I don't show my quilts in judged contests, they are use quilts and I have different design constraints -- the biggest is that they will be machine washed. I believe I have the ability to make show quilts, and that is working at my highest level of skill at each and every step. While I flout the quilt police with my open seams and in some other ways, I decided on thing I could do is put on a nice French double fold mitered corner correct for show binding and I do this on all my quilts, including donation baby quilts. I've gotten quite good at it and that final invisible seam. Most times I'm using bias, but even if I'm straight grain I'm still doing the mitered corners/invisible seam.
Yes, things like seams meeting and points being pointy are important, each and every time. When we have the basics and are precise on each seam there is very little need to trim up, they are just threads/precision.
Your overall design sense and fabric selection also make a huge difference. Two people can use the same pattern to make very different quilts. Workmanship can be stellar but the quilt blah. Some workmanship issues might not be noticed if the fabric is there to wow you.