The judging kind of scares me 'cause...well, I'm not exactly conservative when it comes to quilt designs. And at last year's fair the ones I remember that got first place ribbons were either ones with very traditional blocks with very earthy/subdued colors or t-shirt quilts...I like to be a little bolder than that. Same goes for the art competition...a friend of mine has been setting up a booth for body art and entering a lot of artwork at the fair for the past couple of year. Creates beautiful artwork, but some of its not exactly the judges cup of tea. She got ribbons for all of them, but the ones we thought were the best ones got 3rd/4th place ribbons.
There are often times the quilts we like the best at shows or fairs aren't the ones that win the highest ribbons. Why? Sometimes it simply comes down to the judges and what they like best (it isn't
supposed to work this way but sometimes it does), but often times it comes down to things like construction or even evenness of stitches. Frequently something as simple as binding will knock a beautiful quilt down in marks and it will look like a quilt that wasn't as good won. Interestingly enough, I have learned from several of my friends who are experts at entering shows, that if your quilt doesn't win at one show it often will at another. The key really is to have a bit of thick skin where the judges are concerned, especially since the judging part can be so intimidating. Most of them out there are wonderful and would like to help promote quilting, but there are those few out there who seem to be spiteful and opinionated. Don't let them scare you off from what can be a fun part of the quilting process. Throw anything from those judges out and try again with a different show is my motto with them!
Cathe - I am learning a lot from you. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us. I'm just starting to get into the area of selling my quilts and I know this is an area where I have a lot to learn. I have a question that has been bugging me. When you go to places like a craft fair or cranberry festival, about how many quilts and quilted items would you suggest bringing?
~Tiffany