Becoming a Quilt Show Judge

Have you ever been curious about what it takes to become a quilt show judge?  I was, after watching Sandra Dorrbecker judge the show at Rebecca’s Reel Quilters.  She told us about a judging seminar she was teaching, hosted by the Beachplum Quilters Guild.  I signed up immediately.

I wrote about my experience helping out at the judging of our local show here.

Ten students showed up bright eyed and bushy tailed in Tom’s River, New Jersey on Thursday morning.  Sandra presented us all with 3-ring binders, and we proceeded to fill them up with handouts and notes.

We received so much information on judging – how to set up a show for judging, different judging systems, rule variations, and ethics.  She also covered different styles of quilt making and design, and how to score those quilts.

My favorite part of the seminar was the mock judging of quilts.  I really felt challenged in my knowledge of the art of quilt making, and at the same time pleased that I have absorbed so much information over my quilting career.

My habit of skipping from one quilting style to another may not have helped me to become a master quilter yet, but it has exposed me to many different techniques.  I felt comfortable judging the variety of styles we were exposed to.  Sandra gave us a long list of reference books – I plan to start studying immediately.

I do need to work on my tactfulness, and I worry that I may have made inappropriate comments at times, but it was meant to be a learning experience for me.  I definitely learned.  That was one of our most important lessons – no matter what you may think about a quilt, never say anything negative or hurtful to anyone about it.  You never know the back story on a quilt, and you could do serious emotional damage to a quilter by being insensitive.

One aspect that was particularly rewarding was the follow through from my local show.  Sandra judged that show, and now I understand so much more of her behavior and the comments she gave for all of the quilts.  I was so nosy, and now I have the answers.  I LOVE having the answers.

I’m so excited to continue on this journey.  If you are interested in becoming a judge, you can find more information at the National Association of Certified Quilt Judges website.  I will be putting together my application and submitting it this month.  Also, if you know of any judged quilt shows coming up in the New Jersey area, I would really appreciate a heads up.  I need to volunteer at more judged quilting events.

 

6 thoughts on “Becoming a Quilt Show Judge

  1. Oh, Jen, this is so exciting!!! So glad you got to go to the seminar. Sounds like a fantastic experience. Thanks for sharing.

  2. I’ve volunteered as a scribe for the judging of our guild quilt shows. I was able to scribe for six different judges. Probably the most valuable thing I learned was to always begin critiquing of a quilt by first saying something positive about the quilt theh moving on to the areas for improvement.

  3. The seminar sounds very interesting. My guild in Lewes DE has had a couple of speakers who have judged shows. Their lectures were enlightening. As a guild who puts on a show every two years, our biggest challenge has been finding 2 qualified judges. I am curious if you heard any preference in how the quilts were viewed for judging? Do judges want to see them “after” they are hung, or in a stack, held up one at a time, etc? The list of NACQJ judges is pretty scant! Since NQA dissolved, I imagine it has taken some time for a judging organization to “re-group”. We are lucky to have the only New Jersey and New York judges for our show – https://www.oceanwavesquiltguild.org/quilt-show in April 2019.

    1. Sandra Dorrbecker, who taught my seminar and is the only NACQJ certified judge in NJ, indicated that shows that are already hung up are more challenging to judge.

      1. Interesting. She is one of our2 judges. She will not be judging the hanging quilts. I wonder what your thoughts are with art quilts and how they are judged. I got a “viewers choice” with an art quilt, but the judges thought nothing of it. One of those quilts where you have to “step back” to see it, as up close it just looks pixelated. You couldn’t really “see it” laying flat, and was so large that holding it up wasn’t easy. 🙂

        1. It may be the other judge prefers to judgeb quilts that are already hanging. Sandra is the only judge I have met, so maybe it is a personal preference. Her points on hanging vs flat made sense to me.
          As for your quilt, I am loathe to say anything without seeing it in person. I doubt the judges “thought nothing of it”. Sandra has a deep love of quilts and quilters. She can find something nice to say about ANY quilt. How you place in any given quilt show is a reflection more on the level of competition than on your skills alone. If you are in a group of master quilters, it is going to be tough to win. I’ve had a quilt take first place in one show, and nothing in another.

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