I’ve been quiet for a bit – my local guild is putting on a quilt show, and I happily volunteered to help out and also entered way too many quilts.  I was told the organizers wanted a lot of quilts, so I did what I could to help the team.

The show is put on by Rebecca’s Reel Quilters. I’ve been a member since last year. The show is still going on today.  If you happen to be in New Jersey today, please drop in and say hi.

Judging

I helped out with the judging of the quilts.  That was a fascinating, exhausting process.  All of the quilts were stacked in one room by category, in their protective pillowcases.  Each category was opened up, stacked in order, then carried out and placed on the judge’s table. The judge then examined each quilt minutely, giving her evaluation of piecing, quilting, finishing, and overall visual impact.

It was hard watching my friends’ and my own quilts be judged, particularly when the judge asked a question about technique or design choices, and I was not allowed to answer.  It was harder to watch my quilts win ribbons than it was to watch them be dismissed.  Seeing my friend’s quilts win ribbons was awesome.

After the judge was finished with each of the quilts, it was returned to it’s pillowcase, then stacked in another room, organized by hanging position.

All of this took us from 8:30 – 4.  I then had a day until the quilt show, which I used attempting to do some of my regular work, and also prepare goods for a vendor table.  I prepared a bunch of less fancy quilts, along with some pillows and folded fabric cards.

Results

My quilts did well.  I’m not sure what all of the categories were – I will update that information once I get my forms back.  A couple of my quilts were not entered into the proper category, so they were not eligible for ribbons.

Beauty & Oscar won an honorable mention.

A Day on the Water won First Place.

Long Time in Blue also won an Honorable Mention.

My Hawaiian appliqué sampler, which I made in 2003, won first place in the appliqué category.

Florence Goes to Town won first place in her category, and also Best in Show.

This has been an overwhelming experience.  I’m very proud of my work.

I will write up posts on the Hawaiian appliqué and Beauty and Oscar quilts soon.  I will also be sharing the judge’s critiques of my quilts.  I’ve now had Long Time in Blue in four judged shows, and Florence has done three.  It is very interesting to see the differences in comments from different judges.

I find having my quilts judged has helped me develop my technical skills.  I know where my mistakes are, and I know what I don’t pay attention to as I am working on a project, but learning which issues judges notice is valuable. It also motivates me to strive for perfection.  I know that just being off by a few threads is fine for an everyday quilt, but if I am planning to show it off, I had best unpick those seams and do it right.