Originally Posted by
ptquilts
If someone is a famous designer/quilter and has a website and publishing patterns and books, making money from it,etc., why do they need the extra adulation of winning a prize? To me it reminds me of when they let professionals in the Olympics. The pros get paid millions of dollars, let the amateurs have the glory of winning the Olympics.
As far as more than one person working on the quilt, I used to hand quilt for a published designer/quiltmaker and I noticed when the books came out some of the captions would be, "pieced by Jane Smith" (not the author), "hand quilted by Barb" - so all the author did was design it. Not sure how I would feel about that if a quilt like that was entered in a show (as far as I know they weren't).
I'm kind of different here, but I'm kind of surprised that professionals have the time needed to actually piece their own quilts.
And it is often the amateurs who beat out the professionals at the Olympics, at least in technical point type things like ice skating and gymnastics. I guess the professionals get sloppy??
I've only seen quilts at the AK state fair and our local fair in FL, so I'm no expert on shows, but if the quilt is being judged on piecing, quilting, and binding, then, IMO, if different people did it, then they should all be listed as participants. I had no idea that anyone would enter a quilt that they hadn't done themselves--all of it. That seems part of it, to me.
However, as to the idea of precuts or kits, or whatever--i suppose it is whatever the rules are. If the rules say that it has to be an ORIGINAL DESIGN by the seamstress, then, so be it--all quilt kits should be eliminated. If however, there is nothing about it in the rules, then let them be. They probably won't win for originality, anyway, but if the workmanship is superb, then so be it.
Since I'm no professional, I didn't recognize any of the names of the "famous quilters" listed here so far. If someone had said "Quilter's Cache" or Bonnie Hunter, etc...then I'd recognize them...;0
Could someone link to a list of the typical rules for entering a quilt into a show?