I say give it a shot.. if your intent is to learn from the input of the judges ... you got to jump in. If you just want to show your quilt(s) and participate in the event , then don't have them judged.
Just one note .. I have never won with a quilt I thought was a "contender" its the ones that I had a "what the heck" attitude that have won or gotten the most positive feedback.

Go for it. Either way judged or not it would be great fun!

What do you have to loose? I say go for it!

I scribed for the judge at our Guild show a few months back. It was an interesting experience and I learned a lot along the way. The just was very professional in her comments and gave constructive feedback where appropriate. Every quilt, regardless of complexity or skill was treated with respect by all of us in the room - judge, scribes, holders, etc. I think you should go ahead and enter it as "judged" if you are interested in the feedback.

The most common criticisms of the day focused on bindings - being full, even, square, quilt trimmed prior to binding, etc. so that might be something for you to look at carefully as you complete your quilts. I know that is something I'll be focusing on for the show in 2 years.

Cheers, K

I think you should go with having the quilts judged. Particularly since they are going to be your own design. It will be such a tremendous learning experience. I am 90% sure that I will enter one for the show but I will not have this one judged. However, I already know I am going to enter one for 2015 and I will have that one judged for sure.

I really can't wait to see your designs!

I value Viewer's choice awards much more then judges opinions. A judge is following guidelines made decades ago about how a quilt should be as decided by the first few quilters that were deemed experts by the marketing field. I think visual quilts are much better then have to be close to see the tiny stitches and perfect binding quilts.

When I go to quilt shows I love being able to "vote" for my favorite. Some times its hard to just limit it to ONE favorite but I do enjoy that part. ...viewers choice!

Good luck entering your quilts in a show.