kwhite, to answer your question... we don't have to be the best to make great quilts. I've loved many of the quilts I've seen on this board and in shops, and they wouldn't qualify to be in that show. They're still really nice quilts.
The artistry and creativity at that show was immense, but there's much more to quilting than just artistry (though of course we all want nice-looking quilts).
--- quilts were originally functional, to keep you warm. Even the plainest quilts still do that
--- we express ourselves in the quilts we make, we stitch the love and caring right in when we make a gift, and sometimes we stitch in hurt and tears (perhaps because we're quilting in memory of someone now gone)
--- we can customize a quilt exactly the way someone wants it
--- our personalities and preferences come through in our choices of designs, fabrics and stitches when we make our quilts, and this makes our own creations unique and worthwhile
And to some degree we are all artistic. You don't decide not to cook just because you're not a Cordon Bleu chef. You have to cook if you want to eat, and you take pride in your personal specialties and the compliments they get, even if your recipes wouldn't get the blue ribbon in a contest.
Same with quilts. I can't see myself ever mastering the thread painting technique that so blew me away at the show. I hope to make quilts as nice as the Baltimore Album one or the An Alphabet one someday. So I view the show quilts as what they are, top of the line, and just appreciate them.