I have been to several quilt shows so far this summer and the one question I have is how do the judges work out the hand made and quilted items, from the machine made and quilted.
If I look at the quilts, I can usually tell which is which, but I always think that the machine quilted items look so diffenent from the hand quilted pieces. How does a judge pick one over the other? All of them are beautiful, so how do they do that.
Pam

I am curious also, will watch this thread. :D

Quilts are judged on how well they are designed and made, so it doesn't matter whether it's done by machine or by hand. Some quilt shows have ribbons for best hand quilting and best machine quilting, and some shows go even further, giving ribbons for long arm and short arm quilting.

Quilts usually get judged by putting them into categories: hand quilted, machine quilted, pieced, whole cloth, art quilts, etc. Workmanship, execution, color selection, overall appearance, pleasing to the eye. The best of each category compete for Best-of-Show. It is not easy to be totally fair; especially since judges have their own preferences.

I have only seen one quilt i didn't like in my entire life and that one was all stripes in funky colors. and the quilting was crazy. if i remember right the quilt was called dizzy. it was done well but not to my taste. i don't think that i would be a good judge. i like them all. I had asked a judge at the quilt show i was at recently and she said that they take classes to become a judge or appraiser. i thought that was interesting.

Our local fair had two categories. One was for bedcovers and one was for hand quilted.

Bedcovers:
Class 1. Quilts- machine stitched
Class 2. Quilts- hand stitched (may be machine pieced)
Class 3. Quilts- tied
Class 4. Unspecified (machine or hand)

Hand Quilting: (No preprinted panels, entire stitching to be done by hand, no machine work.
Class 1. Quilts
Class 2. Wall hangings

I entered two Grandmas Flower Garden Quilts. One in Bedcovers, Class 2, and one in Hand Quilting, Class 1.

I won a blue (1st) place ribbon in both classes.

are u asking how a judge will judge hand quilting vs machine quilting or what criteria is used for hand quilting and what criteria is used for machine quilting.

As others have said, many shows have separate categories for hand and machine-quilted (and pieced!) quilts; some break things down further into pieced vs. applique and other categories (by size, etc).

Judges look at many different factors: the design, fabric selection, accuracy of piecing, quilting, binding... and depending on the show will rate them on various scales.

If you are really curious about how the judges figure out what quilts to award ribbons to, volunteer as a "white gloves" assistant during a local guild show that's being judged. I am planning to do that at our next guild show. Your job is to display the quilts for the judges, and you get to hear them discuss each quilt -- that will give you the best insight into what judges look for when they examine a quilt.

The last juried show I entered I got solid 4 out of 5 in all the categories (a "B", LOL!). I'm hoping to do better next time :)

After reading all of the responses, I guess my question is how do judges judge quilts that are so different as machine work and hand work?

I went to a quilt show this last weekend and they gave each of the attendees a ballot so we could pick our favorites. Last year, they gave us categories, which I liked much better than just telling us to pick out our favorites. However, the members of the guild that sponsored the show were allowed to vote on the categories.

I have to admit that I was a bit of a "snob" when it came to voting because I wouldn't vote for any that were quilted by another person. I figure that if one is going to get credit for someone else's professional quilting job, those who are still learning how to do the quilting part don't stand a chance. So, I voted for those that were done by the same person.

My question is: In a juried show, do they expect that all the quilting and piecing is done by the SAME person?