Tula Pink

I am a lady of tradition if not consistency. So here it is folks, my bi-annual off to Quilt Market bag. Ta Da! Jaybird, a bloggy buddy, actually asked if I had made one yet in the last post. She remembered! I was overwhelmed with sentiment and gushy pride. You actually read this stuff? I thought blogs were just giant inter-webbed picture books! I now feel like I should pay more attention to what I write but that has the potential to lack spontaneity and therefore be less fun.

I usually make a bag from some super hip pattern from some some ultra cool designer but this year I had a hard time finding one with enough pockets so I made my own. I need lots of pockets, not to conceal weapons or anything just water and snacks which are prohibited on the market floor. I hear the punishment can be rather severe if you don’t have a man on the inside who owes you a favor. This bag is essentially a giant pocket, way to solve a problem right?  I broke 3 needles making it because I refused to get off my rear and get the heavy duty needle I needed to get through the seams (4 layers of batting and 4 layers of Decor Bond, oops, I like a stiff bag). Laziness can be so tragic and very often involves at least twice the amount of work.

I did get to do a little machine quilting on my own though. My general philosophy is to leave the heavy lifting to the pros but I do dabble from time to time.

And just when you thought I was done… It seems I can’t stop coming up with new stuff. The 6th installment, that’s right 6th, of the Tula Pink saga is here, in sample form anyway. Hushabye should be shipping to stores anytime now so while you are rushing off to purchase that wonderland of critter joy let me introduce you to what’s driving down the barrel at an alarming pace. I call her Plume. I just received my sample swatches and thought I might commemorate the occasion before I start hacking it to pieces to make my quilt for market. I love this collection almost as much as I love myself. It’s bright and happy and fresh and organic, sort of like a hippy but cleaner. It’s possibly the best drawing I have ever done. To finally see it in living color fills me with such geeker joy that I am even willing to feed all of the stray cats that are milling around my yard. I know that means they will come back, it may cost me a fortune in kitty kibble but I just don’t care. Milk for everyone!

And please, how dang cute is that selvage? A little Fleur De Lis instead of the oh-so-boring standard dot? Will the cuteness ever end? I say no. Cuteness will endure for ever and ever. Amen.

This is the most tedious, mind numbing, eye burning part of designing fabric. It is also my favorite part. It keeps me in my studio and out of trouble for hours sometimes even days. I love to see people’s process so I hope I’m not geeking out too much by assuming that you might find this interesting. It’s also my clever-ish way of letting you know what’s coming before it actually arrives.

It always starts with a drawing.

Once the basic outline is down I add in the medium and highlights. Now it’s starting to move, I love that part.

Toss in some darks and throw in a pretty little patterned background and I almost have myself a print.

Aaah, little falling feathers. Now wasn’t that fun. If only I had Bob Ross’ skills I could make it “happy” and then I could have my own TV show!

It is a crazy rainy day here in Pinkerville (as you might be able to tell from the windows in the background) which makes living on a dirt road just that much messier. Such is life, I guess they can’t all be sunny. My cut goods, jelly rolls, layercakes etc… have all arrived on my doorstep and I hate to cut them up. I found this little pattern on Wee Wonderfuls, her stuff is ridiculously cute. So I thought hey, what an awesome way to use a Jelly Roll without hacking it to pieces. I just love it when problems solve themselves. I adore a good contradiction more than anything, you know like angry cupcakes. How snails became known as cute I will never understand. They are relatively gross and slimey in person but you put those little suckers in pink and give them starry little eyes and they completely transform. So I just made the body from the pattern and stuck a Jelly Roll on his butt and voila! I have never worked with wool felt before so it’s a bit sloppy but it is still pretty cute so I say job well done.

Oh hey wait…I bet you would like to know who the tote bag winners are. I am so enamored with the snail that I almost forgot. Due to some confusion last time I will be e-mailing the winners as well so if you see a name down there that might be yours go ahead and check your in box. Apparently many people have the same first name, go figure.

And the winners are…Michelle, Jeff, Sunny and Jen

I am so excited about Hushabye that I can’t stop making stuff out of it. I am running out of room to keep it all so I am giving it away. Yay!

Free stuff!If you want one then leave me a comment, tell me a little something about yourself,  and I will randomly pick 4 winners to be announced on June 15th. It’s just that easy. I mean, come on, they’re super cute right? You can be the first person(s) on your block to have a little bit of it. Hushabye won’t be in stores until August so it will be like an extreme sneak peak. You can make your local shop owner jealous if you so desire, unless of course your local shop is in Stewartsville. In that case it’s my mom’s shop and she already knows all about it.

**Remember** You don’t have to worry about being clever, the winners will be randomly chosen. I don’t play favorites.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!!! Winners coming up next! 

So Here’s the deal. I get five to ten emails a week asking me where people can find those owls from Full Moon Forest. They are pretty much just gone. Gone. Gone. Gone. I have some left but I’m saving them for my grandkids or maybe to sell on ebay when they become antiques. Think of this collection as a Full Moon Forest II using everything I have learned in between then and now. I always hear people say ” If I knew then…” well I do so I did. I loved that first fabric line and it sort of came and went in a flash. I never felt like it had the chance it deserved. By the time people started to see it and ask for it it was all snatched up. So Hushabye is an homage to my humble beginnings. I hope y’all like it. By the way… 

Hushabye is due in stores in August!

My radio silence will soon be coming to an end. The day is coming closer when I can actually show you what I have been working on these last few months. I can’t wait! This is just a taste. Please be patient with me. I’m a fragile little bunny when I am working.

It’s like a little slice of life! And it could be all yours. A Honey Bun is like a Jellyroll only smaller and cuter.  It has 40 1.5 in x 42 in strips of every piece in Neptune. How exciting is that! All you gotta do is leave me a comment and I will randomly pick someone to receive this little treasure. You will love it and I will love you. Don’t worry you don’t have to be clever, even though it will make me smile and that should be reward enough. So bring it on and win some free stuff. I will keep taking entries until Friday the 13th, because that sounds totally ominous and fun. I will announce the winner the following Monday, the 16th of February. Happy commenting! P.S. Some of you may have noticed that the entry changed a little. That is because I accidentally deleted it. Don’t fret, those of you who have already entered are still entered. Sorry, I am a nerd sometimes in my haste to do things and end up creating chaos. All is well now.  

So here it is! I am so proud of this collection that I could spit, if spitting didn’t totally gross me out. I have been making tons of stuff out of this and can’t wait to actually finish something so I can show it to you. I suppose you have already guessed the theme, it’s dogs! Just kidding. I grew up on the coast so this is especially special to me. It feels like home. I am landlocked here is Dallas so Neptune is a little tribute to what I miss most about California, the ocean. It was freakin’ cold so I didn’t go in it all that much but I looked at it a lot and that’s gotta count for something, right? Neptune will be hitting the shops in March. It will give you something to look forward to through the winter.

What does a girl who gets paid to design fabric do with her free time? That’s right, she designs more fabric. I stumbled onto this Spoonflower blog a while back and my head was all a buzz with ideas. Spoonflower is a site where you can upload your own designs and they digitally print limited quantities of that fabric. It’s a blast. I can make all kinds of wacky stuff. I just had to try it out. I plan on using this site to make all of the things that Moda would never let me get away with. It’s not their fault, how are you going to sell thousands of yards of tuna cans with my name on them?

My first print… ta da! They are Tula cans, not tuna but Tula. I think it’s hilarious. So there are really big cans and little bitty cans. A girl needs options. The big ones are about 12 inches across and the little ones are around 3 inches.

So go check it out. Oh, and please don’t stop buying my fabric even though you can make your own now. Thanks.