I love quilting for all my customers, but there is just something different about quilting for Tula Pink. Quilting her quilts have made me grow so much as a machine quilting and as an artist in general. The masterpieces that she gives me to work on have been a dream come true. If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you will have seen me mention her name. In fact, a search for “Tula Pink” on my blog will bring up 28 pages of results.
I like to joke that Tula Pink is like my work wife, our careers and our friendship have grown throughout the years. Working with her has taught me a number of things…..here are just a few of the many lessons I have learned from working on her quilts.
1.Trapunto is fun, but only the first time around!
One of the first quilts that I quilted for her was her Cartwheels quilt. This quilt was a stunner and I desperately wanted to impress her…..so I did something I had never done before, trapunto. If you don’t know what trapunto is, it’s a process of adding extra batting in the quilting motifs. It involves marking, cutting batting and washing the quilt. I will never forget the fear I felt when I put the quilt in the water (I did get her permission first!).
Trapunto In Progress
It turned out amazing, but it was the last time I have ever done it. Now, if I want to get a “trapunto” look, I use two layers of batting. In fact, all her quilts have two layers of batting!
2. Her fabric designs are the perfect quilting inspiration.
If I am not sure how to quilt her quilt tops, I just look to her fabric as the perfect inspiration. For instance, when quilting her Parisville panels, I used the actual fabric as a guide for quilting the hair.
I especially liked watching the design develop underneath the quilt as I worked on it. These beautiful panels now hang in her house as curtains and I love visiting them every chance I get.
This was also the first time that I experimented with oversized feathers…….too….much….fun. Showing her the panels was one of the few times I have seen her speechless!
3. Geometric designs can look as amazing as feathers.
I love a feather, that’s no secret!
But when she gave me her Peaks and Valleys quilt, she said that she wanted something completely different. I always love when she gives me some fun challenges. So I went the opposite of feathers with some geometric quilting designs.
This quilt is when I realized that Dot to Dot quilting designs are perfect for irregular spaces in between blocks. It’s still one of my qo-to quilting techniques.
But the most important lesson learned………..
4. It’s never too late to cross an item off of your quilting bucket list.
For the last several years, we have been talking about writing a book together. We would have coffee, talk about life in general, and then lament the fact that we still hadn’t wrote a book. But now, we have! We finally pushed aside our hectic schedules and collaborated on a book that I couldn’t be more proud of!
“Quilt With Tula and Angela” takes you behind the scenes of our creative processes. She shows you how to work with each color of the rainbow in 17 (!) stunning quilts. Then I talk about……you guessed it…..quilting them.
Once the book is released in end of October, I will share pictures of all the quilts in all their glorious detail. I can’t hardly wait! You can pre-order your copy now by checking out my online store. This is one book you will definitely want to have in your library.
What about you? What gas working with Tula Pink’s fabric taught you?
One More Thing…..
On a side note, I know most of you don’t live in the Kansas City area. (Why is that? Kansas City is such a beautiful city!) But if you do, you should check out a big Labor Day Weekend Quilting Event that I am having at my quilt shop.
If you are free on September 3rd, we hope you will stop by the Quilting Is My Therapy Quilt Shop for our big Quilting Event from 10-3. Live demos, snacks, giveaways and sales are just some of the fun stuff that we will have going on.
Plus the first 50 people will get a goodie bag with valuable coupons!
Either way, I hope you have a fantastic Labor Day Weekend!
Happy Quilting
I have retired and am now trying to teach myself using your book Free Motion Quilting. I have a longarm but it does not have the computerized function. Was glad to hear you do not either and look at your skills !
Oh my goodness! What a huge announcement. Congratulations! Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. Thanks for sharing your learning curves and your creative process! Looking forward to the book!
Thanks so very much!!!!
The book is on pre-order with Amazon to be delivered November….Just love the work both of you do individually but when you get together oh my fireworks happen for sure.,
What a great post, I just learned about the new book this week and can’t wait! I had no idea where you were located or that you had a shop in Liberty, I absolutely would have been there over the holiday since I live in Lees summit, gah! Hope you have more fun events soon.
I visited your shop a few months ago on my way to Northern Missouri for a visit. I wish I still lived near KC and could visit more. Thank you for your inspiration and I look forward to the new Craftsy video and your new book. What a thrill having you and Tula Pink in the same area.
Hi, Angela! So happy to know about your new book! I just ordered it, because I didn’t want to wait till QuiltCon. Thanks, as always, for sharing what you know, and for being so gracious.
Angela
I have always found you so inspirational and have most of your books (as I have to learn and watch from afar). I hope to be in Kansas next year, so perhaps I can come and visit?
Keep up the amazing work!
Regards
Erilyn (New Zealand)
Yes!! Definitely come visit!!!