Okay, some information on entering shows. Many shows are 'juried'. That means a group of people (ladies?) will look at your entry form and the photo/DVD you send with it. If your photos are good and show your quilt to its best potential, it may get accepted. You'll receive a notice from them either way. If the show is open, they will generally take the first XX entered (the NQA took the first 400). They may still require the photo/DVD first. Both type shows are still judged by a qualified judge person - who looks for things that make a good quilt - color coordination, pattern execution, square quilt (straight sides), binding that is 'full' and fits the quilt well, 90 degree corners on that binding. All the same things we do with our quilts every time. Now, one judge may like soft colors, another loves bright, bold and unfortunately may judge that way. I attended a trunk show for a judge at our local show a few years back and she talked about breaking out of the boring color box and trying colors that you might not normally use. My kind of lady! The next day was the judging competition. Her critique for my labryinth quilt was that the yellow I used in the quilt was too bright!! Go figure - but that's her opinion. Each show is different and I've learned lots for each one.
Sashiko is Japanese quilting. It's a hand stitch (for me) that is even on top and bottom. Yes there are machines that do the Sashiko stitching, but I just don't have that kind of money - and the bottom of the quilt will be a straight line of thread - the machine only uses a bobbin, no top thread. Anyway, guess it's out of that box and not all judges know what it's supposed to look like. I did a clutch purse (for my local quilt show again) and my critique was that the patterns above the zipper and below the zipper did not match. That was it, zip. Maybe it's the judges we get in Tennessee??
Keep trying.