Quilt Show - The Ultimate Show and Tell!
Entering a quilt show provides the opportunity to share your creations with the world and grow as an artist while simultaneously laying yourself open to feedback and potential criticism. Taking part moves you forward in your craft on many levels!
Show and Tell – Big Time!
Seeing your creation hanging up with the others in rows and rows of beautiful quilts is the ultimate chance to have your work perused by others! It also is an affirmation of the time, energy and skill you put into your creation, and the perseverance it took to complete the project. Having work on display gives a sense of inclusion in the quilting community, that your efforts are worthy of display!
Types of Shows
The entry process for different kinds of shows delineates where your work will be displayed. Some shows are open to any quilter who applies to enter on a first come-first accepted policy. Others are juried shows, requiring the quilter to apply to be accepted first based on photos submitted of their work. These shows are of a higher level and more challenging to enter as the submissions are screened first, with only a fraction of the applicants being accepted into the show. (It’s my ultimate goal to get accepted into one some day! 😊 )
Within a show, quilters may have the option to enter work for judging or for display only. Judged quilts are grouped into categories based on techniques, such as machine pieced, applique, paper piecing, hand quilting, etc.
Some shows feature challenges by quilters guilds within the organization or community. There may be special divisions for encouraging children and teenagers to enter the quilt world, or to celebrate the quilting skills of quilters still going strong at age 85+!
The Judging Process
From workshops I have attended about the judging process, it was illuminating to learn that judges spend only two or three minutes evaluating a quilt! With so many entries, they have to make quick decisions and give swift feedback.
From my experience at the Arizona Quilters Guild shows, I see the judges include some encouraging, positive comments to recognize the strengths of the quilt and some constructive criticism, suggestions of what could be done better or differently to enhance future quilting efforts.
Interpreting the Judges’ Feedback
Viewing the criticism on your scoresheet, no matter how constructive it is, can be somewhat deflating if you felt you had done your best effort on your quilt! It can bring out the inner five-year-old in a person, with declarations like “Maybe I wanted the binding to be wiggly and puckered!”. 😊
A certified quilting judge who spoke at a recent workshop gave some excellent advice: Make your quilt for your own joy and creativity, not with a view of meeting a judge’s standard or trying to impress them. The judging process is definitely subjective, and entrants can never know what the show’s judges are looking for. Therefore, please yourself as you sew and quilt, and determine later if it also pleased the judges!
A Chance to Volunteer
It takes a village to put on a quilt show, and volunteering for quilt drop-off, hanging quilts, assisting judges, being a “white glove hostess” for showing quilts and quilt pick-up provides a sense of fulfillment for being part of the huge process!
So Show Your Quilts and Tell About Them!
Doing your best work to your highest potential and creating a piece that is as unique as you are is a good reason to enter a quilt show! If your work places and earns a ribbon, that’s wonderful! But not placing does not invalidate your efforts as a fabric artist nor does it discount the hours and hours that went into your creation.
So put your work out there in a quilt show for the ultimate show and tell experience and share your talents with the world!