World War II Pillowcase and Uncle Leonard Weaver

A few weeks backs......while rumbling around in the store room, trying to make some progress and doing a little cleaning and sorting.....I came across this World War II pillowcase from San Antonio and knew immediately that my dad's Uncle Leonard Weaver had probably sent it or brought it home to his parents.

The vintage linen collection from both of the grandma's is vast and frankly pretty stellar for those that like that sort of thing like this writer does.  I had no idea, there was such a piece and had no memory of it at all.  So it was a nice surprise that day and I pretty much knew there was a project coming on for my dad on Father's Day.

Several years ago it worked out for an interview of  my great-uncle Leonard while he was here visiting his Iowa family around Traer......where he grew up.  I did not know him that well because they lived in California and Arizona for his adult life after the war.  But I knew he was a favorite of my Grandma Mildred (his sister).....she always spoke so kindly about him.  He was the youngest boy of their family.  Here is the interview that I transcribed as he spoke.

I interviewed Leonard Weaver at Iowa Star Quilts on October 12, 2004.  He was here in Iowa visiting family. He lives in California.  I am writing this as was told to me and noted when I asked specific questions.    Sheri R. Lesh

I enlisted 2/5/42. I and several others from the area went to Des Moines to sign up.  My parents did know ahead of time that I was going to enlist.   I enlisted so I would have a little more control in what branch of service I would be in. 

 My training included a school in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Spartan School of Aeronautics.  Then to Louisiana to train on maintenance for AT-6 planes.  I then went to another training center down the coast at Victoria, Texas.  

For Cadet training I was sent to San Antonio, Texas, then on to pilot training at Sikeston, Missouri. This is called Primary training.  Dad & Mom Weaver & Mildred came down to see me there.

Then went on to Winfield, Kansas; then on to Pampa, Texas for Basic Flight Training, I graduated from there and received my wings & commission.

On to Ft. Worth, Texas for B-24 Flight Training.

Then to Lincoln, Nebraska and received our crew assembly there.

Then headed to Casper, Wyoming for further training.

I left from New Jersey to take a boat across the ocean to Liverpool.  I didn’t really like being at sea.

I don’t know how to swim and there were enemy subs out there.  We always road in convoys for protection.  You were not suppose to use electric razors because the sonar could pick up the signal from that.  I remember a guy really got in trouble for using his razor.

From Liverpool I went to Casablanca, Africa.  Then on to Bari, Italy.

My squadron finally arrived in Ceriignlo, Italy.

I flew my missions from there. The date would have been August 1944.

My squadron was made up of 12 plane crews. 

I flew 3 days and then off some days, hit and miss.  But it varied, sometimes you would fly several days in a row, before you had a day off.

I flew mostly in Austria, Southern Germany, and Northern Italy.  Our targets were marshalling yards, factories, and fuel storage sites.  I probably killed a bunch of people when we hit those targets.   (Sheri--I did ask him what his thoughts were about that.)  He answered, you were young and you just did it because you had to.  You developed a kind of confidence in what you were doing, after going up many times.

I was first injured December 12, 1944.  The navigator took us down in over Zabreg, Yugoslavia. We were in heavy flack.  I was hit in the knee.  It felt like someone hit my knee with a baseball bat. I had the co-pilot fly the plane back, but I came back up in the cockpit and helped land it.  The plane was not particularly damaged. The shots had just shot through the skin of the plane and hit me.

I was injured the second time, April 25, 1945 over Linz, Austria. There was heavy flack. The sky was black from them.  We were hitting marshalling yards.  I was hit in my left arm and damaged a nerve.  It was a permanent injury.  The plane again was OK. 

When we got passes we would go to Naples or Rome.

One time when we were in Rome, the sidewalks were very wide & we were walking side by side, one of the paratroopers came by and hit me in the face.  I had a black eye for quite awhile.  I would not fly for awhile because of that.  There was a rivalry between the Air Force & the Paratroopers. 

Another time we went to Capri I went with another squadron because I was still healing up from my knee injury.  We didn’t enjoy it so much because it was cold while we were there.   The Italians took us out on a boat trip, fishing.  They would fish with bombs, put an explosive in a can and throw it out in the water and then the fish would surface, belly up.

(Sheri--I asked him if he ever was scared.)   My co-pilot would freeze.  The radio operator would lay down on the floor of the plane with flak suites laid under him to protect to himself.  His oxygen came unhooked one time and the co-pilot saw it and connected it back up; that saved his life.  He was turning blue, so if he had not done that, he would have died.

We used oxygen at 12,000 feet.  We normally flew at 22,500 feet.

We would usually fly about 6 hour missions, approximately. When we went to Vienna, that was hard, flack was bad there.   A very heavy concentration of anti-aircraft.

I lost my next door neighbor (tent besides mine).  They had gone to do a milk run that day.   One of the planes went in the tail of another plane and many were lost that day including several buddies. One of the guys that survived parachuted out through the nose wheel opening.

I had two good friends from northwest Iowa, went through most of my training with them.  Their name was Schindler.  They were brothers and at that time, they kept them together.  They were on the same mission.  One was flying “Lead.”  The other one flying “Able.”  The one brother flying “Lead” was hit and went down.  While the other brother watched and he just went to pieces and was hit also.  (Lead, Able, Baker, etc.  Leonard told me this is what they called the planes in formation, following the alphabet.)

We always had food, although you sometimes got tired of the rations. When fresh eggs came in they were very popular.

I always flew the same model of plane, but not always the same plane, some were better than others.

You didn’t want to get an old plane with lots of hours.

I never encountered fighter planes though. The Germans would pick up planes that had been shot down, scavenge parts from all different ones and put together another one that they would take up and be a scout.  Looking for where we were running out routes and what altitude we were at and then radio the information down to the ground.  That would give them very accurate statistics on where to fire their anti-aircraft at us. (heavy flack.)

I met my wife Chris in Denver, Colorado, Fitzsimmons General Hospital.  I ended up there after being in several other hospitals from the wound to my arm. They actually sent me to the wrong hospital, amputees were sent to Colorado, but they moved me to another area in the hospital.  I retired from service there. The war was over at this point.  I met Chris on a blind date.  This was in 1947.

I didn’t think about the danger much we just did it but the artillery guys would say they didn’t want to do what we were doing.  They wanted to stay on the ground.  I still think it is hard to think about.  It makes me emotional.

I haven’t seen the WWII memorial.  Maybe I will if I have the opportunity.

My navigator is living and an attorney; Sr. Advisor to the Attorney’s Office in New York City.

My co-pilot is in South Dakota.  I still keep in touch with them.

 This picture was taken when he was back here in Iowa on leave c.1943

B-24 Liberator

Now back to the pillowcase from San Antonio.....you might notice in his story, that was near the beginning of his training, so I am thinking in c.1942.

Father's Day 2018.....a gift to my dad!

This was how it ended up.  My dad loved it!  He never remembered seeing it either.

Of course there needed to be a label as this piece has a story to tell.

He received many awards and metals including a purple heart for his service.  This article tells of his marriage to Chris and his service record from the Traer Star Clipper.  A farm boy from Traer, Iowa to a WWII B-24 bomber pilot in the European theater.....pretty amazing!

Sadly he passed away on January 16, 2008 and as far as I know he never got to see the World War II Memorial in Washington DC.  He did not talk about his experience in the war and when I gave my Grandma Mildred a copy of this interview, she really knew none of the information that he had told me.

Marilyn's Dear Jane

I was asked last fall by a quilt friend from our Keepsake Quilter's Guild if I would quilt her Dear Jane.......gulp!  I would be honored to.....humbled by and pretty much terrified to work on someone else's Jane!!!

The only thing that gave me courage was I had done my own, was pleased with how it turned out and it hadn't done me in!!!!

So several weeks back it arrived and was loaded in the frame.

And away we went......I stitched all the blocks in the ditch including the sashing strips and Marilyn is going to go back and hand quilt each block.  And frankly at that point my work goes away and all you see is the hand quilting.  That is fine with me and is exactly how I finished mine. 

 I was extremely pleased with how mine turned out.  And the thought of hand quilting all that ditch work.....just kill me!  It would have been a project killer for me and Marilyn felt the same way.

I included a video of using the ruler and stitching in the ditch.

All finished and ready to be picked up!!!!  She was giddy and I got lots of hugs on this finish!  Made my week!  Thanks Marilyn!

Visiting Bonnie Hunter in Des Moines

I had such a treat two weeks ago....which in reality feels like a lifetime.....with our much loved sister of my Silver Fox dying last week.......more of that coming later.

I really hadn't planned on seeing Bonnie when she came to Des Moines......the DM guild, I heard them say had waited 5 years on their/her calendar to schedule her coming.  To say Miss Bonnie is very popular would be a gross understatement. 

To be honest I have no idea when I started following her, but it has been quite awhile, probably 10+ years.....she is known for her scrap quilts recycling fabric, like men's shirts for example.  She also loves string piecing, sewing on vintage sewing machines, using leaders and enders to work on a secondary project....and if that is not enough came up with a very usable scrap saving system.  All of these things can be found at quiltville

Low and behold.....here she was lecturing twice on Jeff's day off that week.....so it was a possibility that we could go.  The Silver Fox fired up for a day trip and we even managed to find him a new pair of shoes for work.  So what a special treat to get to hear her again.  I have heard her before, in Tucson, 3 years ago.  She happened to be in AZ while we were in Phoenix.....but I really never dreamed I would get to hear her again.

She is an absolute delight.  I love her scrap saver system.....I was doing some of it, but she had taken it farther and thought through the math more than I did.....so it is much more usable and workable.  I use it all the time.

See that crazy pineapple quilt hanging behind her......I think I need to make one of them.....another one with tiny pieces.....what can I say.....the smaller the pieces the better I like 'em!

Then for an added bonus while there, I ran into two quilt friends from back home, Mary & Nancy!  What a hoot!  And I was able to see my friend Carolyn who lives in West Des Moines too.  We sat together and caught up a bit.

Bonnie had such nice things to say about the DM Guild.....they are a very active bunch.  They ended up with 2 openings, one in each workshop.  My younger self would have been all over one of them.😏 

You can check out her blog posting about Des Moines here.

I made my grandson Gabe's HS graduation quilt from one of her patterns called Easy Street.

I loved working on this quilt....but it is a biggie......I think close to "100 x 100."

Close-up of the quilting and some of the fabrics.  I wouldn't know how many different fabrics are in it, but a bunch. The more the better, I say!

 Can you see one that looks like penmanship class and writing on lined paper?  Remember doing that?  I do.

I generate most of my quilt labels on my computer and print them on treated fabric.....then you can add photos to them and say whatever you want.  I like the ability to plan it out on the computer screen.

This quilt came from the book More Adventures with Leaders and Enders.

For those who are not familiar with leaders and enders......when I am typically working on piecing a quilt, I try and chain as many similar units together as I can.  Meaning, I do not lift my presser foot between each unit and continue to feed one unit after another under my presser foot with small chains of stitches between each unit.  Years ago someone came up with the idea of using a "waste square" or I have also heard it referred to as a "spider nest", but a piece of fabric you had under your presser foot when you began stitching, then you fed your first unit after that.  At the end of your stitching you would go back to that beginning scrap or spider's next and clip it off and add it to the end of your stitching and it was ready the next time.

The thought was you were not wasting so much thread pulling out each unit and clipping your threads and you saved time too.

Somewhere along the line and I heard it from Bonnie first, she talked about leaders and enders, where you were piecing a secondary quilt/project or piecing units as your "waste" beginning and ending.  Except these were not waste pieces, you were actually working on your next project or whatever while you were doing your primary quilt top.  BRILLIANT, I say!  I have been doing this ever since.

The next piece I did in what I would call the Bonnie Hunter style was using the hour glass block (it was a part of a leader ender challenge, she does a new one each year)......also lots of string piecing something else that Bonnie and I both never tire of.  I bought several pieces of fabric for this in AZ that winter before I made this.  This is my own pattern and it was made for our granddaughter, Lizzie's HS graduation.  She wanted red and gold, the colors of ISU, but not Iowa State fabric, which made for a very happy and fun quilt.

I machine quilted it in red thread.

Graduation Quilt 2017

Behind the scenes and other projects going, I have been working on Lizzie's graduation quilt for several months.  She told me she wanted a red and gold quilt to represent Iowa State University, but not Iowa State fabric.  So we deliver!

At least I knew that much while we were in Arizona this winter and was able to buy a bunch a fabric at SAS while we were there......at a crazy price of $2.99.  I might have brought home a lot, just sayin!  But I was so glad for what I found, I used ALL of it in her quilt.....didn't use it ALL up.....but it is all in there. Love getting the backing and borders for $2.99.....can't beat that!

I designed it in Electric Quilt after we got home from Arizona, with several variations and Poppo picked the one he liked best....it was a good choice.  I am sharing the file for your personal use only if you have EQ.  This pattern is NOT to be sold.  Lizzie's Graduation Quilt

We did a little video clip when I was doing the final machine quilting.....just for fun.

We gave the quilt to her on Memorial Day!  This is such a happy looking quilt and it is going to a happy girl too!

What can I say.....it is a string quilt.....made with tons of different fabrics.  Just my kind of thing.  I included lots of picture type fabrics.  Also included the satin designer strap from her prom dress, a cute clothing label I had cut out of one of my shirts that said "Living Doll", a seam binding type tape from Moda that wrapped a bundle of fabric......all the things that make a scrap quilt extra special.

We were fighting the wind to get a decent picture.....oh well, did our best!

Machine quilted with red thread for another layer of dimension over the top.  I can see music fabric, John Deere, fruit, frogs, hearts, school penmanship, suitcases.....what can you find?

I did a special photo label for her!

May this quilt wrap you in love from Poppo & Mommo!

I know the plans I have for you......Jeremiah 29:11

Customer Finishes and Where Did the Summer Go?

We put the pool away on Monday......this would be me with a sad face asking "Where did the summer go?"

In one word KITCHEN.....

I will write more about this later, but there has been some updating going on the kitchen this summer and for those of you who have already walked in these steps, you know what that means...it is slowly coming around here......but it has consumed our summer.

This is what we looked like before the countertop was installed and we hadn't taken the cupboard doors off yet.  You can see the new oven in the mirror reflection.  That was a whole process too, taking out the old and modifying the opening to fit the new one......had to do that for the microwave too.

This is what this kitchen looked like after it barfed all over the dining room.  I was never so glad to have a table that seats 14 in my life!  There is stuff on the chairs, under the chairs on the window sills.  EVERYWHERE!

I did manage to get a couple quilts done in August for a customer.....they turned out beautifully!  

 This is a scrappy repro quilt.....it is hard to get a picture of the quilting on these scrappy pieces.

I do have openings for September and one opening for early October.  Let me know if you are interested.

This next piece was a baby quilt and soooo cute!  I think the family lives near the ocean, where this piece is going to live!  How fun is that?

I put a wave like design over this one!  Too Cute!

Where did your summer go????

What's been coming off the long arm frame recently......

This was a finish from several weeks ago, but because it was a gift that had not been given yet.....I didn't want to spoil any surprise.  This was a wonderful project to be a part of and was given to a special graduate, a grandson of some friends of ours.

A little quilting close-up!

I did a photo label for the back of the quilt to convey the love that this quilt has for the giver to the receiver.  Sometimes quilts are more than just a couple layers of fabric with some batting in between.....this one is a tangible reminder of love from one generation to the next!

Here's a wonderful patriotic number that was so fun to do!  I can never get enough of these types of quilts.  Did a wonderful stars and flags pantograph over the whole top with red/white and blue variegated thread!  What's not to like!

The whole top.....

I have one opening in July for machine quilting.....if you are interested let me know!  

Machine Quilting Finish

I have openings in June for machine quilting your top with a 14 day or less turn around time.

Here is the latest finish off the quilt frame.....it turned out nicely!

I see my pictures don't really reflect the color so well.  The focus fabric are all shades of purple.

The blocks are smaller too.....each unit maybe 4".  The quilts already gone to it's home....so can't measure it.

Also used one of my new pantographs from the recent machine quilting show in Cedar Rapids.

Here is the finished quilt minus the binding.  It is a nice baby quilt size piece.

Have a great weekend!

Lucky Friday the 13th of May, Kimmy Brunner and Susan Branch Pt. 1

I have not been much of a believer in luck......more of "the Lord knows my path" kind of girl! But last week I had an unbelievable kind of day on Friday the 13th no less, which is kind of amusing. 

The story starts on Thursday the 12th, which happened to be the Machine Quilting Showcase in Cedar Rapids.  I had planned to attend one of the days to buy supplies for my long arm machine.....thread & pantographs.  The day really hadn't started that well, as I woke up with a migraine and was really not feeling good, but the Silver Fox had his day off and this was the day to go.....on our way to CR, I had mentioned to the Silver Fox that I really should have signed up for a couple classes on my long arm, when this event is so close to us and there would be no hotel $$.  My hesitation is ALWAYS my head......yuck!

I was so glad he could drive me that day, so I least I didn't have to deal with that...but luckily by the afternoon I started to feel much better.

Nothing like trying to make decisions when you head is about ready to explode.....so not fun!  But fortunately it was better and I could enjoy looking at all the designs and colors and make some good decisions....at least that was my plan.

We were about ready to leave and the Silver Fox had wanted me to go look at this board that said something about classes that they had posted.  So I wandered over there to look, there was this slip about a free class the next day on templates.  I grabbed it and took it to the registration desk to found out the story.  Someone had purchased it and had to leave early and wanted her space to be used.....so there you go.

I was going to a class on using templates, which I could use a lot more help with designing with templates and it was with Kimmy Brunner, even better.....a national teacher I knew and had bought and done her class on Craftsy.  Machine Quilting With Templates 

So I was pretty excited as we headed home Thursday.

I was so grateful to wake up headache free on Friday AM and here are a few of my pictures from the workshop.  It was a lot on how to divide a space....probably one of the best workshops I have ever taken.  Excellent stuff!

Making a braided border.

Using the ruler and going from point to point and stitching a secondary design.

What do you stitch on a dresden plate?

Why this of course.....

Adding the look of a dahlia.......this was gorgeous.

Stitched out and pretty much no marking!

Another example.

Look at this background fill.....very modern, but unbelievably easy!

One of Kim's quilt with the dahlia stitched on it!

Look at that killer border.....just divided the space and used a circle to go from point to point....awesome!

 As I drove home in the rain little did I know this was just the beginning of my "Lucky Friday the 13th" day!

To be continued......