Today is my day on Plum & June’s New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop!
Yvonne (Quilting Jetgirl)
I am Yvonne (aka Quilting Jetgirl). About a month and a half ago, I took a big leap and left my full time engineering job in the aerospace industry. I actually loved my job and my co-workers (hint: scroll to the bottom of the linked post if you are curious), but the stress… mmm… not so much. I just couldn’t seem to figure out a way to cope with the pressure, so after a lot of time and thought (4 years of planning), I am now working full time on my physical and mental health. Which means I get to spend my time doing things that I love but used to have a lot less time for: meditating, exercising, and quilting!
I live in Tehachapi, California, which is a little mountain pass town that is between Bakersfield and Mojave. I love summertime in Tehachapi! The long evenings and warm weather are perfect for walks down to the local farmer’s market or my LQS when I need to pick up a few supplies. Yup, I strap on my backpack and walk 4 miles (round trip) to pick up batting and thread. I am loving the change of pace in my life right now.
Enough about me; would you like to see some of my quilts? 🙂
1. Solar System Baby Quilt 2. 4th of July Picnic Quilt 3. Color Weaving II Baby Quilt
4. You + Me Lap Quilt 5. Whale of a Time Lap Quilt 6. Falling for Fall
These are a few of the projects that I have finished so far this year. My main focus since February 2013 has been to work on improving my free motion quilting skills. I feel a lot more confident in trying new quilting designs, and I think that my focus is starting to shift into design. Recently, I have been playing around with my own patterns, and I hope that having more time will allow me to develop what used to be idle doodles and fantasies into quilting reality! Regardless, the next year promises to be a very new kind of adventure for me.
In terms of blogging, I have found that writing posts in advance and setting a publishing schedule has been a wonderful way to keep my writing momentum. I love how I can sit down and write in the moments I have available and know that I have time to come back and finish. And if I didn’t have time, well no harm done, I can just move that publishing date or time out a little bit!
My favorite quilting trick is to sew with a scant quarter inch seam. I don’t always use this trick when I am piecing, but it really has helped me get crisp, even blocks over the years. In particular, I *love* log cabin blocks, and sewing with a scant quarter inch allows me to trim up the blocks to keep them from getting uneven as more and more layers are added. For my old sewing machine, I could not nudge my needle over to the right, so I learned how to sew a scant quarter inch seam by trial and error and then placed some masking tape as a guide. My current machine allows me to nudge my needle to the right, which is a wonderful feature and one I made sure this machine had before I upgraded – that’s how much I love this trick! Because I just can’t stop with my quilting tips, my second favorite trick is to make sure my sewing needle stops down. Always. Whether I am piecing, quilting or putting on binding, this has really helped me gain consistency when I start and stop whatever I might be sewing!
Puppy (the cat), Quilt, and Jet Engines
Puppy is my fur baby. As you can obviously tell, my husband wanted a dog. We compromised. I got the cat (who actually picked me), and my husband named him. It works for us. You can also see why my husband’s nickname is “jetman” in the photo with 2 of his homemade turbojet engines in the background.
Quilting Jetgirl Speed Trivia Round
- Name: Yvonne (YAw-vaughn)
- Myers-Briggs: ISFJ, The Nurturer
- Sign: Virgo
- Began Quilting: 1996, but really active since 2010 and brand new to blogging
- Favorite Author: Orson Scott Card
- Favorite Movies: I love The Princess Bride, Shakespeare in Love, The Incredibles, i {heart} huckabees, and the minions from Despicable Me. 🙂
- Favorite TV Show: I have not owned a TV since 2002. I do occasionally watch Daily Show clips online.
- Favorite Bands: Chevelle, Coldplay, Linkin Park. I love listening to music as I quilt.
- Favorite Numbers: 3, 8, 9, 14
- Superpower I Wish I Possessed: Super Flexibility like Elastagirl
Quilting Jetgirl
Still here? Great! Now that you know me a little bit better, I want to know something about you! I like to think of myself as Jetgirl, and it makes me feel a little bit like a comic book character, which is super empowering and fun. So what is your quilting superpower, or what superpower do you wish you had? My quilting superpower is speed sewing, which really is a super power because it can be a blessing and a curse (my seam ripper is my most used tool…).
Thanks so much for stopping by! Please be sure to check out all the other bloggers in this week’s blog hop:
- Jen @ Bower Bird Patch
- Afton @ Quilting Mod
- Jessica @ One English Teacher
- Barbara @ Suzy Homemaker
- Cynthia @ Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework
- Mary @ See Mary Quilt
- Laurel @ Drowning In Fabric
- Linda @ Talking Lunch Box Quilts
- Rebecca @ One Wee Bird
- Anne @ Hudson Valley Quilts
- Diana @ Red Delicious Life
- Terri @ Childlike Fascination
I love the quilting chick shirt! What a fun introductory post; I’m picturing you hiking out to get thread and batting; it certainly could add to the balance of life. Hm…I’m trying to think of my quilting superpower…. I don’t think I have one yet, so I’ll have to have an aspirational power. I’d chose prismatic color girl (yeah, I made that up); I wish I had more of an eye for color and patterns that would gel together, and I’d imaging that someone named prismatic color girl could have a pretty awesome super hero suit.
So glad that you have taken a step back from the stress to quilt! Here from the hop. Great intro to who you are and what you do. I love your work!
I would love some feather power to quilt pretty feathers. I’ve got a long way to go.
Nice to meet you! My super power is to combine fabrics and colors 🙂 Some say I got the eye for it but it can be a problem when I look at someone elses quilts. I can not appreciate the pattern if the random choice of colors bug me, lol.
Great post Yvonne. It’s nice to get to know you. I’m a Myers-Briggs, concluder/producer. No super powers, but I wish I had more time in each day to sew……would that make me wishful thinking girl?
Love the quilts, Yvonne! And I’m also so happy that you had the opportunity and the courage to leave a well-established career and do something you love even more. I look forward to seeing more, both in blog posts and in quilts.
Your quilts are really great!
So nice to put a face to your name, Yvonne…the cartoon is great, but not quite the same thing. 🙂 Your cat named “Puppy” cracks me up! “Quilting Jetgirl” is the perfect name for a speed quilter such as yourself. Since I’d like to get twice as much done every day, perhaps my super power could be to replicate/double when necessary, merging again at will. Of course, that could backfire. I might just get into twice as much mischief!
Great intro post! Hmm I don’t have a super power, but I do absolutely love quilting so I carry on regardless, one stitch at a time 🙂
Love that you are an ISFJ – me too! All the best as you move into more designing – it is an amazing skill to have.
I seem to have the ‘run out of fabric at a crucial time’ super power lately 🙂 I don’t have a TV either, got rid of it about the same time you did, haven’t missed it at all! My daughter, on the other hand, was not feeling the love at the time 🙂
Hi Yvonne – what a great intro post! And a fellow Virgo & ISFJ! I love the colors in your solar system quilt! I’m impressed that you are doing your own FMQ. I hope to learn how to do that at some point. Happy Hopping! Linda (Talking Lunchbox Quilts)
Nice to meet you! Still love your rocket quilt!
My Myer Briggs results tend to shift between INTJ and INFJ; I’m a mix between the two (some parts of one match and not others and vice versa). If I had a super power, I would like to have telekinesis. Think of all the sewing you could do at once without even actually doing anything! 😀
I own a TV but I don’t actually watch TV and rely on the internet and DVDs for watching. There’s just nothing on normal TV worth watching!
Love Puppy!
Love the cat’s name! I like elastigirl but If I had a super power it would be like dash running so fast I’d have the non quilty to do list done in 2 seconds flat leaving the whole day for playing with design and colour – that would be so cool!
Hi! I’m completely jealous of your ability to step away from such a stressful career and focus on you. It must be a little slice of heaven to be able to slow down. I’m also answering your trivia for fun.
Name: Janet
Myers-Briggs: ISTJ, The Inspector
Sign: Capricorn
Began Quilting: 2011
Favorite Author: Jane Austen
Favorite Movies: Pride and Prejudice
Favorite TV Show: Brothers and Sisters
Favorite Bands: Guster, Coldplay, Civil Wars
Favorite Numbers: 7, 14
Superpower I Wish I Possessed: Teleportation – It would save so much time in my day.
Glad to have you online!
Hi Yvonne! Nice to meet you – what a wonderful introduction post! I’m also int he middle of a mental health break from working. I’ll be laid off at the end of this month and while things are winding down I’m finding that I’m far more relaxed than I was at my full time tech job (web development) and am looking forward to taking the summer off before getting back to real life: whatever that may be by then!
Great intro post! I’d love to be able to time travel. There have been so many interesting periods in history, but I certainly want to be able to come back to our own time whenever I want.
Love the post! I think my quilting superpower is color choice. When I get a good combo it’s great (at least to me!), but when I get excited and forget to edit it just becomes dizzying!
Lovely quilts, and sounds like a useful quilting super power. I don’t think I have one, but I could really do with some kind of super power that means I get tidying, cooking, cleaning done super fast to give me a bit more time for sewing!
Ummm…I love your post and I’m pretty sure we should be best friends! Engineering, minions, The Princess Bride and Quilting….Excellent combination 🙂
I am pleased to meet you. I am a new follower via bloglovin. Drop over and visit me once in a while. Blog can be neglected but I do post giveaways there and quilting matters and sometimes interest items and funny things.
Puppy! I actually snorted, because that is a GENIUS name for a cat. Does your cat also love being under things? Spot the cat: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rappyamhappy/7824207806/in/set-72157631160534068.
I enjoyed reading your intro and look forward to reading more. Having worked in the aerospace industry, I know it’s ridiculously stressful. My boyfriend still works for one and though he can’t quite bring himself to leave yet, there is nothing he’d like more.
Hmm, forgot about the quilting superpower. My superpower is buying fabric that doesn’t go with any other fabric I own. It’s a skill, I know. Happy to teach you sometime ;).
I’m not sure I have a super power, but I wish I had an unlimited wallet for buying fabric. I can always find more I want, just don’t always have the extra in the wallet. Love the cat name, growing up I had a dog named “dog”, my brother named him, because John Wayne had a dog named dog in a movie.
My superpower would definitely be sleep sewing or sleep quilting! Half the time after chasing two kids around all day I just want to crawl into bed. I’d be much more productive if I could get some things done while I’m asleep. The quilted stars on the red, white and blue quilt are so cool! The falling for fall quilt speaks to me, too. I have a black and white cat, too. His name is Ed. 🙂
Nice to meet you Yvonne. I don’t know if I have a superpower but lately at the end of a sewing session I stuff up the last block and have to redo it. It is driving me crazy but I have discovered a couple possible interesting blocks to play with when I have time. It might just be the start of something.
Great post Yvonne! I love that you are taking time for you! I often think that if I had a superpower I might be too tempted to abuse it, but invisibility has always been a desire of mine. Your quilts look great!
Hahaha super power. I would like mine to be speed sewing … something like speed reading but super quick sewing with amazing precision!
My machine has the speed sewing super power. The Jukis really move! I have the power of yes. As in, can you make that thing you’ve never made before? YES! Can you make it by tomorrow? Probably not, but YES!
Love your quilting. The practice is paying off!
OMG!?!? You live in Tehachapi?!?!? I am going to bet you $100 that my uncle is your doctor. And you probably knew my grandparends and cousins!! Insanity. The only people who know about Tehachapi are the people who live there. 😉
My superpower would be speed house cleaning – so I could have more time to sew AND a clean house instead of one or the other (err, more one… I reeeally need to vacuum!)
i’m so jealous of those stars! i can’t get the hang of free motion yet 🙁 even asked a few local quilt shops if they offer classes, but so far no luck. any pointers? hope you’ll stop by on the 11th!
Love the trivia round!
You rock Yvonne. Love all your makings and look forward to seeing more.
Hillary
I would love to twitch and have my house auto clean like Samantha from Bewitched! I love your color weaving baby quilt! Beautiful!
I like the story about your cats name. You are one of the few people that I have heard of (other than myself) who don’t watch TV….leaves more time for quilting!
Hi Yvonne, Nice to meet you. I laughed out loud when reading your cat named “Puppy”. I wonder if he comes to you when you call his name.
Great to meet you! I don’t know if I’d call it a super power, but I could sure use a clone! I can relate to the high-pressure, long-hours career and would love to be able to send my clone to the office every now and then while I stay home and quilt!
I’m right there with you with the seam ripper. Definitely my most-used tool. I would say that my sewing super power is picking colors for quilts. Blessing because I like the light modern colors I pick. Curse because I’m just so darn picky.
HI Jetgirl! Visiting from the New Quilter’s hop. I think my super power is organization. Great post.
Great post Yvonne! I, too, had to finally walk away from a career I loved (professional stage manager) because of the stress so I know how torn you can feel from day to day. It’s liberating but then at times you really miss the work and people. It’s funny you mentioned Elastagirl – she’s my favorite and whenever anyone asked me if I could be any super hero, who would it be, I’d always pick her. Then I’d have to smack my forehead when they’d ask “who?” *sigh*
Yvonne – I love your quilts. The solar system one and the space related one are my favorites. Your cartoon space girl, and space related cartoons provides this blog with a unique vitality, that I can’t help but smile about. So clever.
Throughout these few weeks, you’ve inspired me with your comments and technical help as I prepared my post for this blog hop, and I am so grateful. You’re really an inspiration, and a new friend I hope to get to know better as time goes on. It’s good to seek out work – life balance. Glad you did, and glad I met you. Have a great weekend.
Hi Yvonne, I’m glad to learn more about you. I also feel like my super power is speed sewing, I get a little excited and things get away from me sometimes. I do wish by super power was speed seam ripping–it seems much faster to make mistakes than it is to fix them. 🙂
I’m so inspired by your recent life change! My mama always compliments my sense of color, but I’m not confidant enough to call it a super power. I don’t care much for cats, but something tells me that Puppy is probably pretty awesome – I think I’d like him. 😉
Hi Yvonne. I loved getting to know you through your post. You did a great job letting us all into your world. I am so happy that you have the chance to take a break from the job that was hurting you and focus on the things that bring you joy. What a blessing.
I’ll tell you what I wish my superpower was…. I wish I didn’t need to sleep, and that I could sew away all night long, and start the day refreshed and happy.
I loved your speed trivia bit… is it okay if I add that to my post as well?
XOXO Stephanie
Nice to meet you, Yvonne! I enjoyed reading your fun post after I saw you listed at Plum & June. Right back at ya – ESTJ (the Guardian) and Virgo as well! Love the bold step you have taken and how grounded you clearly are. Your work is beautiful and I will definitely come back to visit.
Great post, good luck with your life changes!