If you're judging on design and piecing, then should it not be just a quilt top and not yet quilted? You're judging the workmanship of a quilt, then I think the LA quilter should be included, as it's his/her workmanship that is the quilting, not that of the person that pieced the top.
JMO, but paying for a skill like quilting is NOT the same as paying for an inert object like thread or binding. We all know that lousy quilting can ruin the looks of a quilt, just as fabulous quilting can make the quilt a work of art....