Originally Posted by
sewbizgirl
I wouldn't divide categories up by ability levels. The way a novice competes with a more experienced quilter is to
make quilts and
get better at their skills.
I'm not in the 'trophy for everyone' camp.
I"m totally not in the trophy for everyone camp! If you give everyone a trophy, then they become meaningless. I agree with SBG. Competing with those who are better than you are gives you something to strive for. I know this because I started out showing cars about 15 years ago without a clue. I made friends with some people who had a lot of experience at it and learned from them. Now, when I win (and beat out some of the big boys) I'm very proud of my trophies because they show how far I've come.
You said that you had 18 categories and are taking in 45 - 50 quilts. That means each category averages less than 3 quilts. If you want to give more people a ribbon, you could give 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each category.