SmickChick

When we quilt, the difference between a quilt derived from a kit and one from original design is the difference between following a kit, and designing a kit. Obviously one is more difficult from another. At a recent judging of a show, the judge clearly was on the fence between first and second place. One was a kit, one was original. The inspiration for a quilt, albeit a photo, an original idea, a pattern, or a kit should be disclosed to judges in order to form a level playing field.

Dolphyngyrl

I don't think it should matter for judging if its from a kit, It should matter how well done it is, the person that had the kit might have done a better job, its just a difference in fabric, and I am sure judges know what work is original and whose patterns they are.

mighty

I agree I think it should matter how well it is done.

Hinterland

I'd be very surprised if every quilt judge knew every kit put together. Quilt design is as much a factor in judging quilts as the workmanship, and there are shows on the national level that will not accept kit quilts.

It's usually up to the show organizers to indicated the source of the quilt pattern, be it traditional, designed by someone else, inspired by something else or totally original.

Janet

LynnVT

I think transparency is always good. I was pleased that an annual show I enter has now required that you give the name of the quilter if it is not the same person as the maker of the top. If nothing else, it's nice to see what one local longarmer does compared to another so I know who to choose if I need one. And I'd rather be judged for my work if I do my own compared to someone who has a professional do the quilting. The same with an original design, a pattern, or a kit. Isn't it only ethical to disclose the designer of your quilt the way a musician names the composer of the music?

MTS

I totally disagree, especially when it's a quilt show (but even when posting it on a forum).

If you've entered a quilt into a show (or posted the picture), you're opening yourself up for or looking for some sort of reaction.

Now, my reaction could be/should be totally meaningless to you, but I'm entitled to it since you put your product out there.

Here's a recent example:
I saw a Moon Glow quilt in a quilt show recently.
What am I to think of it - as a judge or a viewer?
All it tells me is that the person knows how to use a sewing machine.

While I think it's a beautiful quilt, that quilter deserves none of the credit for it - not the coloring, fabrics, design, complexity.
They didn't create any of it.

Now, if someone had used the pattern but did their own coloring, a small kudo to them, because one can appreciate how much work went into creating a successful substitute palette to Jinny's original one.

Sometimes I see a great quilt posted here, and comment accordingly.
Reading subsequent posts, it turns out it was a pattern. And a kit.
Sort of makes me want to take my comment (admittedly meaningless) back, as the OP neglected to mention any of that in the op...it just came out when people asked about.
Silly me, I thought if it were relevant, it would have been posted with the picture.

So, all other things being equal, I'd give credence to the original over a kit any day.

eta: I sometimes chuckle thinking about the MoonGlow quilt that someone's going to find in an attic a hundred years from now, thinking they found a treasure, only to find out there are literally hundreds of them out there. ;-)

Annie68

MTS, I must agree with your thoughts on this subject. Well said.

ghostrider

Every choice you make in creating a quilt is 'fair game' for judging. The design, the color and fabric selections, the thread, the quilting pattern, all of it. It's far more than simply the workmanship, it's the final combination of correct choices made by the quilter...that's what is rewarded.

If you create a quilt from a kit, the choices have mostly been made for you. Even using a pattern, you are making fewer decisions than someone who creates a quilt of their own design. It's like going through a maze. If you had to make twenty correct turns to reach the end, shouldn't you get a bigger treat than if you only had to make seven?

noveltyjunkie

I've never entered a show but I assumed that there was a scoring scheme for different elements? If there was, clearly you would get nothing for design if you used a kit, but then again, if you scored extra highly on other criteria you might still do better with a kit than someone who designed their own. Is this not the way it works?

Candace

I agree with MTS.