Aurora

I was recently informed that there were several quilt tops entered in our State Fair. I found this interesting and encouraging. I steer away from piecing larger quilts due to space restraints.

bearisgray

I have not been to a fair recently - so I am not current on what is being shown -

My Mom raised me with the thought that the back/inside of needlework (embroidery, cross-stitch, etc) was important and should be neat and that the inside of a garment should also look good.

I like the idea - my concern would be for what condition the top would be in when I got it back.

This may be a place where starch/sizing would help minimize fraying?

I would also do a stay stitch on the outside edges to help stabilize them. Especially if the border was pieced.

I have seen tops only on display at quilt shops.

(Age 74)

I hav

Bobbielinks

This is the first that I have heard of entering just the quilt top; but I don't get out much so it might be done at the local fairs. I, personally think it is a great idea! I can image beautifully pieced tops, with all the seams pressed correctly, all having the perfect 1/4 inch seam, no unsightly threads dangling here and there. Even the thread would match the fabrics as to not stand out against the fabrics.

KalamaQuilts

thank you ladies, I knew you'd see facets I hadn't thought of.

mimstrel

In my county fair, if I recall correctly, there is a category for "pieced only" which can be a finished quilt which was quilted by someone other than the exhibitor, a tied quilt, or it can be a quilt top only.

Especially at small fairs there is a bad habit of displaying things by category and not class. I entered my brother's wedding quilt in our county fair a couple of years ago, as a finished quilt entered in the "pieced only" category because I had it professionally quilted but wanted to show off the turtles that took me ages to do (hand-drawn and completely pieced, not applique). I'm still really mad about how they displayed my quilt. Neither my ribbon nor either of the turtles were visible. I get that they don't have space to hang all of the quilts so they can be seen in full... but it isn't that hard to fold this quilt so that one of the turtles is on top, nor to pin the ribbon on the outside!

giquilt

Our fair requires a quilt of three layers.

nativetexan

I've never ever seen only tops at a quilt fair and don't want to. Goodness, I could enter all of mine, just think!!! I still prefer to see a completed quilt. Call me old.

JANNY

Doesn't sound good to me. I think my backs look pretty messy sometimes, but once the quilt is finished you can't tell.
However, the judging would be on the quilters piecing ability and not a longarm quilters ability, so I guess there would be a value to judging just quilt tops.

feline fanatic

Question 3 is yes, although there are some shows that don't allow it and there may even be some fairs that don't. What is required is that it be disclosed that it was professionally longarmed and to name the longarmer on the entry paperwork. Most of the big national shows do allow it. The quilter must be named but does not necessarily share in the winnings/recognition other than the "crow about it factor".

The reasoning behind this is that the longarmer has been paid for his/her services. The person who pieced the top and owns the quilt and paid for the longarming is entitled to any award recognition the quilt goes on to receive. That said, there have been collaborations. Most famously is Karen Kay Buckley and Renee Haddadin. They have teamed up to do several quilts that have taken best of category but I am not privy to how the winnings were split. There are others as well. IMHO if a sent out quilt won a ribbon for best longarming it would be a nice gesture if the owner gave the longarmer the rosette ribbon. Some shows have gotten that and have started awarding two rosettes, one for the owner/piecer and one for the longarmer. But I believe any cash prize always goes to the owner of the quilt as in most cases the services of the longarmer have already been paid up front and winnings are simply a recouping of that cost. That is how I see it anyways.

Melissa Mc

I think that as you travel around to fairs, you’re going to find as many different sets of rules and classes available as there are fairs. My friends & I are planning on entering next year to help get the numbers of entries up. The more people that can see our work, the more likely we are to suck one more person into this addiction! Most of the people in my group of quilters send everything to a quilter, which is going to limit the entries we can do for several of our local fairs.

The large county next door doesn’t split quilts by if they are done by the exhibitor or by someone else; the listing just states “If the quilt is quilted by someone other than the exhibitor, list the name of the quilter.” They do have 14 classes.

My county fair requires all entries to be completed by one person, so I can’t enter anything I’ve sent out for quilting, they also do not have a top (unquilted) class. They do however, still split Hand Quilting and Machine Quilting, which could be a good thing, but unfortunately, there were a total of 3 entries this year in 6 total classes.
Hand quilting- 1) Pieced Quilt 2) Other, Not Listed
Machine Quilting- 1) Pieced Quilt 2) Baby Quilt 3) Wall Hanging 4) Other, Not Listed
Our state fair does not specify a difference between the 2 and offers a total of 11 classes.
[TABLE="width: 527"]
[TR]
[TD]CLASS: Full-Size Quilts (must be a minimum 72” on shortest side)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1. Individual (pieced or appliquéd and quilted by one contestant)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2. Group* (constructed and quilted by two or more people)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3. Group* (top constructed by contestant; quilted by someone paid for the service)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]CLASS: Medium and Small Quilts
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4. Lap Quilt (shortest side between 51” and 71”)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5. Wall Hanging (shortest side should be 50” or less)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6. Crib (suitable for crib use)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7. Miniature (may not exceed 24” on any side)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]CLASS: Miscellaneous
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]8. Art/Innovative Quilt (contestant’s original design)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9. Accessories* (garments, purses, pillows, table runners, tree skirts, etc)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]10. Quilt Top (no batting or backing)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
11. Youth Quilt* (open to contestants ages 11-17 years old)