One yr. the best of show was a Baltimore Album king size quilt . It was beautiful, but one square instead of the white background like the rest of the squares was a definite grey. It stood out like a sore thumb. I can tell you that the judge does not get close to the quilt until she has chosen the quilts in that category. Like you said she didn't say anything bad about your quilt. A guild I was in would make a quilt for charity, and the guild members were suppose to help. LOL Two others went with me to pick out the fabric. I cut and sewed the top by myself, and they sent it out to be quilted. I told them I would put on the binding. I didn't see it until the show. The notes were all great, but the binding needed improvement because it wasn't filled, and corners weren't sewn. At least I learned my points and no waves in border were good. Never did find out who did the binding.
There is a quilt guild in Ponte Vedra if interested. PM me if you want to know more. I'm going to try to go to AQS in Feb..