A different view that you might consider.... Personally, I would take the "needs more quilting" comment as a suggestion that perhaps a different panto would have been more appripriate for your quilt(s). Some pantos are extremely open and not suitable for all quilts from a design and/or construction standpoint. The pairing of quilting and piecing is an art in itself and a skill that takes practice.
I wouldn't dismiss the comment as mere opinion or bias on the part of the judge. Good judges select an area for constructive comment that will help the entrant improve and grow their skills. Whether you local judge followed that standard is only a guess, but the comment has value regardless.
The 'norm' for judge's comments is several good remarks and one 'room for improvement' remark, so without knowing what other comments you received, we can't tell at all why you feel you were 'penalized unfairly and not judged on the quality of the quilting'.
Last edited by ghostrider; 11-06-2014 at 12:46 PM.