So what polite things do you really say when you see a quilt that looks awful (yech!), but you don’t want to hurt the quilter’s feelings when asked? Yeah, yeah, I know beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.
I find “Very interesting….” or “I’d never have thought in a million years to do that!” slip out quite easily when I suppose being more honest and giving constructive criticism a path harder to take, but more valuable in the long run to the quilter.