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Who can enter guild show - would like your input please


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The topic of who can enter to be judged at our guild's show will be up for discussion at our next meeting. I'd like some input from others about how larger shows handle things.

Only guild memebers can enter our show (you'd think that would solve all discussion, but no, LOL :D) We hung 120 quilts for this year's show.

There were 63 judged quilts. Of those, 12 were in the "Ensemble" catagory. 4 were pieced by "outsiders" but LA'd by members. 3 were pieced by members & paid LA'er "outsider" quilted it. The other 5 were pieced and LA'd both by members.

At issue are two things,

Number 1: the tops pieced by "outsiders". The president wants to not allow these next time. Only tops pieced by members are ok. Anyone can quilt them, but only members may piece the top.

Number 2: The age-old question of -- when a quilt wins, who gets the ribbon. President says - it goes to the piecer of the quilt top. (Don't suggest extra ribbons -- I lobbied hard for duplicate ribbons, and was repeatedly outvoted)

I'm purposely leaving my feelings out of this post (I hope.) And want to hear your input as quilters, guild members, and piecers.

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Most guilds are all about piecing, and that is wonderful.

Most shows award one ribbon--and it goes to the OWNER of the quilt. If you quilt by check, that's fine, but if you own the quilt, you get the ribbon. (I'm not saying this is perfect, just saying....;)) So, since the piecer is usually the owner of the top, she gets the spoils. Using the rule under #1 above, a quilter cannot buy a top and quilt it--then win an award. That's a shame if the piecer can buy a quilting job and win, a longarmer should be able to buy a top and quilt it and win as well. *sigh*

If you want, have a separate category for--

best longarm workmanship

best DSM

best handquilting

The quilting should not be ignored--celebrate it and award it if possible!

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I will add--my guild show only accepts member's quilts--either pieced by OR quilted by members. I have entered a quilt I pieced with my sister and had no issue with our rules.

Our show is big though--300-350 quilts every time, so there isn't a lot of room for non-members.

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I agree and it usually is done so that the OWNER gets the recognition. Sounds like you need sub-categories Solo and Team Quilt.

Our guild also only allows members, but that is for the purpose of insurance. We do not have sub categories but the member that pieced the quilt (and owns it) is the entrant, regardless of who quilted it (by hand or machine)

That is the universal standard in most guilds that I have seen.

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If it were my show, I would be looking to have solo, guild team and mixed team categories, with multiple ribbons for the team events. However given there is no chance of multiple ribbons and they want to restrict to only member piecers, I think it might be fairer to say only solo projects and only members can enter. So the only longarmed quilts there would have been pieced by the longarm quilters. I'm not saying I think this is the best way to run a show, just that it seems the fairest, given their other restrictions.

Ferret

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Why not have two categories? One for "non members" and one for members?

In my humble opinion :D I don't like to be exclusive. I think it's best to invite anyone and everyone that is interested in participating. But, just like the professional shows, you should certainly have categories and rules. I think being open and inclusive helps promote community and interest. The more the merrier, methinks. You never know what creativity lies out there unless you welcome it in to your event.

Ribbons? Just like candy, ribbons are fine and dandy... and it would be nice to give ribbons to both piecer and quilter. Ribbons are not very expensive to print, so if the show organizers wanted to do this they certainly could.

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Our guild has a show every year and anyone can enter. This year we moved to another location and there was some concern we would run out of room only to find we need more display rods to fill the space. (Some one doesn't know how to use graph paper :) ) Our ribbons are made my guild members and are really unique, so asking for more would put a burden on the makers. Winners are chosen by veiwer ballot and this year's Viewer's Choice went to an antique quilt, maker unknown, and the owner got the ribbon.

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Thank you all for your input, it's been really helpful.

The background on the situation is: I entered 2 of my customer's quilts (both from the same gal). One other LA'er in our guild did the same. All 4 of those quilts won ribbons in their catagories.

Linda R. I think you are right, my guild is more about piecing, and I didn't realize that. One of the judges I emailed agreed with that thought too, that the quilting is not as important as the quilt top. My thought was that they are equal - that put me on the minority side of the issue. I pointed out that the Best of Show quilt was pieced by a member, but a non-member LA'ed it. To me it was the same, but not to others.

I guess the discussion about this at our meeting just suprised me and maybe hurt my feelings a little too if I'm honest. It's not fun to hear that "Your" part (the quilting) it thought to be less important than the piecing - somehow it feels personal, like I'm less important than the piecer, you know?

As to the ribbon, my thought was that it goes to the person who entered the quilt & paid the entry fee. Which also put me on the other side of the issue from the President :( (For the record she said "only one ribbon, and it goes to the person who entered the quilt" months earlier when we were talking about duplicate ribbons -- but I guess she never thought about the person who didn't piece it, entering it! In her mind, she was still giving it to the top's piecer.)

It seems that my situation is unusual - a LA'er entering a quilt pieced by a customer, and maybe that's why it is generating discussion and possible changes. My thoughts are, as long as one of the people who worked on the quilt is a member, that should be ok. So my guild will discuss this and make a decision. Thank you for letting me know how others are handling it.

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I belong to 3 guilds that have shows every other year. One is juried and has an entry fee. Anyone in the state can enter. Only one ribbon and $ goes to entrant. The 2 other guilds are only for show -- no entry fee and you must be a member to enter quilts. Renting the hall, pipe and drapes and other props for a show is expensive and it comes out of our general budget. The ribbons are awarded based on viewers attending the show -- so awards are not necessarily given to the best quilt -- pieced or quilted. IMHO I believe quilting makes the quilt. Whether it's handquilted, DSM or longarm quilted is where there is some discussion these days in our groups. Some feel if you can afford to pay a professional LA person to quilt your quilt, then you stand a better chance of winning. Is this really fair. That may be seen as "buying" the award. The person with the deepest pockets gets the advantages. Then you take away the incentives for new quilters and even seasoned quilters who "do it all" to even enter their quilts. They feel, what's the use, Mary will always have the best quilted one so why try. The more sub categories you have, the more fair it can be. Good luck on your situation. There is no easy answer to pleaase everyone. I think both participants should be members when there is no entry fee.

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