Melinda Bula lives in  Bakersfield, California, and has been sewing since she was a young girl.   Melinda has been in love with fabric all of her life and knew when she was 16 years old that she was going to be an artist, which became her major in college. Soon she was off to Hawaii as a flight attendant, a real job that lasted 8 years, and met her husband during this time in the San Francisco Bay Area.  She worked in the interior design field for 15 years as a fabric and wallpaper designer.  She and her husband, Joe, started their own wallpaper and fabric design business soon after the birth of their son, Matthew, in 1988.

The company, Melinda Bula Designs, sold their hand silk-screened wallpapers and fabrics nationwide. Melinda’s wallpaper and fabric designs have been featured on the covers of Better Homes and Gardens magazine as well as Sunset design books in addition to other noted publications.

move to the Sacramento area in 1996, she has become involved in quilting and wearable arts, which has always been her first love.  Her sense of color and design has won her numerous awards for both quilts and wearable arts. Her wearable arts are dynamic and modern and she loves to experiment with new techniques.

 

Her Fabulous Fusible Flowers quilts are unique. With the wonderful look of a painting, she uses fabric and thread to create beautifully artistic quilts.  She has been lecturing and teaching, both in the United States and internationally, which she really loves, and has been featured on The Quilt Show.  Creating and designing is an obsession with Melinda and whether it is fabric, wallpaper, or quilts, it is her passion.

 

She has written 2 books on her Fabulous Fusible Flowers technique, Cutting Garden Quilts, and Candy Cane Lane, both published by the Martingale Company.

 

Melinda has had the honor of exhibiting her quilts in some amazing venues like the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, Quilt Expo en Beaujolais in France, International Patchwork Festival in Sitges, Spain, and at the Texas Quilt Museum. taught in fabulous places like Ireland and Australia.

In 2013 the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky bought Melinda's quilt "And Our Flag was still there!" 

 

Melinda is excited to announce her new online quilt class with iquilt.com. you can follow her on her YouTube channel and on Instagram @ #Melbula

Awards:

2002 / Sulky American / 2nd Place
2002 / Marin Quilt and Needle Arts Show / 3rd Place
2003 / AQS Nashville / Honorable Mention
2004 / Pacific International Quilt Festival / Best in Show Wearable Art
2005 / IQA Houston / Founders Award (Honorable Mention)
2005 / IQA Houston / 3rd Place
2007 / IQA Houston / 2nd Place
2007 / IQA Houston / 3rd Place
2007 / Pacific International Quilt Festival / Judges Choice
2008 / Road to California / Best of Show
2008 / Road to California / Honorable Mention
2009 / IQA Chicago / Best of Show
2009 / IQA Houston / 3rd Place
2009 / AQS Paducah / Viewers Choice
2009 / AQS Paducah / 1st Place (Small Wall Quilts)
2009 / AQS Paducah /  2nd Place
2010 / IQA Houston / 3rd Place
2011 / AQS Lancaster / 1st Place

2012 / AQS Grand Rapids / 1st Place

2013 / Road To California / 1st Place

2013 / AQS Paducah / Judges Choice

2016 / Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza / Best Wall Quilt

2017 AQS Special Exhibit-Lancaster 

2017 Exhibit at Back Porch Galley- Pacific Grove

2019 AQS Special Exhibit- Charleston, S

2020 The Town of Paducah will reveal their new artwork on the floodwall of the city. They choose my quilt “And Our Flag Was Still There” which will be invalided in April

2020 Fire on my Mind - Mancuso  Mid Atlantic

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