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.

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

Weaver Family Quilt

There was no break after Christmas around here.....my dad's 80th birthday was the 23rd of January and I knew we wanted to celebrate that day!  I had several projects in mind and really wished I would have started working on it earlier, but that didn't happen.....

The story started last summer when the Silver Fox and I were able to go through a few things that came from the Weaver family home attic. The Weaver's are my dad's maternal side.  Part of what was there was a pile of old clothing, that would have been worn by my Great-grandmother, Rose Weaver or her daughter (my grandma) Mildred Kullmer, or even some of her brothers.  Some of it was not in the greatest condition, but I brought home most of it and into the wash it went.  Sink or swim time!  I had vintage quilts spinning around in my head.  There were shirtings, chambray, cadet blue prints & some wool.....my guess is work clothes from 1920's.  Here is some of what I had to work with......

Here is the wool overcoat....it was not in good shape holes everywhere, but the color was good and it was not a heavy wool....so had possibilities.

After spending a little time on Electric Quilt.  I came up with this simple design called Weaver Farm Memories. (If you have EQ7 I have included my project file to share.)  I wanted the piecing to be fairly simple.....most of the fabric is worn and thin.  I did spray starch it heavily and that really helped to handle the piecing.  I also used the walking foot when I was piecing with the wool....that seemed to want to creep on me.  Some of the fabrics have spots and a few tiny holes....just adds to the history and charm of it all.

Then I had another idea.  I have had my Grandma Mildred's wedding dress for a long time.  She gave it to me because it was falling apart and I had interfaced it to basically hold it together.  So I got that out and hand tacked it to the back of the quilt.  I have had the dress in a box and thought this would be a better idea, at least to use it, be able to see it and include the story.  It is tucked and basted down just enough to hold it in place on the back of the quilt.

I had this small piece of toweling that had been hand stenciled by either Great-Grandma Rose or Grandma Mildred.....so that became my label with the quilt info included.

Then I made a fabric dress tag.....printed out on fabric the picture of Keith & Mildred Kullmer's wedding and cut out a tag shape from that after interfacing it and then backed it with a piece of muslin that was also interfaced after writing the information about her wedding dress on the back side of the tag.  I basted around the outside edge to hold it together, then went around the outside edge of the tag twice to make a nice full edge.  Also finished a tiny circle to put the ribbon through.

I did ink the wedding dress info by hand, but it was a fairly small font....made it hard to do.  If I was repeating that, I would have printed it directly on the fabric.  The story my grandparents told me, was the day of the wedding they drove to Black's Department store in downtown Waterloo and bought this dress for about $25-30.

The lace is still beautiful!

I chose to machine quilt it with a free motion baptist fan design.

We had the party at my brother's house and I brought some things to display.

The black wool blanket came from Czechoslovakia  when the Fisher Family came to this country 1880-1890.  They used in when they traveled in the sleigh was the story Grandma told me.  The little bubble suit was made for my dad.

I made a quilt roll with the backside and the dress toward the inside.  And I used the belt from the wool coat to make a strap.

I like to do Shutterfly books for special occasions.  I used Dad's H.S. graduation picture for the cover on the left. 

Close up of the bubble suit.....see the little kitty faces embroidered on it?  Sweet & tiny knitted mittens too!  The story goes that my dad was born on his mother's birthday and there was a snow storm going and I don't believe the Dr. arrived till after he was born.  It was so cold, they wrapped him up and laid him on the open stove door to keep him warm.  He was born at the Weaver family farm.

My brother served BBQ brisket and pork loin and all the fixin's.  It was all so yummy!  And we topped the menu off with cupcakes from Scratch.  Too die for!!!

Writing on Your Quilt Or Quilt Label

For those of you following my Dear Jane story, you know I have recently finished my quilt.  This quilt deserves a label that is special!  This is what I ended up with....

One of the fabrics that I constantly look for are fabrics that suggest quilt label motifs... I tend to buy a repeat whenever I find them, so over the years I have come up with quite a collection.  I try and label my pieces after I finish them and even if I don't add a separate label to the back I will at least write on the back my information.  I personally think it is a great thing to do for your family and those that come behind you....people forget over time, they just do.  Your label tells a story and is a tangible piece of you.

These are the pens I use the most.....Sakura Micron Pigma size .05 in black and brown.  I also have other sizes and colors, but these are the ones I try first.  You can get them at Michael's, JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby too.

I open a new Word document or whatever word processing program you use.  I measure the inner part of the label so I know how much space I have.  I have my rulers turned on in Word so I can see the spacing.  I usually write up what I want to say and I also like to have my words centered, but you can change that if you wish....it is your label.  There are no right ways.  Once I have it written up, I highlight my text and start changing the fonts to find one that has the look I am going for.  I really like those that have a calligraphy look to them....but that is just me.  I collect fonts!  Ha!  Another collection.....shocking!  Here are some Script Fonts to get you started in your own font collection! 

 Once I have the font picked, then I highlight the text and start changing the font size.  Now this was a big label, so it took the whole sheet a paper for me to audition one size at a time.  I also mess with the bold text button, sometimes I use it and sometimes I don't.  This time I thought it looked better to choose bold.

If you are doing a normal size label, I would do one font size, then copy and paste my text again and alter the font size, I may do it a couple times, as I have found what I would pick on my computer screen isn't always the proper size after I print it out....so I always just print out several on one sheet and usually one of them is them is the perfect size.  

This is what I chose to do for my label after printing.  I use paint tape and fasten to my light box.  If you don't have access to one, use a window.  I did that for years.

Before I start tracing my label, I iron a piece of freezer paper on the back side of my fabric label.  This is freezer paper from the grocery story and you iron the shiny side to the back side of your label.  This give you a nice stable surface to write on. 

  Below I am showing you how I peel it off  "after I am done writing."

Then I tape the label fabric to my light box or to your window. Making sure you center the lettering to the frame of the label. 

 Just to note this label is huge and I don't normally do one this big, but I am going to make a pocket out of it when I add it to the back of my quilt. When I was going through my label fabrics, I came across this and decided to just use it, as I didn't know what else I would do with it.  Makes for an impressive label for a special quilt!!!!

What you are going to do is take your pigma pen, and trace the lettering right onto your label one letter at a time.  If you hand gets tired, stop and come back to it later....there is no hurry!  Now I don't fill in the fat parts of the letters as I trace.  I just trace the writing with one stroke and do all of that first.

Then I shut my tracing light off and take out the word document so I can look at each letter and I go back and go over the parts of each letter one at a time.... that need to be thickened up to give that hand lettered look.  I just find that easier to do and you can see the results below.....

This is what I ended it up with after shading each letter.....looks so professional.  And it is so easy, just take your time, use your computer to do all the centering and sizing, etc. and trace it!

I am making this label into a pocket for the back of my quilt.  Layer your label fabric right sides together with a light sew-in interfacing or you can use muslin.  Then I sewed around the wreath design in a free form following the print edge leave a small opening in the bottom of the design for turning.  

Then trim away the excess fabric leaving a 1/4" seam allowance and I also clipped the inner curves....you can barely see that below.

 Then I turned it right side out and pressed the edge nicely.  I also press over the lettering that I have traced really well.  I don't think you really need to do this, because the ink is permanent, but I feel better to set it with heat!

Then I pinned it to the back of my quilt leaving part of the top edge open so I could keep some papers and records to go with the quilt inside.  I didn't sewing the opening close, but did it as I attached the pocket label with a small blind stitch to the back of your quilt.

I hope this gives you courage to try this.  It really is easy and looks way more difficult than it is.