quilts from the house of tula pink

8/3/2019 Quilts from the House of Tula Pink

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/quilts-from-the-house-of-tula-pink 1/19

quilts from the house of

20 fabric projects tomake,use & love



contents

Introduction • 7

Techniques and Design | 8

tula’s techniques • 10

Easy Corner Triangles • 10

Half-Square Triangles • 12

Tula’s Totally Tubular

Tube Technique • 14

Fussy-Cutting Method • 15

Scrappy Fusing Technique • 16Squaring Up Strips • 18

Nesting Seams Method • 19

Binding Method • 20

sketching yourquilt design • 22

fearless fabricselection • 24

quilting is not an afterthought • 28

a peek into thefabric design process • 30



Storytelling Quiltsand Projects | 32

Grand Salon Quilt • 34

project: Shadow Catcher • 42

Cloudy Days Quilt • 46

project: Shower Curtain • 54

Fairy Tale Lane Quilt • 58

project: Cuckoo Clock • 64

Color Block Quiltsand Projects | 68

Dream Weaver Quilt • 70

project: Color Bars Body Pillowcase •

74

Fade to Pink Quilt • 78

project: Lollipops Pillow • 84

Houndstooth Quilt • 88

project: Vortex Euro Shams • 92

4

Haiku Quiltsand Projects | 96

Beanstalks Quilt • 98

project: Connect the Dots Shade • 104

Any Which Way Quilt • 108

project: Zigzag Rag Pillow • 112

Shattered Glass Quilt • 116

project: One Eye Open Sleeping Mask • 122

Stacks Quilt • 126

project: Studio-To-Go Sketchbook Cover • 132

Templates • 136

Index • 141

Dedication • 142

About the Author • 142

Acknowledgments • 143



6



introduction

am often asked why I shy away from being photographed. The answer is a simple

one—my fabrics and quilts are a far better likeness of me than the shape of my

nose or the distance between my eyes. My studio is my whole world; it’s thehappiest place on earth and sometimes the most tormented, but balance is good,

right? I call it Pinkerville, because it is populated by critters of my own design and

has an almost magical ability to grow into something entirely different when I am

not paying attention. Pinkerville is rarely tidy but always organized according to

some yet unknown system that seems to be based entirely on color-coded piles of

nonsense. Reality does not exist here. There aren’t any neighbors to complain about

the music or the singing or the occasional spontaneous dance numbers. Pinkerville

lies somewhere between “nowhere” and “that other place.” It’s hard to find and easy

to lose, so I generally don’t leave unless I absolutely have to.

Pattern is an obsession. Designing pattern is complex and messy. Over time it

becomes a math problem that I desperately need to solve but that doesn’t have an

answer. I see it everywhere—on the ground, in the sky, the texture of skin, the tread

of a car tire, the crack in a window. I see how I can change it, too—how every shape

can be molded into another shape. It’s like staring at the clouds: if you stare long

enough, you start to see something else entirely. I strive to look past what’s actually

there to see the possibility of what could be.

Designing fabric is entirely different from any other creative field. My vision is

incomplete until someone picks it up and makes something with it. I put the final

destination of my creative vision in the hands of every person who uses my fabric.

This process allows people I have never met to have a hand in my process. It’s the

greatest form of collaboration and one that I ultimately have no control over. With

every new fabric collection I get to see how other people incorporate my work into

their own vision to suit their own personal needs. It’s usually something I never

thought of doing myself. In this way, my designs are constantly being granted a new

life and purpose. There is nothing else like it.

In the following pages I have compiled a peek behind the curtain, a small glimpse

into the House of Tula Pink. Take a look around and make yourself at home. Don’t

worry about picking up after yourself, we have people for that. This is not a house

of rules and regulations but a place where you can pick and choose when to behave.

Here we eat our dessert first and sometimes skip dinner altogether. So go ahead and

put your feet up. And as long as you’re not doing anything, you might as well makesome stuff.



half-square triangles

1 Start with two contrasting fabric squares at the size

indicated in the pattern.

2 Drawn a diagonal line from corner to corner on

the wrong side of the lighter-colored fabric square.

3 Place the squares right sides together.

4 Draw a 1 ⁄ 4" (6mm) line on either side of the center

line or use a 1 ⁄ 4" (6mm) foot as a guide. Sew 1 ⁄ 4" (6mm)

on either side of the center line.

5 Use a rotary cutter and ruler to cut along the

drawn center line to create two half-square triangles.

6 Press the seams open. Done!

tula says...

Piecing is often discussed in terms of easy and

hard. The reality is that there are only so many

ways to sew a couple pieces of fabric together, and

none of it takes a college degree to accomplish. I

like to look at piecing, not in terms of difficulty,

but in terms of time. Sure, triangles don’t go

together as quickly as squares, but with a trick

or two they can become effortless. Appliqué is not

any “harder” than machine piecing but it does

take more time. The point is this: given enough

time and a tip or two, you can make anything you

can dream up.

12



5

6

tula says...

Make sure that all of the fusible is covered

with fabric before pressing, or you will ruin

your iron. You can also use a pressing sheet in

between your iron and the fusible to protect

your iron.

The scrappy fusing technique is used for the A NY W HI C H W AY Q U I L T (page 108).

17



Monochromat i c

Derives from the words mono meaning single and

chroma meaning color —single color. If you are

focusing on a single color, the shape in each design

will become the focus. You will want to have a range

of prints both in personality and scale. Choose

large, loose prints and smaller, structured prints.

Also evaluate the color itself. If your color is blue,

do you have light and dark blues? Do you include

aquas and navy blues as well?

Analogous

This is similar to the monochromatic color scheme

but branches out to include its neighbors. Think

of a rainbow —one color bleeds into the next,

yellow into green, green into blue. These colors

are analogous to each other, meaning they are

neighbors on the color wheel.

26



Meet the sexiest little shower curtain ever!

Strategically placed peek-a-boo raindrops

won’t let the water out but will keep the

secrets in.

mater ials :

• Assorted fabrics: 4 fabrics, 11 ⁄ 8 yard (1m) each;

Cotton or laminate will work; if using laminate,

you will not need a liner.

• Lightweight sheet plastic: 1 yard (0.9m)

• Sleeve fabric: 5 ⁄ 8 yard (0.6m)

• Coordinating thread

• Pinking shears

• Shower curtain liner

• Templat e (found o n page 138 )

• Optional: (10) 19 ⁄ 16 " (4cm) grommets

cutt i n g :

Fro m e ach o f t he assort ed fabr ics, cut:

• (2) 19" × 37" (48.3cm × 94cm) rectangles

Fro m s hee t p lasti c, cut:

• 16 raindrops using the Raindrop template

(page 138)

Fro m s leeve fabr ic, c ut:

• (2) 9" × WOF (22.9cm × WOF) strips

FINISHED CURTAIN SIZE:

72" × 72" 182.9cm × 182.9cm

55



c o l o r

b l o

c k q

u i l t s

a n

d

p r o j e c t s



fi gu re 3

The Quilting

Because this quilt was more about the fabric choices than

the piecing, we chose to quilt with an all-over pattern that

accomplishes the same goal as the fabric. We began with a

large free-motion floral design that transitions in scale at

the same rate as the purple transitions to pink. The floraldesign starts out large at one corner and slowly shrinks as

it cascades across the quilt and finishes with small florals at

the other end. This simple transition takes a generic overall

quilting design and makes it relate to the quilt top.

81



Vortex Euro Shams

92



s ti tch di ag ram

fi gu re C fi gu re d

107



fi gu re 1

fi gu re 2 fi gu re 3 fi gu re 4

fi gu re 5

All seams are 1 ⁄ 4" (6mm) unless otherwise noted.

building the pinwheels

1 Choose a pair of dark 31 ⁄ 4" × 31 ⁄ 4" (8.3cm × 8.3cm)

squares and a pair of light 31 ⁄ 4" × 31 ⁄ 4" (8.3cm × 8.3cm)squares (Figure 1).

2 Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the

wrong sides of both light squares (Figure 2).

3 Place one light and one dark square right sides

together.

4 Stitch 1 ⁄ 4" (6mm) seam on either side of the drawn

line (Figure 3).

5 Cut on the drawn line to create two pinwheel

quadrants (Figure 4).

6 Press seams open.

7 Repeat steps 3 through 6 for the second pair

of squares.

8 Sew the four quadrants together to form the

pinwheel (Figure 5).

9 Trim the pinwheel to a 51 ⁄ 2" × 51 ⁄ 2" (14cm × 14cm)

square.

10 Repeat steps 1 through 9 to make a total of

twenty pinwheels.

128



Studio-To-Go Sketchbook Cover

132



D e d i c a t i o n

The house of Tula Pink was built on a foundation of support, gentle pushing and an

occasional well-placed elbow. I would barely be able to get out of bed without the support

of a few people who never fail to tell me when I am out of line, off my rocker or just plain

losing it. First and foremost to my mom, who may have thrown my crayons out when I

was a kid, but who knew as well as I did that those walls needed a little color. To Cameron

McLean, the only person who can tell me I’m wrong and get away with it. To my dad,

who builds every crazy thing I come up with. To Grace, who always listens even when

she has no idea what I’m talking about. To Marilyn Foti, who always helps me in a pinch.

To Angela Walters, who no longer needs me to speak full sentences to understand what

I want. These things do not go unnoticed. Thanks for putting up with me.

Special thanks to The Quilt Shoppe in Stewartsville, Missouri, for providing the

fabrics, notions and support to make this book happen.

A b o u t t h e A u t h o r

Tula Pink is an American textile designer and

quilt maker with a dark sense of humor buried

in a sea of print and pattern. She plays with

images the way a poet plays with words, turning

innocuous traditional designs into mischievous

little critters. Whether it’s a head of hair teased

into a pirate ship or a damask molded into a frog,

Ms. Pink can wrangle any shape into her own

candy-colored fantasy of creature delights.

Tula’s love affair with textiles began early,and an obsession with sewing soon followed. It

was apparent to everyone but Tula that she would

eventually be designing the fabric herself. A few

years and ten fabric collections later, design is

her one and only passion. Tula began quilting

in an effort to use up her ever-growing stash of

fabric so she could justify buying more. Sixteen

years later, she has a lot of quilts and more fabric

than when she started.

After a lifetime of city living, Tula Pink nowlives on a farm somewhere between nowhere and

that other place. She can’t even find it on a map

so she rarely leaves for fear of getting lost. Tula

spends her days drawing, sewing and battling

nature as it desperately tries to break through

every crevice of her old farmhouse.

142



Inspired fabrics and designs await you in

u ilting

Welcome to the world of cutting-edge fabric designer, Tula Pink, where clever quilts show off

fanciful fabric, and your imagination can be let out to play. Featuring fabrics that you know

and love, Tula offers 20 patterns with her signature flair for design and original style. Between

10 amazing quilts and 10 extra-cool companion projects, you’ll be inspired to play with fabric

like never before.

Step inside to find:

ø10 large quilt patterns, perfect for

the bedroom or snuggling on the couch.

ø10 accessory sewing projects, like an

embroidered lampshade and a fabric

cuckoo clock, to make your everyday

life extraordinary.

øTips from Tula on choosing and combining

fabrics, selecting a quilting motif, and

even sketching your own fabric andpattern designs.

øStep-by-step illustrations (hand-drawn

by Tula herself) and super-simple sewing

techniques for successful quilt making.

quilts from the house of

tula pink !

Come on in to Tula’s placeCome on in to Tula’s placefor the ultimate in sewing, for the ultimate in sewing,

style and fabric innovation style and fabric innovation!

UK £15.99

US $24.99

(Can $25.99)

W1582

ISBN-13: 978-1-4402-1818-

ISBN-10: 1-4402-1818-8

quilts from the house of tula pink

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