Thursday, June 7, 2012

An evening with Tula Pink

I am still floating on a cloud of good vibes after spending the evening with one of the Quilting World's Rock Stars, the better-than-you-can-imagine Tula Pink! She visited Winston-Salem to celebrate the opening of a new fabric boutique, The Little General. Tula spoke at the fantastic Graylyn International Conference Center and this backdrop just added to the magic of the evening.

Tula was introduced by the gorgeous, sweet, smart, talented Karen Gray.

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(Can you tell I adore her?)

Then Tula cast her spell over a captive audience of quilters gone wild!

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Aren't her glasses cool?

She spoke about how she began her professional career, her family, her design process. She showed us sketches and rejected color ways of her collections. (I an not believe these were rejects!) Tula also gave us a ton of great info on designing prints and how the quilt market schedule works. She designs 2 years in advance!

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Sharing her sketches-a "behind-the-scenes" experience!

Tula talked about her long-arm quilter, the super-talented Angela Walters. And part of the delight of this evening for me was to see the quilts and quilting up-close and personal!

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Nightshade #1 - back. Tula has all her backs custom printed. They are her quilt labels!

And the quilts, oh the quilts! You know, they are so cool to see them on the internet, in magazines, and books. But to see them in person, to touch them and see the vivid colors in the sunlight, it is a heady experience!

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I know we have seen Angela's quilting in books and on the webs, but in person? 
wow. I am blown away. 
Angela, you are another awesome quilting superstar I need to meet!
(in person, 'cause we tweet! :o)

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Detail of Beanstalks from Tula's book, Quilts from the House of Tula Pink
Buy the book, filled with eye candy and inspiration.

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Detail of Modern Dresdens made from upcoming line "Birds and the Bees"

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The colors and the quilting are so luscious! 
I can not wait to get my hands on this collection!

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Sneak preview of sketch of future line, "Salt Water". 
I know I am going to have to have it as well!


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Tula signed my quilt!

I am so energized, enthused and excited! I feel so lucky and blessed to have been a part of this glorious evening! I will be posting more on this visit, as the insights from Tula Pink have really resonated with me and I want to share.

4 comments:

Laura McGrath said...

I can hear your excitement coming through your post! Tula doesn't look anything like I pictured her to look after hearing her name for the first time yesterday. The quilting looks amazing on these quilts, especially the dresden one.

Cherie said...

Wow those quilts look amazing! Love all the quilting. You're right online pictures don't do some things justice. Must have been awesome to see Tula in person! =D

I'm having a giveaway on my blog. Feel free to stop by and enter (if you haven't already) =D
http://ibescheraldine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/official-150th-post-giveaway.html

SpryOnTheWall said...

Oh wow, looks like it was a great evening! Those quilts are amazing!

Shanna of Fiber of All Sorts said...

How exciting by far! Love hearing about your visit!