The Quilts of Tula Pink: A 15-Quilt Retrospective at h+h

While visiting h+h earlier this month, Kimberly had the wonderful opportunity to have a guided tour through the 15-quilt retrospective called Legendary: The Quilts of Tula Pink by the amazing Tula herself. The exhibit was a celebration of 20 years of bold vision, unmistakable color, and fearless creativity from one of quilting’s most influential voices. Keep reading to see an up close look at the quilts on display, and watch Kimberly’s tour of the quilts recorded directly from the show floor!  

Legendary: The Quilts of Tula Pink

Butterfly Quilt 2.0

Made from an assortment of fabrics from True Colors, the Butterfly Quilt 2nd Edition Quilt Pattern is designed by Tula Pink. This stunning pictorial quilt kicks off the exhibit in a riot of color that is sew Tula Pink.

Tula Nova Quilt

Her first big English Paper Piecing pattern, designed to be an introduction to the notable La Passacaglia quilt, the Tula Nova Quilt is an exploration of the most commonly used shapes and techniques in EPP.

Nutty Quilt

Tula is known for her large prints, and she is always looking for a way to surprise us! The Nutty Quilt was designed specifically to pair with her Tiny Beasts collection, giving her fans a fun minagerie of Tiny Beasts to sew with. This quilt kit exclusive pattern has tons of tiny piecing that is still one of her favorites.

Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Quilt

Another quilt kit exclusive pattern that Tula loves to remember is the Mad Hatter Tea Party Quilt. Inspired by the fantastical world of Alice in Wonderland, the Curiouser & Curiouser collection had so much magic to discover, and she even included an illustration of one of her sisters as the model for Alice!

Spool for Love Quilt

A nod to family can be found in a lot of Tula’s collections, including the border fabric in the quilt kit exclusive Spool for Love Quilt that features her mom’s hands holding different sewing tools. Not only is this her favorite quilt, but the Handmade Collection featured in it was designed as a part of her sewing machine collaboration with Bernina.

Amish with a Twist Quilt

One of her more recent makes is the Amish with a Twist Quilt from the Amish With A Twist: Series Two: The Classics Block of the Month Quilt Booklet by Nancy Rink. With a colorful stash of fabrics looking for a home and a love of discovering quilt patterns by other great designers, this colorful block-of-the-month-style quilt was created.

Roseville Album Quilt

Tula is always trying to learn new skills, and appliqué has been her focus most recently. She said the best way for her to learn is to “dive into the deep end,” and this applique masterpiece from Kim Mclean Designs was just what she wanted. For this project, Tula used Hugs ‘N Kisses paper, a semi-disolvable fusible paper.

La Passacaglia Quilt

Another estate sale pattern find, this is the La Passacaglia Quilt from the Millefiori Quilts 6 Quilt Book by Willyne Hammerstein that inspired the Tula Nova Quilt earlier in the exhibit! The original pattern instructions were to square up the quilt, but Tula couldn’t bring herself to part with all of that amazing piecing. Instead, this quilt that took her five years to make and ignited her love of stripes was lovingly appliqued to a background fabric.

Tula Sunrise Quilt

Another one of her EPP quilt designs, the Tula Sunrise Quilt, was designed to support some of her larger prints! The big center piece is balanced by smaller surrounding pieces, and the triangles around the edges tie it all together.

Pom Pom Quilt

The quilt kit, exclusive Pom Pom Quilt, features fabric from her 25th collection called All Stars! Sometimes it can be tricky for designers to make quilts that show off all the fabrics in the collection equally, and this striking quilt was Tula’s creative answer.

Opening Night Quilt

Coming back to Tula’s love of doing the unexpected, as a designer known for her intensely vivid colors, she released the Linework collection using only black and white. Paired with this monochrome collection, the pops of color incorporated into the FREE Opening Night Quilt Pattern stand out even more!

Fade to Gray Quilt

As a follow-up to Linework, her Graywork collection explores all the shades of gray that exist between black and white. Available now, the Fade To Gray Quilt Kit is one of those simple patterns that looks more difficult than it actually is! Be sure to keep an eye out for the little wolf Tula designed as a nod to another one of her sisters.

Anchors Away Quilt

The Anchors Away Quilt was one of her first big patterns, originally designed as a wedding present for her older sister. The pixilated anchor in the center of the quilt uses the varied shades of blue from her Saltwater collection to create depth and shadow.

Hex on the Beach Quilt

One of her very first EPP patterns, Hex on the Beach, was inspired by the iconic Missoni style of knitwear. The variegated placement of the pieces creates a fun visual effect in a very classic EPP layout. This quilt shows Tula’s understanding of how color creates movement from very early in her career.

What is your favorite Tula Pink memory?

We hope you had fun taking a trip down memory lane of Tula Pink’s amazing career, and we would love to hear what your favorite Tula Pink collection, quilt, or project has been your favorite!

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