<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n\n \n\n\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n\n \n\nMelinda will be teaching two one-day classes featuring her large florals.\u00a0 <\/span>One of the classes she will be teaching \u00a0<\/span>is her new Roses.\u00a0 <\/span>Melinda was also \u201cBest of Show\u201d winner at Road to California in 2008 and at Chicago this spring.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n\n \n\n\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n\n \n\nCarolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>How many years have you been quilting? <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n\n \n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>I started sewing when I was 9 and made my first quilt at 19.<\/p>\n\n \n\nCarolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>What motivated you to start quilting?<\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n \n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>I have always loved to sew and create things. While studying art in college I worked in a fabric store.<\/p>\n\n \n\nCarolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>Where have you traveled in your quilting teaching career?<\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n \n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>From Ashland, Oregon to San Diego and all over California. I thought I knew all the towns in California but I guess I really don\u2019t. There is so much to this beautiful state and a lots of it is in these small towns. I love it. Last year was my first time teaching in Houston and this year I will be teaching and speaking from Sacramento to New York. What a life! Thank God I was a flight attendant in my younger years!<\/p>\n\n \n\nCarolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>What is the most, unusual, frightening, funny, frustrating experience you have had in your quilting career?<\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n \n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>The most frustrating right now is proving to the IRS that I have a business (and not a hobby). \u00a0Dealing with my suitcase being overweight is a constant challenge, too.<\/p>\n\n \n\nCarolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>Who is your favorite author?<\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n \n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>Jennifer Weiner<\/p>\n\n \n\nCarolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>What is the last book you read or are reading?<\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n \n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>Good In Bed by Jennifer Weiner<\/p>\n\n \n\nCarolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>What is your birth order, only child, first, second, third, or ??<\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n \n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>I am the oldest of 3 girls.<\/p>\n\n \n\nCarolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>Where did you grow up?<\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n \n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>I grew up in Orange County, CA<\/p>\n\n \n\nCarolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>Where did you go to college?<\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n \n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>I went to Orange Coast College in Southern California. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n \n\nCarolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>Do you have children \u2013 grandchildren?<\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n \n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>One son, 22. \u00a0He graduates from college with a degree in Mathematics in May, 2009 and goes to Marine boot camp at Camp Pendleton in California 4 days later.\u00a0 He will be a linguist with his training at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey.<\/p>\n\n \n\n\u00a0Carolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>Do you have any pets? \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n \n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>Cosmo, the golden retriever. We call him our Russian circus dog.<\/p>\n\n \n\n\u00a0Carolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>What is your favorite food?<\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n \n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>Anything Mexican!<\/p>\n\n \n\n\u00a0Carolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>Do you have any other hobbies besides quilting?<\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n\n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>Gardening. knitting. cooking, blogging and I collect vintage Barbies.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n \n\nCarolyn:\u00a0 <\/span>What would be on your \u201cbucket list\u201d (like the movie) if you could do anything and money was no object?<\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n\n\nMelinda:\u00a0 <\/span>Live on a Greek island for a month.<\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n\n ]]>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-road-to-california"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/road2ca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/road2ca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/road2ca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/road2ca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/road2ca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/road2ca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/road2ca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/road2ca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/road2ca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}