Quilt Show Round Up
That's it the last quilt show that I entered quilts in this year has come and gone and earlier in the same week I got two quilts with judges notes back from another show. No ribbons this time around but I thought I'd share my judges notes, for growth and for laughs, hopefully.
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| Lilium Quilt |
First up, Lilium. I entered Lilium in the PNW Quilts and Fiber Arts Festival, last year I entered Faux Hare Fair. The judges' notes were short and sweet:
"The quilting is really beautiful on this quilt, really well done. I like the background treatment. Good color choice. Peach is nice, a softener to the oranges."
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| Lilium Quilt\ |
Like I said short and sweet but this quilt did not win a ribbon. I guess if I read between the lines, the judge might be suggesting that the orange was a little off putting but I really don't know.
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| Moments Quilt |
Another quilt I had at the same show was my Moments quilt. This quilt received high praise from the judges:
"I actually really love the background fabric. The light colors are nice. Quilter has done a great job--really beautiful. Spot on for modern quilting. It is great opportunity for the viewer to see the whole fabric line and what it can do. I like the way that some of the circle come in--a little bit unexpected. Kind of airy, cloudy result--weather. The visual weight is nice, adds nice balance to the piece."
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| Moments Quilt |
I think that is the kindest most generous comments I've ever received from any quilt judge but Moments did not win a ribbon. It would be interesting to know why beyond the safe assumption there were other quilts that were better.
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| Palm Fronds Quilt |
Fast forward a couple weeks to the Washington State Quilters Quilt Show here in Spokane. I don't know if anything could have prepared me for the comments I received from the judge for Palm Fronds:
Best features of this quilt - "well done hanging sleeve," "appitizing [sic] design," "well placed quilting motifs," "good backing fabric," "overall design pleasant"
Area that needs improvement - "press seams better," "mindful of the curved in the ditch," "watch back tracking"
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| Palm Fronds Quilt |
In summary, 'your quilt looks better from the back than the front.' Of course I jest but I really did believe this quilt would do better than a 83/100 points. The piecing was more difficult than I got credit for and even more strange I received 6/10 points for my binding which I'm usually praised for, as you'll see.
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| Bird Watching Quilt |
Bird Watching is the least modern of all my quilts but it only fared a little better than Palm Fronds with the judge:
Best feature of the quilt - "good binding," "over all [sic] design pleasing," "nice color palate [sic]"
Area that needs improvement - "remove excess thread," "watch thread tension & stitch length," "quilting spacing needs to be consistence [sic]"
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| Bird Watching Quilt |
This time around I received 10/10 for my binding, which is my typical score, and the overall score was 85/100. I knew that there were some tension issues with this quilt so the comments about the tension and stitch length aren't surprising. I don't recall missing any threads when I was cleaning up the back of the quilt but then again if I saw them I wouldn't have missed them. I also agree with the comment that some of the areas are quilted too densely for the rest of the quilting, namely the blue. This seems like a fair assessment of my quilt. I probably could have left out all the [sic] when quoting the judge and corrected the statements but I wanted to be true to the comments and yes I know the scribes are writing fast to get through all the quilts and I'm the first to admit that grammar and spelling is far, far, far from perfect.
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| Trellis Quilt |
Last on the chopping block, my Trellis quilt. I was feeling pretty good about entering this one. It's a printed panel, no seams to worry about not points to match but evidently it received 8/10 for workmanship/construction, hmm, but this was my highest scoring quilt with 86/100. Like the others there were plenty of the judges comments at the end of the page for me to take in:
Best feature of the quilt - "sharp binding adds enhancement [sic]," "quality hanging sleeve"
Area that needs improvement - "strive for consistent center points," "mindful of the ditch work," "watch stitch tension"
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Trellis Quilt |
Just for reference I received a 9/10 for my binding, again a pretty typical score for me. I guess I've found a new talent, quality hanging sleeves or maybe if you don't have anything nice to say talk about the back. (Please realize that I'm smiling and laughing while typing this and don't read it as bitter.) If I got upset with judges I'd stop entering shows. As for my areas of improvement. I'm a little confused if center points refer to the quilting or printed top. Speaking of printed tops, there are no ditches so again a bit confused here. I'm sure my tension has issues. I had poorly timed my longarm for months but recently I had it professionally timed so I should be good to go now.
In the end because I have to pay to have my quilts judged at the WSQ show and I'm not sure I'm getting anything from it, I think I'm going to stop having my quilts judged. I was alright with the judge's opinion for the most part, it's their opinion, but to read that the judge completely missed that Trellis wasn't a pieced top doesn't give me confidence that the comments are accurate.
I hope these comments don't scare anyone off from entering quilt shows. Try to remember it's just one take on your quilt and judging, as technical as it tries be, is still subjective, except for when the judge is praising my bindings and quilt sleeves, yes I'm laughing again.
oh this was SO interesting, Heather! I think I was most shocked (seriously!!) about including your hanging sleeve in the judging! What the $^%&?????!!! And for not realizing that Trellis wasn't actually pieced. Wondering if your artist statement had anything about that.
ReplyDeleteIn general interesting, as though I've had quilts judged, never with a numbering system that I know about.
All that aside - beautiful quilts to be sure!
I know! Hanging sleeve wasn't on the judging form but I'm glad she liked them, LOL. The artist statement did talk about how Trellis was a wholecloth printed panel. I was worried about misrepresenting my quilt so I made sure to add that it was not a pieced quilt. I think these are the craziest comments I've ever gotten from a quilt judge. I forgot to mention that I had both Palm Fronds and Bird Watching recently judged at the fair and they received near perfect scores. That's just the way it goes.
DeleteA very good thing you can keep your sense of humour! Sometimes I wonder if the judges' ever think that their words' must cut deep-after all it is the quilters' heart and soul that they have put into their art piece and bravely entered into a quilt show for all to see and judge! Your quilts are adventurous, modern and beautiful as well as beautifully constructed! I'm including Trellis that the judge was not bright enough to pick up on the fact that it was a printed panel- shame on the judge!!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, it's good to keep emotion out of it. Actually one of the tips I give people before entering shows is not to enter quilts you're emotional attached to because it can be so easy to take the judges comments personally. Those comments we're interesting if nothing else.
DeleteI understand how you're feeling about judge comments. I previously entered quilts in shows for many years, and always took judges comments with a grain of salt. When a judge praises everything - and that happened to me many times - and I didn't receive a ribbon, I always wondered what I'd done wrong. The last straw was the time I made a quilt using prints I'd bought in Australia. They all had Aboriginal "dreamtime" designs, and the judge commented that my quilt design complimented the Asian fabrics I'd used. Ha! Thank goodness, I'm basically "over" entering quilt shows. Only QuiltCon continues to remain elusive... so difficult to have a quilt accepted. As long as QC continues to challenge me, I will continue to enter. I cannot imagine ever finding it easy to design modern. You do it so well, and definitely make it seem easy!
ReplyDeleteIsn't that funny. I judges have a hard job but some of the comments are so off it is definitely comical. I forgot to mention that Palm Fronds and Bird Watching got near perfect scores the last time they were judged and Palm Fronds an award. You've had alot of quilts in QuiltCon but yes it is the most competitive show to get into. Are you taking my QuiltCon class on design? I know you'd do great!
DeleteYou had me laughing out loud as I read this, I think when I read, I can hear you saying it! I am so glad that I didn't have my quilts judged because I think some of this would really bother me! Lillium and Moments are two of my favorites of your quilts If a judge doesn't like orange then they can just say it instead of making you guess. The comments for Moments are really amazing! Congrats.
ReplyDeleteI know isn't it too funny! I was laughing too. I'm not sure what the WSQ judge was trying to say to me but I'm happy to know I can make a mean hanging sleeve!
DeleteI worked as a scribe one time at my little county fair when I had been piecing/quilting about a year. It was quite enlightening. Yes, each judge has their own personal biases that they bring to every show, but the good ones can put aside their bias and be fair. I liked being a scribe because I could ask questions of the judge. She said that for every negative comment she gave, she would sandwich it between two positive comments. And she never said a thing about the sausages masquerading as feathers in the border of one of the quilts. I would make a lousy judge because I really dislike most applique and love modern quilts, especially the quilting!! Your judge was not very good or they were in a huge hurry to get finished with their job. I love your quilts!
ReplyDeleteBeing a scribe has to be a difficult job, it's amazing that you stepped up to do that. I'm pretty sure that the scribe from the WSQ quilt show has perfectly acceptable spelling and grammar in her day to day life but I imagine with all those mistakes the judge was moving really fast. At least reading the judges comments was a chance to chuckle.
DeleteI had to come back and re-read this post after reading your 12-5-19 post. I'm still amazed at the comments from the judges. When I can finally come home to eastern Washington, I'm going to make a point of volunteering to be a scribe for the judge. I think I'll even bring a magnifying glass (that's how I make sure my stitches are balanced!!).
DeleteThat's very kind of you, I'm not sure I could be a successful judge or scribe.
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