CarolynMT

So next year I want to start making quilts to enter into juried shows. Sadly no one in either of my guilds/groups discusses what is needed to enter a show. So I figured I would toss this out there.

The show I want to enter is the "Machine Quilters Show" in New England. I eventually want to enter Paducah but gonna grow skills first

What are the things that I need to know in the following phases:
1. Planning
2. Designing
3. Piecing
4. Quilting
5. At Show

Thanks!

Skittl1321

I entered my quilt in Aqs Grand Rapids and Des Moines this year. It was accepted I to both.

I did not make the quilt with intention to show it, just decided to enter on a whim. All you have to do for aQS is send pictures and the application. Easy peasy. It is worth going to their website for size requirements.

Other thoughts:
Don't put a hanging sleeve on until uou have the specific show guidelines.
Be prepared for high shipping charges.
Make sure your quilt is clean and totally pet hair free
No quilt is totally mistake free so don't beat yourself up. For sure the one I had accepted is not.
If you want to win, your binding probably does need to be perfect. And 99.9% of the rest of it.
If you are doing a traditional design, it needs to stand out somehow to get ccepted. Be different if you can.

DOTTYMO

You do not say which country only the shows. If you are in UK generally you need to get in touch with show and an application form and fill it in pay your money and follow the rules. It is easy but rules are bit funny. All items have to be at least I metre in at least one direction. They also need to know sizes of quilts well in advance of the show I bet some hint ven started . Money for insurance an postages appeared complicated but really was not. They also pick age and send back for a price and of course insurance. You also , if you go to the show, need o be very thick skinned especially if you walk past as people ar discussing the quilt. . I found it difficult to divide which category mine went in and one was wrong. Paperiecing not traditional. . .

I enjoyed it but not sure i would do it again I'm not competitive enough.

dunster

Of course it depends on the show, but first off read the directions and follow them exactly. Your quilt will probably be accepted based on a photograph, so get a good one. Originality seems to be very important in the big shows. For a machine quilting show, the quilting should be very good. That probably means custom quilting rather than an all-over or pantograph. And get this book by Karen McTavish - Quilting for Show - http://www.amazon.com/Quilting-Show-.../dp/0974470635

Lisa_wanna_b_quilter

I have never entered a show and know nothing about making a quilt to those standards. As a viewer at many shows, I think anyone who plans to go to a show that their quilt is in needs to have pretty thick skin. So many times I seen people (not judges) standing in front of a quilt verbally picking it apart in the harshest terms without knowing if the creator is standing nearby. That has to be painful to hear.

BellaBoo

The rules will be on the entry form. I know the judges look at binding corners, be sure they are stitched closed. The pattern, design, and fabric choice are up to you. I enter a lot of local shows. They are judged but not juried in. I heard more then once someone say If that quilt can be entered I know my quilt is okay to enter. LOL. I love seeing my quilts hanging in a show. I don't stress over if it is good enough. I won Viewer's Choice one year with a quilt I thought was so pitiful it should be a cut up quilt. You never know.

JustAbitCrazy

Many shows require that the quilt be no older than 2 years, meaning it has to have been completed within the past two years. All that stuff is in the rules and regulations, so read carefully. Make sure you enter the quilt into the proper category, or it has no chance of winning. Often the organizers don't "move" your quilt into the proper category---it just remains in the wrong place where it has no chance. Pay close attention to the size requirements for each category, etc.

feline fanatic

You may wish to consider getting your feet wet at a smaller juried show first. The competition is very stiff at all shows and AQS recently changed their rules that makes it even harder to ribbon. Like stitch regulated quilting is considered computer aided quilting so you will be judged against computer generated quilting if you free hand but use a stitch regulator. Winners are eligible to ribbon at all AQS shows (before a winner at say Lancaster, would not be eligible to win at another AQS location like Paducah in the same year, now not so). But quilt judging is very subjective. What one judge likes another may not. It is fun to en ter just to see your quilt hanging there. Entering a smaller show gives you a better feel for where you are lacking when you receive the judges comments.

Some smaller shows are Vermont Quilt Festival and Lowell Quilt festival that I know of off hand. There are probably more.

Guild shows are a great way to start too as well as fairs. Although I don't know of very many juried guild shows and fairs are not juried.

Scissor Queen

Keep in mind that if you're entering a machine quilting show the quilting really needs to be pretty spectacular. Here is a link from one of the shows so you can see what the competition is like. If you do a search you'll find links to the other shows and most of them will have rules for submissions.

http://www.mqsshow.org/


I would say, be very original and creative and make sure your work is the very best you can do.

I'd get my feet wet, so to speak, with some smaller shows where you'll get feedback from the judges. That really helps you find any areas that you're lacking in.

Tashana

If I were to enter my quilt in a competition I would work on my design first. It can take time depending how accustomed you are on working without a pattern. Once I have the design which I like, many, many scratch pads later, I would figure out a technique how to execute my design. While working on the design I would think about the ways to quilt it. Many may think that I am crazy, but there is something to be said about a quilter who does everything from the scratch. Please don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with using a pattern, but I would want my quilt to be really unique if I were to enter it in a show.