Monday, August 14, 2017

Machine Quilting Monday - What I Learned from Entering My Quilt in a Show

No, I haven't been machine quilting much lately, but I realized I had never wrapped up my experience of entering my quilt into the East Cobb Quilters Guild show back in June.


For the backstory, visit these posts first:

  1. Bonnie Hunter - the class that started it all
    1. too many posts to list over the years detailing the incremental progress being made (or not)
  2. Bobbin Chicken - entering my quilt 
  3. I'm In! - my quilt was accepted into the show
  4. Bordering on Insanity - quilting String Spider Web
  5. Hip to Be Square - blocking a quilt for the first time
  6. Georgia Celebrates Quilts - seeing my quilt hanging in the show

We were in Boston when it was time to pick up the quilts, so Ben generously collected mine for me. I didn't see him until our July guild meeting, and then completely forgot about it.




The Stitch did an episode where they shared their judges comments, so I thought you might like to see mine.

The comments were very kind, and none of the critique was a surprise. For instance, I got a "Good" on Complexity of Design (it was a pattern, and not particularly challenging) and Piecing Techniques (I cut off most of my star points by making my original template wrong).


I also got a "Good" for Finishing Techniques, with a note that says "pieced binding frames quilt well but could be smoother and straighter." That's fair.


The only other "Good" I received was for Quilting Techniques, which has the words "even stitches/tension" underlined. Tell me something I didn't know! I was happy to be rated "Good" in this category since even stitches are still my biggest challenge, especially when quilting teeny, tiny pebbles and other motifs.

But I was thrilled to also have "Very Good" in every other category, as well as these positive comments:

  • "Clever idea, great assortment of fabrics" (that's what you get when you take this many years to finish a quilt!)
  • "Quilting motif well chosen specific to quilt" (shoutout to Christa Watson, Angela Walters, and my #machinequiltingbloghop partners in crime, Kristin, HollyAnne, and Vicki!)
  • "Held up well under stiff competition" (squeeee! Lynn says this means it was held for consideration for a ribbon!)
I am so pleased with this experience and only regret that it took me so long to try entering a show outside my own guild. It was a great learning experience, and pushed me to do my best work. I know that this quilt truly has been practice for the ones that come next, and I look forward to stepping up my game in the future.

Have you ever entered a judged show? How was your experience?



1 comment:

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