Loving Lisa Leverton's Tula Pink Obsession at the Newark Quilt Show

Each January Newark holds the first quilt show of the year, this was my second year attending - and, what a difference a year makes. This year I went along on both days, once with people from my sewing group and then again with my SIL. Last year I went alone, and knew no one - it was still a great day out, but this year it was good to have company. I also bumped into people I’d met on workshops, more sewing group people and I even did a workshop too - though I haven’t picked that up since, oops!

One of the series of quilts I was keen to see, and I knew my SIL would be too, were the Tula Pink fabrics and patterns in Lisa Leverton’s quilts. I’ve been seriously influenced on Tula Pink by my SIL and my EPP hexi sewing machine mat uses her fabrics - though on a much smaller scale!

In the show notes Lisa said that she didn’t discover Tula Pink until 2019 and she’s been smitten ever since. It’s easy to see why as the fabrics and patterns are bright and vibrant and tend to focus on animals big and small, and there’s so much detail in them. Lisa said that during lockdown she found more like-minded quilters who loved Tula too - there’s quite a following, and she hopes to make a quilt from every one of the fabric collections.

What she has already is an amazing start, and each is stunningly beautiful, here I’m sharing some of my favourites.

SET SAIL QUILT - 2022, LISA LEVERTON

I love the diamonds and the colours of this one - and that how, the more you look, the more you see!

URBAN JUNGLE QUILT - 2019, LISA LEVERTON

The colours! The patterns! What’s not to like? This is Lisa’s first quilt in Tula Pink fabric - it’s easy to see why she’s smitten, but all the fussy cutting might have done me in!

MISDIRECTION QUILT - 2023, LISA LEVERTON

This is the one I’d happily put on my bed - and it’s contributing to how I see my flying geese turning out, though I won’t be using Tula Pink fabrics, or these colours, but it’s helping me form what I want along with one or two other designs I’ve seen.

HIBISCUS QUILT - 2022, LISA LEVERTON

Again it’s the graduating colours for me in this one, this time against a plain light background - but if you look closely, there’s plenty of fussy cutting again in those blocks.

It’s all about the detail

In this next series of photos, it’s all about the detail in the fabrics - the quilts are equally stunning and Lisa is clearly a very talented quilter - as is Tula a very talented designer.

PART OF THE BIG BANG QUILT - 2024, LISA LEVERTON

PART OF THE BUTTERFLY QUILT - 2022, LISA LIVERTON

I think what amazes me about the fabrics is how the designs and part-patterns meld together so well and can look completely different from what it did on the bolt, or the cutting table in front of you. I guess that’s true of all fabrics, but perhaps it’s the boldness of the Tula Pink designs which makes this more prominent.

PART OF THE SPOOLS OF LOVE QUILT - 2020, LISA LEVERTON

And one final quilt

Yes, I couldn’t resist sharing this one. Lisa says this is possibly her favourite quilt of the whole collection, which she made in 2020 and her first encounter of very tiny HSTs (Half Square Triangles). The show notes say that Lisa loves how the colours pop, and the big on-point squares with the fussy-cut animals.

OPENING NIGHT QUILT - 2020, LISA LEVERTON

There were so many more inspiring quilts at the show, and many more which I want to share - so there’ll be at least one or two more posts, so look out for those. But in the meantime, enjoy these quilting works of art.

My quilt plans for 2025

It’s fair to say that I’ve a bit of a thing for quilts, and that’s not really a new thing. What is newer, or something that I’ve picked up again more recently is making quilts again after essentially a twenty or so year break.

In the past few months you’ll have seen that I’ve finished the flying geese kit and then the noughts and crosses quilt, and though on a much smaller scale there was also my handsewn hexi sewing machine mat too, but what next?

The list is ever growing…

Well like any self-respecting crafter I’ve a list of things I want to do which is as long as my arm! And it’s growing every time I see a new design and fall in love with it, and so it goes onto the list. Clearly that’s never going to work out but hey, it’s hard to turn down a beautiful quilt, so I thought I would try and hold myself accountable by sharing my plans - as they currently are in mid February, and then we’ll see how we go…

1. The teal flying geese

   I was originally planning to extend the flying geese kit by adding more material to those provided in the kit, and I duly started to ‘collect’ material in my chosen colour scheme. The only thing was that when I looked at it again, I loved the fabric I’d added way more than the ones in the kit - and so the kit became a test of my tolerance and skill level for making flying geese.

   I passed, and have since sorted out and pruned somewhat more the materials I intend to use - but I haven’t got any further yet as while I have a rough idea of what I want to do, I don’t have an exact plan. I know there will be a lot of flying geese, but also some plain elements too, and it makes sense to have a bit more idea of the end point before I start. So for the time being though this one is still percolating.

2. The mystery block a month

   Well I wasn’t going to, but the January block was really cute, and so I am. And after all it’s only a block a month, so how hard can it be. Yes mentally I’ve signed up to Sherri’s mystery block a month quilt over on A Quilting Life and I’ll share how I’m getting on soon - though given my January, I started later than I hoped, but the first block is done - and for reasons I’ll explain next week, this one needed more planning than I hope the rest of the months will need.

3. The jeans and pyjamas

   The noughts and crosses quilt was a way for me to test the Drunkard’s Path block - again I passed, which is good news as my heart is really set on the Happenstance pattern by Sarah Hibberts. Of course I’m giving it my own take and will be using old jeans and material I’ve saved from old pyjamas for this one, which will eventually live in the boot of my car for those times when you need a quilt on the go.

   All that’s stopping me getting started with this one is the actual cutting out, so I’m hopeful that as this one won’t need to be huge it won’t take me too long to get started, nor take too long to be finished either.

4. The Essex linen kisses

   This one wasn’t supposed to be on the list, but it made itself known shortly after I bought the brightly coloured screen printed scrap box from Helen Steele (pictured below). The scraps are of varying sizes but to maximise how many I can use I plan to cut them into 3 inch squares, and sew together to form a brightly coloured cross, or kiss and use a darker fabric as the background.

   This one is so close to being cut out and started on, so my money’s on this one starting next.

5. My floral fancy

   I shared how I had recently started my own floral fancy, well the plan is to finish that panel - and most likely to extend it further into a quilt. In my head the extension panels will complement rather than replicate the central panel, and the fuller quilt will be a longer term project throughout the year.

   I’m keen though to make progress on the central panel as it is really beautiful, and I really don’t want it to languish in a cupboard - or on my large craft mat, as it currently is, for too long. I need that mat back!!

   I’m also collecting a selection of greys to form the extended quilt, so while buying grey fabric doesn’t sound the most inspiring it is with good purpose - and I’m mostly staying on track.

6. My English Paper Piecing (EPP) blue diamonds

   This is my hand sewing project which I’ll take to my monthly sewing group evening meetings, and no doubt will pick up in between those too, as it’s a good project for keeping my hands busy. The diamonds are small - I like a challenge, clearly! - and I’m using pre-loved fabric for this. The central diamonds will be various blues from MOH’s old shirts - some patterned, some plain and each of these will be outlined with bright lime diamonds, which is material left over from another project long ago.

   As the diamonds are small, my updated plan is to place much larger diamonds between the hand sewn blocks, which will help with progress! I’ve got an old embroidered tablecloth which I bought on eBay for this - which may be a bit controversial for some cutting this up, but I’m ok with it. Whether or not I’d cut up a family heirloom is another matter, but that’s not something I need to consider for this project.

THE SCREEN PRINTED ESSEX LINEN SCRAP BOX

Oh and one final ‘stretch’ project

This one is potentially crazy, and I may not achieve it - but then again I just might, and I won’t know unless I try.

The corporate world loves a ‘stretch’ objective doesn’t it - and this is my ‘stretch’ project. From the quilts I’ve completed mentioned above I’ve found sewing a test block so useful and something I intend to carry on doing for the mystery block a month quilt. So I thought I might as well make these test blocks into quilts too, I’ll be using fabric from my stash, and so I’m hopeful I’ll also be able to make a small dent in my stash, and for a good cause.

My plan is to donate these to Project Linus UK, which you’ll know from my previous posts is a charity whose mission is to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children, who are sick, disabled, disadvantaged or distressed through the donation of new, homemade, washable quilts and blankets. 

These won’t be the largest quilts, but they will be big enough to give a quilt-sized hug.

And all the other sewing and making!

Yes, my list doesn’t end there - there’s plenty of other things on my craft to do list - including more pouches, I’m sure! But building up my confidence and skill set making quilts before braving the rest of my list seems a sensible plan, well to me anyway. On my non-quilt list, as well as more pouches (obviously), I want to make some lightweight dressing gowns, a cover for my sewing machine, and finally get my head around making some clothes.

Yes that’s as well as normal life, gardening, holidays and my non-sewing craft projects - I’ve a feeling it’s going to be a busy year!

Noughts and Crosses - another quilt completed

Around the same time I shared my Flying Geese quilt I saw another quilt which I fell in love with, this time the Happenstance quilt by Sarah Hibbert - isn’t it beautiful, and well, curvy!

Immediately my mind was making all sorts of plans, and that’s before I even knew if I could sew a curved block. The plans went on hold (briefly) and I thought I’d better try it out as I was sure I had an orange peel template hanging on my craft room pegboard - I remember having fun balancing them across two hooks.

And sure enough I did, so I dug out some flowery material from my stash and tried to work out if I could sew a curved block.

I started small, although I had a plan to go large (well medium) and so my test block was all the patterns. And it worked, and wasn’t too onerous at all - even with all the pins. I think the key to this curved sewing, was to take it slowly - and to be honest, all the pins meant you couldn’t go fast anyway, as sewing over pins isn’t recommended.

With a few successful curves under my belt, the larger more medium plans were well underway.

This time though along with all the patterns there was also a plainer fabric - for some blocks this would form the outer square, and for others the inner circle - that meant I could use all of the material I’d cut, so a great way for me to use up some materials I’ve had in my stash for quite a while.

With the curved blocks sewn, it was time to work out a layout. I knew that I had some blocks left from my Great Granny Square quilt and once I’d played around with the placement for a bit I had a plan, and it wasn’t the one I first thought of, but this does remind me of Noughts and Crosses hence the quilt’s name.

Initially I thought I’d have the square - or crosses blocks - diagonally across the quilt, with the curved blocks in a triangle shape either side, but what worked in my head didn’t work so well in real life - and this was the layout that I was most happy with.

And that’s how this quilt stayed for most of December and a fair bit of January, and I’m not sure why as it was mostly done. This week I’ve completed the scrappy binding and managed to photograph it in pretty much the same position as the Flying Geese quilt!

Like that quilt, my plan is to donate this quilt to Project Linus UK, a charity whose mission is to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children, who are sick, disabled, disadvantaged or distressed through the donation of new, homemade, washable quilts and blankets. 

Again it isn’t perfect, but it is done and perfectly acceptable - plus it’s formed another slightly larger plan (more on that soon) and made me realise that the Happenstance quilt is also perfectly do-able. Of course I have a plan for that too, I just need to work out when, and how - as ever!