Here is a link to past winners of AQS shows
http://www.americanquilter.com/shows...ow_winners.php If you click on them you can see pictures of the quilts. But it is hard to tell if the applique is turned edge (either needle turn or prepared applique) or raw. There aren't any real closeups.
Raw edge applique has earned ribbons. Last year at Paducah an absolutely amazing quilt of a heron took a ribbon for small wall quilts quilted on a home machine (as opposed to a longarm) . There are pictures on this blog
http://www.dragonflyquilts.com/weblog/?p=2040
If it is incredibly well done and stands out from the crowd it will get a judges attention.