Sunday, July 15, 2012

Tula Troops, or how I became a fabric hoarder

I have a small confession to make.  I was really quite uninterested in fabric beyond the basics at Joann and Hancocks for about the first year or so of my quilting.  Really.  I mean, I would go online and look, but the prices were more than I wanted to pay for fabric.  So, my thoughts became, "Well, what's the point?"

That was true until I discovered the lovely fabric that was/is/shall be TULA PINK.  I was browsing on Fat Quarter Shop looking at the sale fabric when I noticed a fat quarter bundle of Parisville on clearance.  I kept looking at it and thinking how the colors were just very me.  I spoke to my hubby and asked if he would mind if I splurged and he told me that I could, but only if I made something for us... Thus, Parisville Pinwheels was started in motion...



I picked up a block idea for fat quarters from Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts.  She cut her fat quarters into 9 inch blocks and made half-square triangles from her fabric.  I thought about it and felt that I could take it one step further and make pinwheel blocks.  So, I did!


It took about 1 year for all of the blocks to come together, with stopping and starting of the project, picking up other projects and, generally just neglecting the fabric.  I got inspired by Kelly to join her My Precious QAL and finish up my top.  Within one month, the blocks were together with sashing and made into a 93 x93 top for mine and my husband's bed.  Then came the difficult part...


Quilting!  With a quilt so large, I had no choice but to send out the quilt for quilting.  A sweet person on Flickr (Sarah Russett) and I started talking and, before I knew it, my quilt was on its way to NY for quilting. I was worried that I wouldn't like the quilt as much because I didn't do all of the work to put it together, but nothing could be further from the truth.  Sarah did an AMAZING job quilting feathers on my quilt top and getting it back to me quickly (within 2 weeks, including ship time!). In fact, she inspired me to create something new to go with the quilt:



 After binding and washing, here's the finished product:


I LOVE this quilt.  Seriously.  It is the culmination of a lot of work, and quite a few major changes in my world (including learning to live with my husband, death, love, new jobs and travels).  And, it has found a new place in our store-bought world.

Now, the bigger problem... After discovering Tula Pink's fabric, I may have gone a little nuts:



Tula Pink Plume.  I found this at Seams Like Home in Anchorage while vacationing last month with my husband.  I have every print except the pink swans and one of the pink Key Trees.  BTW, if you go to Alaska, go to this shop.  The people are amazingly helpful and very nice!  I think this might make its way into a Sparkling Cider quilt.



Tula Pink The Birds and the Bees.  Just released two weeks ago.  I'm thinking a gradient rainbow quilt with these.  These came from my buddy Julie at Intrepid Thread

And... Because it was my favorite colorway:



This might become a plus quilt.  These were from Stash Modern Fabrics on Etsy.

That's not even all of the Tula love at my house.  I also have a little Nightshade, Hushabye, and a bit of Full Moon Forest (her first line--sent to me by a sweet quilter on Flickr).  Sigh... I better get to sewing up my beautiful fabric!

Linked up to the My Precious QAL

1 comment:

  1. I've never seen Plume. O did buy Birds and the Bees though and LOVE it! I just cut IMO my whole stack yesterday and already I want more. :)

    My daughter loves Nightshade. I'm hoping I'll be able to get some before it's all gone to make a satchel for her. I look forward to seeing all the things you come up with!

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