop in and say hello.  Donations of fabric are welcome as are ironers!

Penrith Sewing Day - Sundays 12 August and 16 September.  

contact me for details

Quilting

I also had a lovely email over the weekend from a new LONGARM quilter in Brisbane who is happy to help out with Aussie Heroes so email me if you would like the details!

Thank you Diane!


BOMS

Don't forget out block of the months blocks.  
There is still time to have a go at the Shoo Fly Block.
Actually how about some feedback.  What sort of blocks do you like to make?

And just before I go - thank you so much for all your kind emails and comments about my wedding anniversary.  One of our recipients told me recently the two best things he had done in his life were marrying his gorgeous wife and joining the Army.  I can almost say the same thing except I would say the three best things I ever did were joining the military, marrying my gorgeous husband and starting Aussie Heroes!

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

My Own Aussie Hero

I don' t know whether I should put this post up or not but what the heck.  

If you want to understand why I have such strong feelings about Aussie Heroes, why it is so deeply embedded in my heart, 

check out my other blog.  

If not, that is fine too, come back again for tomorrow's post.

22 years ago today, about 8 years into my 15 years of service in both the RAAF and the RAN, I married my own Aussie Hero.  No, he never served overseas - it wasn't as common back then.  

But if he had, and if he was over there now, I would want to know that all of my country was behind him and cheering him and his workmates on.

We might not look the same but such is life.  He is still the best thing in my life. 

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

Quilts of the week 20 July - get a cuppa - this is a longish one!

Woo Hoo!  

We made it to 100 folllowers on the blog and 309 on facebook!

27 new facebook followers this week!  Love it!

Keep spreading the word!

Not so many quilts to show for this week but don't be deceived as there is a lot of furious paddling going on under the surface so to speak, particularly with spreading the word around the Defence Force and preparing for my trip to Canberra.  Also there are still approximately 17 quilts under construction  as the result of personal requests. 

Please note that if you post a picture on facebook I  may not be able to save it (for reasons I have no clue about!  Not sure if that is my lack of technical expertise or just the way it is set up)   Please email me photo as a jpg file so that I can save it with the rest of the catalogue of Aussie Hero Quilts and also add it to the blog.  I think there may be one of two that have missed out this week for this reason.

First up we have Wendy's quilt

and laundry bag.

You will find a link to visit Wendy's blog below.

Karen B made these laundry bags and sent them on their merry way.

Caroline made this cool laundry bag to with with 

 this floral quilt and popped them in the mail today.

Caroline also sent off this quilt featuring one of our donated teatowels today as well.

I made this quilt - the colours are RAEME colours (except the white but I threw that in because I had to tie in the white on the flag).  I can only show this quilt because this request came from this fellows partner - the very day he left - and he has no idea it is coming.

This is the back - the tool fabric is really appropriate for this guy!

And this is his laundry bag - RAEME colours and more appropriate fabric!  

Yep!  I had fun with these!

And saving the best for last -  a THANK YOU Erika sent off a quilt recently and this week she received a great thank you email from the happy new owner. Thank you so much for the quilt you made for me (great job) it has pride and place in my room. I have included 2 photos of me showing off your work.   By the way I am not a Soldier, I am in the Air force as a Warrant Officer (WOFF) we all work together over here as one team. I am in charge of troops who are all mechanics, we service all aircraft related machinery.   We all are glad to here of people like yourself who are thinking of us over here

 So glad you like it!


A month ago Marg from WA made this laundry bag for an Eagles mad lady!   Marg and I have been waiting eagerly for it to be received but the recipient had some time off so we had to wait a little longer than normal!  At last we heard that she received it.

Check out the detail on the Eagle!!!

And here is the response!


I returned from my mid tour break today and my wonderful laundry bag and goodies were waiting for me! Thank-you so much, I love the laundry bag, it is perfect! And yes Marg - after that flogging by Sydney last weekend, I might need to turn it inside out occasionally. I am going to have to keep hitting the gym to work off all those tim tams - thank-you so much!

Thanks again for the lovely laundry bag - you ladies do a fantastic job and your efforts are appreciated by everyone over here.


Great job Marg!


Check this out to read Wendy's take on our get together in Melbourne.  Here's hoping I can meet a few Aussie Hero Friends, or recruit some, in Canberra next month.


And for the very last word...

And I think you all might like this too - -found in the latest Down Under Quilts Issue 153.

Can't read the fine print?  Here let me help! 

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