Meeting Tula Pink

One of the best experiences I have had as a quilter is when I met Tula Pink last month.

I learned that Tula Pink would be at Quiltique in Las Vegas, Nevada a couple of months ago, in part to talk about her new Bernina Sewing Machine and to talk about how she became a fabric designer. She brought along her beautiful quilts and we were treated to a trunk show as well.

I actually met Tula two hours before the event was supposed to start. I got there early. As in two hours and fifteen minutes-ish early. I couldn’t just sit in my hotel room and wait for the event, and since it was at a quilt shop it’s not like I wouldn’t have anything to do for two hours. Right?! (I mean, seriously… what kind of quilter would I be if I didn’t browse beforehand?!)  I have to say I was blown away by the size of Quiltique and by the massive amount of fabrics surrounding me. I felt like a kid in a candy store!

As I was ooh-ing and aah-ing over all of the fabrics, I turned and there was Tula Pink. I gasped so hard I think I sucked all of the oxygen out of the room. I whiplashed between looking at Brad and looking at Tula. There was an, “Oh. My. G…, Brad! It’s TULA PINK!!” He chuckles and Tula? Tula says, “Hey!!” Like. She’s. Known. Me. Forever. I ask her if I can give her a hug. Because that’s exactly the most appropriate question for a complete stranger, right? “Hey, stranger! I wanna invade your personal space and hug on you… that’s okay with you, right?!” Tula graciously said yes, and I grabbed her like a starving monkey grabbing a banana. Then I remembered I had my phone in my hand and asked Mister to take a picture. And I was so excited I didn’t care about posing, or what I looked like or anything. I just put my arm around Tula, and I didn’t need to try to smile since my face was already cracked in half from my permanent fan-girl smile. And the above picture is what I got. AND I LOVE IT.

Tula’s lecture was absolutely fascinating. I don’t want to say too much here, because I’m not sure what she would be okay with and I don’t want to do anything offensive. I will tell you that she is a brilliant business woman. She’s incredibly bright, witty, very funny, and she kept the audience captivated for two hours. It felt like only 30 minutes had passed by the time the event was over.

I did learn that as much as I hoped she would re-release certain lines (Nightshade! Parisville! Prince Charming!), that is never going to happen. So if you ever wondered about that, let me just dash your hopes right now. But, I will brighten you up again by saying that Tula says she is always looking forward, never backwards and always wanting to improve her work. So while she may not re-release her older lines, she is busy coming up with amazing new lines. And there is no lack of talent there, so I am very much looking forward to what she comes up with next.

If Tula Pink is ever in your area, or within several hours, I can not recommend enough that you do whatever it takes to go see her. I had many people tell me she is one of the nicest fabric designer stars you will ever meet. THEY ARE NOT WRONG. She really, really is.

Also? She’s got amazing things coming our way this year. Keep your ears and eyes open, people.