The Ultimate Collection by Tula Pink

MC-TulaPink-Promo

Tula Pink has the amazing WOW-factor that draws crowds and inspires masses. Her fabrics are heralded and hoarded, hers threads coveted, her tools desired and from what we can tell, everyone wants to be her friend;). It’s always exciting to see a new collection or product unveiled and we’ve come to expect the bold, the unique and the grand. In true form, her latest Aurifil thread collection is awe-inspiring. The Ultimate Collection comes in a custom, gold-embossed case and contains forty-five small spools of 50wt thread hand-selected by Tula. The threads coordinate particularly well with the Strawberry color way of her latest fabric release, Slow & Steady, but would truly be a marvelous addition to any sewing room. We’ve heard people comment that they’d just like to dive right into the box and though we’re admittedly a little biased, we can’t help but agree!

THREAD COLLECTION DETAILS
The Ultimate Collection
Custom Box, 45 Small Spools – 100% Aurifil Cotton 50wt, 220yds each
Colors included:
2423 – 2425 – 2530 – 5002 – 2265 – 2260 – 2460 – 1100 – 2479
5015 – 2132 – 2135 – 1133 – 2240 – 2245 – 1154 – 6729 – 2420
2886 – 1147 – 5016 – 5017 – 2835 – 2860 – 2865 – 1148 – 4093
5006 – 2715 – 1128 – 6738 – 2745 – 2581 – 2540 – 2535 – 4020
2370 – 2324 – 2026 – 2021 – 2615 – 2620 – 5004 – 2630 – 2692

TulaPinkUltimateTo view this info on our website, click the images above. For purchasing, please contact your local Aurifil Dealer.

THE INTERVIEW
What first drew you to this amazing world of sewing, quilting, and textile design? 

I was drawn to quilting and fabric through my local quilt shop when I was 12. I was given a sewing machine for Christmas to play on, no one in my family sewed at that point. I needed fabric to sew with and ended up at a quilt shop by chance. I fell in love with the rows and rows of prints immediately, it was a huge rainbow of color and design all organized and in color order. This shop was like a life sized box of crayons that I could walk into, I was smitten. If the fabric store that we had found had been any other type of store I don’t think I would be here today. If had been an uninspiring chain store or a home dec store or anything else I don’t believe I would have fallen in love with it the way that I did.

Tula's Spring 2016 Schoolhouse for The Ultimate Collection at International Quilt Market in Salt Lake City
Tula’s Spring 2016 Schoolhouse for The Ultimate Collection at International Quilt Market in Salt Lake City

Do you remember the process of creating your first quilt and how you felt once it was finished? 
My first finished quilt was a disaster. I was really proud of it back then and I still have it and love it because it shows how far I have come in my craft. It is an hourglass quilt made entirely of Kaffe Fasset woven stripes. I didn’t know that choosing stripes, woven fabric and all bias cut pieces was hard and I powered through it completely unaware that this was a challenging starting point to say the least. I think that is the beauty of early quilting, you don’t bring any fear to the table when you begin. You don’t know that some things are harder than others so you just dive in, head first. At some point a quilter is taught to fear certain types of sewing and that bravery of naïveté is a huge loss to the creative process. I embroidered skeletons and birds all over it to make it more rock ‘n roll I guess. It’s a funny quilt and one that I really love because it represents so much of my evolving philosophy on quilting.

Screen Shot 2016-07-29 at 1.12.59 PM
Gorgeous recent improv piecing by Tula Pink

Who or what has been your greatest creative inspiration?
Creative Inspiration is this really ambiguous thing. It is impossible to pinpoint. I would say that what drives me to design fabric is fulfilling a need. I always begin by thinking about what I would most like to sew with and then I try to fill that need. I push myself very hard to stay fresh and not fall into a rut of doing the same thing over and over. I try not to look too much at what other people are doing, I think that stifles creativity. The one thing that I have to offer above all else is my point of view. I look around my world and try to imagine it in a different way. If I see a rabbit hopping across my lawn my first thought is always” how cute would that rabbit be in pink or with stripes or made out of paisleys”. I am inspired by possibility and try not to limit my imagination to what exists.

Slow & Steady Heart
Slow & Steady Heart

Do you find that your previous career in the music industry has had any influence on your path within the quilting industry?
I find that my previous career as a designer in the music industry has greatly influenced how I manage my brand. I treat my fabric collections like album releases and consider my travel to be like touring. That is the business I know so it was natural for me to go back to that system when starting my own brand.

[projects made using Tula’s new fabric collection, Slow & Steady]

You have long been a user and supporter of Aurifil threads. How did you first discover Aurifil and what do you love most about using it within your projects?
I found Aurifil because I was having some trouble with a thread that I was using on a project and a friend gave me a spool of Aurifil 50 wt to try. I have not used anything else since. I have paid that forward ever since. I keep a healthy collection of spools in my studio for the sole purpose of handing out to friends who are using something other than Aurifil. Every single one of them becomes an Aurifil loyalist after that. It’s one of those things that you never really think about until you use something exceptional and then you wonder how you got through without it.

Stunning Machine Embroidery by Casey Taylor using threads from The Ultimate Collection
Stunning Machine Embroidery by Casey Taylor using threads from The Ultimate Collection

Do you have a favorite weight/color? 
I use 50 wt thread almost exclusively. I am a patchworker so my sewing needs tend to be really focused when it comes to thread. Color is a different matter all together. I don’t favor any single color as I tend to work in rainbows. I change thread colors at least a dozen times on any given project. If I am sewing by hand then that number will multiply really quickly. If I am working on a hand sewing quilt like an english paper pieced project, I will use every single color in that box without question.

This is such a special collection, a collector’s piece, really… How did you go about selecting colors and how did you decide on the art for the packaging?
This collection is designed to be the ultimate thread collection containing all of the colors necessary to complete a bright, happy sewing project. I sew every day and I find that 10 colors is never enough. I have built my brand on the foundation that if I need something there is a good chance that other people need it too. I was desperately searching for a collection of thread that contained a vast assortment of colors that expressed something more exciting and adventurous in terms of palette. It’s easy to find collections of neutrals and earth tones but that is not my style and I figured that if I was looking for something like that then other people probably were too.

TulaUltimate-BlogInside

The packaging is based off of my very first fabric design. That owl is sort of my holy grail, it is important to me because it is the image that set me on this path that has become an obsession of fabric and sewing. It’s the illustration  that changed my life. I was really focused on this collection not being about pairing with a particular fabric collection but something that would transcend one collection and would be useful for years to come. For me this is my ultimate dream thread collection!

TulaUltimate-Blog

How is this collection representative of your overall artistic vision?
This is the dream thread collection “the ultimate” collection in my eyes. I will never need a color outside of what is in this box. I spent weeks going over all of my thread and projects and pulled the colors that were used the most often. Usually, choosing thread is about narrowing down the colors to the essential threads that I can get away with but this collection is about shedding those limitations and covering every single need in terms of thread. Thread is the one thing that holds all of this together. Fabric without thread is pretty useless, a sewing machine or a needle has no purpose without thread, it the most valuable constant in my sewing room. I feel like the Ultimate Collection is just that, a source for unbound creativity.

Pattern preview for Tula's upcoming new book with Angela Walters!
Pattern preview for Tula’s upcoming new book with Angela Walters!

We’ve seen some remarkable projects created using these threads… do you have a favorite? 
Choosing a favorite is an impossible task. Every project requires thread to meet it’s own needs, sometimes I need a lot of colors so that the thread disappears into a rainbow of fabrics and sometimes I need the thread to show in a way that enhances the project all on it’s own. I think the thread worked the hardest on my Slow and Steady Heart quilt though. I needed to top stitch a bunch of hearts in so many color but I wanted the thread to blend in and ended up using so many of the colors in the box that I lost track. The other project that I really loved was the embroidered eye duffle bag that I made from the thread collection. I machine embroidered on my BERNINA 880 an eye in every color from the box and it’s a real conversation starter. Everyone asks me about that bag when I carry it.

Screen Shot 2016-07-29 at 1.12.37 PM

What do you love most about the process of creating, whether it be for a new fabric collection, a new pattern, or a new work of art?
My favorite part of the creative process is that moment right before I start a new project. I love staring down at that blank piece of paper and I have so many ideas and I have no idea where it’s going to go. It’s exciting like starting a new adventure. I aways think it is going to be one thing but I have done this long enough to know that the work takes on a mind of it’s own and will, at some point, start directing me rather than me directing it. In the beginning though it’s just infinite possibility and I can’t wait to see where it ends up.

Do you have any advice for designers just starting out in this industry? 
My advice to designers just starting out is to fully know who you are artistically and what you want your work to be about. Embrace your talents and never try to be something that you are not just because the industry tells you that’s “on trend”. If you are busy trend spotting then you are not creating the trends just following the path that someone else has laid out for you and you will end up putting out the same work that everyone else is putting out. Rise above it! The world needs your point of view more than it needs another version of someone else.

MORE TULA LOVE… 

Screen Shot 2016-07-29 at 1.11.43 PM

Screen Shot 2016-07-29 at 1.50.56 PM

THE GIVEAWAY

TulaPink-Rafflecopter

To enter-to-win The Ultimate Collection by Tula Pink, click here to head to the Rafflecopter entry page, or simply click on the image above. You do not have to complete all the options to be entered but the more options you choose, the more entries you have!  Entries will be accepted from now through 11:59pm Eastern Time on Saturday, August 6! Winner will be randomly selected and announced here on Sunday, August 7. Good luck!

UPDATE (8.7.16): This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to our winner, Brittany Burton!! 

ABOUT TULA
WebsiteFacebookInstagram — Twitter
Screen Shot 2016-07-29 at 2.36.22 PMTula Pink is an illustrator, a fabric designer, a quilter, an author, a maker and a generally good person who enjoys talking about herself.

Tula graduated from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, CA. It was fun but she was tired of being broke so she decided to get a job. Tula worked briefly as an Exhibit designer for Museums in Southern California, where she grew up, and when that became too quiet she relocated to the music industry. After about 5 years of that her ears began to bleed so she left her job and California and went in search of a new home. The plan was to move as far east as she could get without renting a boat and work her way back west until she found a place she liked. Tula got about half way and then she ran out of gas money so she stayed put.

Tula now lives in a small mid-western town outside of Kansas City, MO in a house that used to be a barn and still sort of looks like one. Tula’s main function in life is fabric design. She lives for it. Her signature designs have been adapted to fabrics, woven ribbons, paper products, needlepoint kits, embroidery patterns and sewing machines and can be found in independent fabric shops and retailers all over the world. Tula is most recognized in her industries for her dark sense of humor, a flair for hiding animals in the strangest of places (artistically, not literally) and her boldly unique use of color and pattern. Tula comes from the “more is more” school of design where there is never enough space and always room for that one last thing.

Today Tula Pink works closely with the good people at Free Spirit Fabrics to develop multiple fabric collections every year, is an Ambassador for BERNINA sewing machines, develops collections for Aurifil Threads and Renaissance Ribbons and writes books for F+W Media about quilting and sewing. She works all day everyday and gets very cranky when she is asked to leave the studio or if Tula Pink is her real name.

[For more, please visit Tula’s website]

** Images and all biographical text are courtesy of Tula Pink.

231 comments

  1. Wow, tough question to answer! Favorite Tula Pink collection would be her new Slow and Steady or Moonshine.

  2. Tula’s way with color and design certainly brightens the world of quilting and gets one’s creative juices flowing.

  3. Thanks for the chance to win an amazing collection of thread. I think I have two favourites – Plume and Slow and Steady. That pit crew is adorable.

  4. My favorite collection is Salt Water. If I ever met an octopus in person, I would want it to be Tula’s! I keep hoping to stumble upon bolts of it hidden in a back corner of a quilt shop so I can put my credit card in meltdown.

  5. I have a long love affair with Tula Pink fabrics. I made two beautiful large tote bags with charm squares from her Eden line. Asking me to pick a favorite fabric line is like asking me to pick a favorite child.

  6. I like the colors in her “Eden” collection, but of course it is nearly impossible to pick just one!

  7. Great interview! Thank you for the opportunity to win such an amazing collection!

  8. I love the bright colors of Slow & Steady. It’s inspiring to see someone who is confident in being herself and bringing her unique vision to a wide audience.

  9. Hard to pick one…arrrgh! Looove the True Colors!! Also Eden…

    Thank you for chance to win this AWESOME Give-a-way too!! !!! 😀

  10. I love Eden! I also can’t wait for slow and steady! Thanks for the opportunity to win this amazing thead collection!!

  11. Picking a favorite is like asking me who my favorite child is! My favorite is usually the newest one out!

  12. Not sure if I’m supposed to comment on the Tula Aurifil collection or the Tula fabric collection so will comment on both. Love the CHIPPER by Tula Pink aurifil collection. My favorite fabric collection is Birds and bees.

  13. My favorite is the Birds and the Bees. Love Tula Pink! Thank you for the chance to win!

  14. So many fabulous collections. Love Salt Water, and am very excited about Slow and Steady!

  15. The thread collection is amazing…slow and steady is my favorite fabric collection though

  16. How to pick just one? I love the Birds and Bees line, as well as Chipper, and also this new one that is coming. Tula, you’re a rock star! Knowing your background makes perfect sense to me now!

    1. Patti, I LOVE the squirrels. Made a baby quilt using the free Starbright pattern; in the center, I used an 11 and 1/2 inch square of squirrels, fussy-cut, instead of the pattern’s 4 6 and 1/2 inch squares. The smaller squares were other Tula fabrics in the same line. Those squirrels are the bomb! Kathryn Dalheim

  17. Love Chipper it’s my favorite the chipmunk is adorable I have the fat quarter set still can not cut into it . Caught your live broadcast on Facebook it was very interesting despite the tech difficulties

  18. Love Chipper! The next favorite is Elizabeth, which is the only one I have in my stash!

  19. I’m new to quilting and at my last work night for my bee, someone was showing off new material that was Tula Pink. Now I find out there is thread too. I have to check more of this out!

  20. Beautiful box and beautiful collection of thread. Goes so well with all of her collections. Too hard to pick a favorite.

  21. Prince Charming is my favorite, but I made a bag using the Flutterby collection that I get compliments on all the time.

  22. Tula’s newest collection Chipper is my favourite, but I love Eden too!! Thanks for the chance, this thread collection would be awesome!!

  23. Hard to choose a favorite. They all are so unique and have such fantastic colors and patterns. I would have to choose Eden as one of my favorites.

  24. Eden is my favorite, hoarding some blue tigers just waiting for the right project lol. I like her philosophy about using different thread colors, so far I’ve got gray and white in my collection. I apparently need to add more 🙂

  25. What an amazing collection! When I took my granddaughter to a quilt shop, she stopped just inside the door and exclaimed, “Look at all the color!” Needless to say, that trip was not inexpensive. But, I have a new quilter hooked! Priceless!

  26. Such a beautiful collection of fabrics and quilts. I can’t choose a favorite. Thank you for the opportunity to get to know more about Tula and her work. What a creative woman.

  27. Tula puts so much into a collection. It would be easier to pick a favorite in a collection than a favorite collection. I love that she has animals in her fabrics where they are not needed.

  28. I have not yet “discovered” Tula Pink fabrics – have seen them on Instagram, and on fabric websites, but not in real life. I am eager to find out what makes her fabrics so amazing – so many people rave about them and she has such a huge following. I will find out when my order arrives….I started with the squirrels. I really love squirrels – they are not a nuisance in my yard! Anyway, I’ve loved Aurifil thread for as long as I can remember, and would love to incorporate this set into my collection. Such beautiful thread.

  29. I have to say I love all her collections but my fav is The Birds and the Bees because I used this collection to make my GD a dress and she LOVED it – she still claims it as her fav dress

  30. Ahh I love all the collections, but I have a special fondness for Acacia (the raccoon esp) and Chipper (esp Fox Nap). The raccoon print is on my very favorite baby carrier from when my son was small (company is also named Tula, how weird?!?!) and I just used Fox Nap for a quilt back. And I just saw that Tula Baby Carriers is using the pink colorway of Fox Nap for a new carrier–time to have another kid, i guess!!

    1. Yes, you must! And the thread with Microtex Sharp needles makes your machine sew like butter!

  31. My favorite Tula Collection is Moonshine, tula is an amazing artist and her talent shines in her fabric collections, would love to own every collection she has.

  32. All of Tula fabric collections are awesome. I can’t pick just one I just love all of the wonderful colors and designs. I just ordered a bag kit in Tula’s fabrics from Craftsy. I love Aurifil too, and would love to win this collection.

  33. I love all of Tula’s fabric lines. I especially like that they all work well together. Would dearly love this aurifloss collection. I have pieced exclusively with aurifloss for at least 10 years. No other thread comes close to the quality and performance of aurifil.
    thanks for the opportunity to win this amazing prize!!

  34. I love all her collections so it is hard to just pick one. I love one and then she comes out with another that I really like.

  35. My favorite would have to be Elizabeth. So unique, plus, it was my mother’s name.:-)

  36. I like many of Tula’s designs. They are original and fun. I also like her mix of colors. The butterfly quilt made from different blocks is beautiful and one of my favorite quilts.

  37. Very tough to choose my absolute favorite Tula collection but I do love her new Slow and Steady.

  38. Tula’s Bumble fabric collection is my favorite. Thank you for sharing the interview with us!

  39. I love her Moonshine collection, but a close second is Slow and Steady. She is a great designer. Thank you for a lovely giveaway!

  40. I like Prince Charming and Eden, but I can’t wait for the newest group to hit my local shops.

  41. I enjoy bits and pieces of all Tula’s collection, but my favorite is the True Colors collection. I just love how bright and versatile they are!

  42. I think Birds and Bees might be my favorite, although the feature print in Elizabeth (as well as the title itself) is my singular favorite thing she’s ever done.

  43. I love Slow and Steady. Her collections are always beautiful but this one really speaks to me. This Aurifil thread collection is absolutely gorgeous! A rainbow in a box! Amazing giveaway. Thank you!

  44. I like one of the older lines called Salt Water. I enjoyed listening to Tula talk at the 2015 Sisters show in Oregon.

  45. I do love and covet Tula’s Ultimate collection; the colors are TDF! I became addicted to Aurifil 50 wt. the same way Tula did; a friend who owns a shop said “try it;” I did and have never used any other thread since. I keep a list of the colors I have in my purse calendar and inside my special clear plastic box for the spools and bobbins at home. When I go shopping for fabrics/backings, I take the box with me. I love Tula’s fabrics and have made several quilts and projects with them. They are so inspiring and fun!

  46. I love the colors and prints of the new Slow and Steady collection. The theme also has a great connection to our family!

  47. WOW, what a collection!
    It’s so great to hear from Tula and read about her background.
    thanks!

  48. I’ve never used Tula’s fabrics but I have long been attracted to the “Salt Water” collection.

  49. I love the saturated colours of Tula’s ranges, these threads just ooze colour too! Thanks for the chance to win!

  50. My favourite collection would be Eden. The colours and the prints are so beautiful. Thank you for the opportunity to win.

  51. As a newbie I don’t know that I have a favorite but I love that True Colors works so well with Tula’s other lines! I’m using TC as a base for a yearlong project and coordinating with Eden and Chipper as I go!

  52. I am hoarding the Tula Pink Eden line and collecting as many others as I can get my $$ to buy.

  53. This thread collection is just, WOW! As for her fabrics, I think my favorite collection is Elizabeth. The colors and all the little details are just perfect. 🙂

  54. Thank you for the chance to win! The Chipper collection is my favorite, because the napping fox just gets me every time I look at it. I made a Chipper quilt for my funky niece.

  55. I love a lot of Tula’s already released collections but my favourite will always be the one she’s going to release next…. I love that she doesn’t look back! 💙

  56. I still love the Neptune fabric collection! It was my very first designer fabric that I bought it’s still my favorite. Thanks so much!

  57. What a gorgeous box of thread candy! Hard to pick a favorite Tula Pink fabric; they’re all exceptional!

  58. My favorite was Neptune, I LOVED IT. I love them all but that was my very favorite. I also have and adore her shears, seam ripper and snippers. I have her coloring books which I play with when the grandbaby is “active” and I cant take time to sew, so we color. I color in my tula pink book and she colors in her little books. I love Tula Pink everything basically. Lol.

Leave a Reply to Kathryn A. DalheimCancel reply

Discover more from auribuzz

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading