Makes me shiver.. Will never put a quilt in.. all my points match, hence my friendship with seam rippers.. my applique is NOT my strong point.. I think I see better in one eye for they all are a bit wonky.
Guess I quilt for myself, comfort quilts for children's hospital ( they don't have high expectations) but do absolutely put a whole lot of effort in each quilt.
Hmm... Nightmares will be next after seeing this post. Thanks for the eye opener !!

Ell

Thank you k3n and Lobster for that information regarding Grosvenor. I have entered a quilt in one of their shows in september and I am always interested in the judges comments. To be honest, I don't like it to meet with criticism but I try to see that as a challenge to improve my work.
I think the judges' statements can't be completely objective - just because judges are human and of course they have preferences and aversions. Sometimes I disagree to their comments, sometimes I agree and this is okay for me.

FYI - Here's a look at some of the judging sheets from the recent UK show.

http://lapis-lazuli-q.blogspot.com/2...s-2011_18.html

You can get a sense of how and what was important in THAT show.

Because it varies from show to show. Especially when you get to smaller guild shows. The criteria, as well as the categories, are defined by the guild.
So what might be the top quilt in a category in one show might lose out in the next show because it's placed in different category (there could be more, or less, categories, for instance).

Here's another example - A submitted quilt was sent pieced and quilted by two different people. Both did a great job.

That quilt might go to a Duo category in one show, but another show might include it in the regular pieced category. And based on the competition in each of those categories, the outcome won't be the same.

It is possible that the judges weren't impartial, but not likely. There have been times when I felt judging was unfair, but when I calmed down and thought rationally about it, the winning quilts were better.

In this case, maybe the quilter who won was the quilt designer. Or as others have mentioned, maybe there was something better done about the winner...in a judged contest, the devil really is in the details, even some we might not notice - I believe it was Ann Fahl who shared one of her judges' comments: "Cat hair does not enhance the top." LOL.

And MTS??? Regarding your comment about Sharon Schamber on the other thread, I have a whole list of quilters I wish would stop competing...but then again, it would so much sweeter to enter and beat them. I can dream, anyway!

Janet

Why should she and others? Shows are to highlight excellence aren't they? So why exclude the best?

I've watched the local fair judges judge and the binding is the deciding factor. Any stitches can be seen, or any gaps in the stitches, big points off. But they do weight that against the over all construction and last the choice of colors. Machine or hand quilting doesn't matter unless it's a separate category. The Best in Show from them is the one that gives them all the Wow look at that and has no major construction flaws. Only the really bad quilts get no ribbon at all. The rest get at least a white ribbon (third place)

Ahhh, yes they are. And I was joking - sorry, I forgot my lolols. :)

Janet

Not all places have fair judges. Just like in everything else, some judges let politics influence them.

We all do understand my comment about Sharon on that thread was in snark mode, in reply to something that a previous poster wrote?
Right? ;-)

Absolutely!

I consider Sharon's quilts to be beyond my abilities, and I think it's wonderful that she shares her methods with everyone. It's a thrill seeing them.

Janet