It’s hard to be 6’1” and have a name that means “little darling” or “sweet darling” in Swedish, but Tula Pink, fabric and quilt designer and mistress of the hidden image in her edgy, story-telling collections, manages to carry off the ironic pairing just fine, thank you.
From her rock-star image, you’d think she’d be more at home in the music business, and several years ago, you’d have been right. For about 6 years, Tula worked as a graphic designer for several major music companies. While doing that—and already being a
quilter–she decided to create her own fabric line for fun. Out of professional curiosity, she sent it off to Moda and it was in production 36 hours later. (Total accident, Tula says. We bet Moda has another word for it.)
After seven collections as a designer for Moda, Tula took her talents to FreeSpirit, where she’s produced such hit collections as Prince Charming and Parisville. Her fourth FreeSpirit collection will debut at Fall Market next month in Houston, but she’s already deep into something that will be a big departure for both her and FreeSpirit, she says, when it comes out early next year.
Why, you might ask, would a successful designer leave Moda, which Tula herself considers a “powerhouse of the quilting industry”? It was purely business, she says, because Moda collections usually only go through one printing, and then they’re gone. It was also a decision based on artistic growth, however.
“I just wanted to evolve artistically, and I knew with FreeSpirit I would have the freedom to do that. They’re very nurturing and always asking me to do more,” she says. “That everybody was so receptive of me putting a giant rat on a girl’s head says something.”
Of course, Tula’s designs are known for their hidden images, such as the frog lurking in the swirls of Prince Charming, but they’re also known for being “tattoo friendly.” Many fans—more than 100, in fact–are obsessed enough to ask her for permission to get a tattoo echoing her whimsical designs. Flattering, yes, but easy to understand, says Tula. She actually got her start in graphic arts in a tat shop, where she worked from age 15 to 22, and the design aesthetic permeates her work.
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Tula lives and works in Stewartsville, Missouri, a tiny town about 45 minutes outside Kansas City. She’s a very private person, even to the point that she can appear in The Quilt Shoppe–the LQS she co-owns with her mother–and a lot of people have no clue about her identity. Even when she’s standing in front of her own fabric. (She fiendishly loves it, she says, when shoppers comment on her collections, and profess to know her. “You don’t walk into a quilt shop in a 400-person town and think that the designer of the fabric is standing in front of you. People say things that are pretty hysterical. I love it!”)
Tula is just winding down her month-long celebration of September as National Sewing Month with the Westminster Fibers Sew-Along, which was co-sponsored by Burdastyle, FreeSpirit Fabrics and Coats & Clark. And this summer she created designs for GelaSkins so now your phones, laptops, iPads and other devices can have a touch of Tula. Read more about all this and even more Pink-ness on her blog, tulapink.com.
Tula by the quotes
On being a quilter:
“I started quilting when I was 14. I was not necessarily a delinquent, but I was not a kid with a spotless record. I was a troublemaker. My mom worked and she was trying to find an art class that was long enough so she didn’t have to worry about me. The only all-day art-based class she could find was a quilting class on Saturdays.”
The whole city girl/country girl thing:
“To go from the city to a totally rural life is like mind-blowing. I could do anything I want out there and nobody would notice. I could build a replica of the Empire State Building out of bottle caps in my backyard and no one would care.”
Her Type-A work ethic:
“I’m not one of those wacky artists running around in my underwear. I keep lists and files, and ideas that seem like they go there are filed. Just from the files I have, I can keep designing 80 prints a year for the next 10 years.”
On her secret indulgence:
“Whisky. Blanton’s is my number one, but Jack Daniels is the most affordable.”
On her domestic abilities:
“I don’t cook. All I make is dip. I don’t heat things up. I just stir.”
The most famous person she’s ever met:
“I had fried chicken at Snoop Dogg’s house once. That was totally awesome! The fried chicken was really good.”
On why her fabrics inspire quilters and sewists to get tattoos:
“Everyone can find an image that means something to them. You aren’t going through all that pain and spending all that money just to have something pretty. In tattooing, people find meaning in everything they put on their bodies.”
On being mostly a homebody:
“I don’t do a lot of things locally, no matter where I live. If I have a choice of go out to a bar to go drinking or stay home and make something I’ve never made before, I’d definitely stay home and make something.”
But, about that travel fetish:
“If I’m feeling, like I need to go out, I’m going to hop on a plane and go somewhere….I travel to relax.”
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Loved the interview- thanks!
When I first saw Tula’s designs, I thought they would be too edgy for an old gal like me, but after working with them, I am now a complete devotee! I absolutely loved losing myself in the complete fantasy of Prince Charming and look forward to more and more and more! Thanks for giving us a glimpse into her world!
I had no idea she is so young!
I’m a big fan of Tula Pink. Thanks for the interview.
THIRTY SIX HOURS later? Wow. Talk about leaving an impression.
I still have her owl print that I refuse to cut up because it’s just too damn pretty.
Great interview! I’m a big fan of her fabric lines and I had no idea she was that tall!