ohhh, no applause for some of the quilters? That's just wrong. :evil: ALL should be recognized and appreciated, even if a "cheater" panel follows an heirloom quilt in the show-n-tell line. Everyone started somewhere. When I was a brand new member I was seriously intimidated, because it seemed like the only quilts 'shown' were awesome ones. It was really hard to stand up with my beginner effort, wonky edges and all, but I thought there might be someone just like me in the audience who was intimidated about showing their own beginner work and I might make them feel better about their own effort. I scold friends who only will display their "perfect" works, because newbies need to know that the end results ARE obtainable with practice, and a less than perfect quilt reminds us all that we're just human.
My Guild is really awesome because every effort is applauded...and I'm sorry the one you went to wasn't as nice. Sometimes all it takes is one person to clap and the rest join in, and perhaps you can get them on track so no one gets left out.