Hey, Krystyna, it's not "one day, I'll be good enough to try it". My goodness, I'm not the best quilter that's ever come down the pike. I have won some ribbons in my entering, but county fairs are fairly easy to win ribbons (if you're half a quilter, that is) and my other ribbons have never been a "Best of ..." except for that GI Sue hanging above. (In the AQS show, she won Best Hand Quilting - and in this NQA show, the judge told me I needed to practice my quilting stitches and get more consistent !). My Sashiko quilts are pushed to the side, the judges don't know what they are. I've found the biggest fear we quilters have of entering shows is the fact our quilts don't measure up to a judge's criteria. Get over that!! I figure, in my opinion, my quilts are pretty good - I've even sold one for some good money. A judge is only expressing her opinion - and it may be way different from another judge (i.e. GI Sue) or mine - or yours, for that matter. Find one you're proud of and enter it - the first one's the hardest!
Thanks Jaba, I enjoyed making your patriotic hanger. Need to get back to Holloways to get the new die cuts...

Kathleen, Your quilts are fantastic! I love the little Sue with all her glory and detail. How do you do the sashiko stitch? I know there are machines that will do it. Or am I mistaken about that? Do you have to audition to get into the shows? I recently went to a show and we talked to a judge there that my friend knew. Interesting-she said many of the quilts which were done by longarm had tensions issues on the back, which immediately hurt their chances of winning. You can tell they put each quilt through lots of criteria before selecting the winners. I think, too, that you have to just try it and get over the fear that everything is way above your skill level. I saw a lot of variation of skill and talent, but all were very lovely quilts.

Since the colors were so bazaar, I figured Holloways would at least offer to mail them. Doesn't sound like the best customer service, or am I wrong?

My very creative Doll Quilt I received from Paperpieceme. Thankyou again we love it!!!

glad you like it! i enjoyed making it.

What a fun and interesting piece!

Okay, some information on entering shows. Many shows are 'juried'. That means a group of people (ladies?) will look at your entry form and the photo/DVD you send with it. If your photos are good and show your quilt to its best potential, it may get accepted. You'll receive a notice from them either way. If the show is open, they will generally take the first XX entered (the NQA took the first 400). They may still require the photo/DVD first. Both type shows are still judged by a qualified judge person - who looks for things that make a good quilt - color coordination, pattern execution, square quilt (straight sides), binding that is 'full' and fits the quilt well, 90 degree corners on that binding. All the same things we do with our quilts every time. Now, one judge may like soft colors, another loves bright, bold and unfortunately may judge that way. I attended a trunk show for a judge at our local show a few years back and she talked about breaking out of the boring color box and trying colors that you might not normally use. My kind of lady! The next day was the judging competition. Her critique for my labryinth quilt was that the yellow I used in the quilt was too bright!! Go figure - but that's her opinion. Each show is different and I've learned lots for each one.
Sashiko is Japanese quilting. It's a hand stitch (for me) that is even on top and bottom. Yes there are machines that do the Sashiko stitching, but I just don't have that kind of money - and the bottom of the quilt will be a straight line of thread - the machine only uses a bobbin, no top thread. Anyway, guess it's out of that box and not all judges know what it's supposed to look like. I did a clutch purse (for my local quilt show again) and my critique was that the patterns above the zipper and below the zipper did not match. That was it, zip. Maybe it's the judges we get in Tennessee?? :p
Keep trying.

OK. I am going to enter some quilts in my guild's show this year. They are a boring bunch of old ladies so maybe this will wake them up and give them a good laugh, too. I can already hear the tsk-tsk-tsk's.

Love the ribbon you gave Kathleen, Krystyna. No way will I be making a "Rose of Sharon"....I have looked at it several times and just shook my head! I am in a hand quilting Bee that meets every Wednesday. I love those ladies...most of them are really great quilters and they are so willing to share their knowledge. I was finally brave enough to take in a wall hanging I made and they acted like it was really special. No quilt police are allowed in there. I am really learning to love the easy lifestyle in middle America.

My quilt is coming along...I spent a lot of time on it yesterday!

Great little quilt paperpieceme! Love it!