I enter our local quilt show for the fun of it. My niece and nephew helped with a couple of the quilts, so they were very excited to have them in the show one year. That alone was a great reason to enter! It's just plain enjoyable to see what my fellow quilters have created.
You could have a 'non-judged' category of quilts if the judging is scaring people away. Also, how many categories of quilts do you have? For example, art quilts, small quilts, lap, twin, queen and so on. Art. small and lap quilts are more manageable for many quilters who work only a dsm.
Positive reasons to enter:
* It's fun to see other people's work.
* It's fun to watch other people look at your quilt. It's true that some quilters will love it and others will walk by without giving it a second look. And that's ok.
* Some of the quilts are true works of art. We may never see the quilt again, but we can appreciate it in our memory forever.
* You can get some great ideas for a future quilt.
* Usually, there are vendors who sell 'stuff'. Who doesn't like 'stuff'?