Originally Posted by Moonpi
I have not had luck with consignment shops - their "cut" effectively reduces {to zero} the profit out of things I have brought in to sell that way. A shop that specializes inn country kitch may not be the place to sell an abstract piece. Small baby quilts may fly off shelves in a hospital gift shop, and languish in a gallery. You also need to figure your end user in when choosing colors and patterns. Cutesie juvenile prints make me gag, but may be perfect for baby showers.
As far as fairs go, they are fun, but be prepared to meet the quilt police for real. Read the judging criteria carefully, and take all the rules very literally.
I feel the same about consignment shops. Honestly, I don't think a quilt store should charge the 30% or higher consignment prices they do. Having gorgeous quilts hanging up in their shop only encourages business and people will buy more fabric and more kits depending on what they see on the walls. It's a great way for a quilt shop to get a lot of quilts hung up without having to do so much work themselves. I've never been a fan of putting my stuff out there on consignment simply because of the high consignment fees. To me, that's money right out of my own pocket! :P
As for judges and fairs, it really depends on where you are and the individuals who are judging. It is always hoped for that you will get a judge who can view the quilts dispassionately, and by that I mean without imposing their views onto the quilt. If a judge hates brights, they should be able to look past a quilt made out of brights and still judge it by its merits, not knock it down because they don't like the colors. Now, you'll note I said
'should'. Unfortunately not all judges are able to be impartial. It helps to remember that when putting a quilt into a judged event; the judges can be very human. I know for me personally, I have gotten great benefit from judges comments and I really enjoy entering judged quilt shows. I hope this helps for those who are considering entering a quilt into a local fair but are concerned about the judging portion of it. It really isn't that scary but you do need to approach it knowing that you may get comments from the judges you don't like, as well as those you do. Read the judges comments. Use what you can and throw out the rest. :wink:
~Tiffany