Originally Posted by dunster
I also think all the ribbons should be awarded in a quilt show. However, I have noticed that in the county fair there are sometimes categories with only one or two quilts entered, and in those cases there may not be a first place award. I think this is proper if the quality of the quilts is not at the same level as the quality of the quilts getting ribbons in the other categories.
I agree with this. At our last guild quilt show my quilt was the only one entered in one of the categories. I thought it was an "automatic" ribbon, but not so. The judge held it to the same judging criteria as the other quilts in the other categories. I got the blue ribbon, but she made it clear to me (after the judging was completed and I asked her for her honest opinion) that my quilt did earn the blue ribbon. She had made some "constructive criticism" comments about my machine quilting, which I have taken to heart. She also said "...at a larger show the quality of the machine quilting would have been judged more negatively". So, they do take all things into consideration, I think...at least that very experienced quilt judge does.