I will never enter a quilt in a local show again. A lot of quilters don't even have a chance.
The judges are usually local, within the state, not the same town. To make a long story short, the reason my daughter won a blue ribbon for her wholecloth quilt was because she overheard the judge say she couldn't tell if the wholecloth was made by another local quilter (the judge mentioned that quilter by name) or someone else so on the off chance that it was made by that other quilter, my daughter's wholecloth got a blue ribbon.
That comment by the judge said it all.
I do have to brag that my daughter's hand quilting is excellent. I am even in awe at how many stitches per inch she gets and they're even too.
Bottom line, the local judges know the work of the local quilters and give ribbons accordingly.