Interesting take on quilt shows...

[bobbi]

Here's a link to Ann Fahl's blog. Ann has put into words what I've been thinking for a long time.

I'm a traditional quilter and while I appreciate the fancy dancey art quilts with all the spiky stuff and bling - I love bling, just not on MY quilts - I wonder if the time for traditional is over. Where do traditional quilters compete? Local and regional shows? No longer in the "mega" world of the national shows?

Don't get me wrong, I was incredibly proud to have my quilt hang at Paducah, but looking at the quilts and the winners, I agree with Ann... Read what she has to say:

http://annfahl.blogspot.com/

Discussion?

[JustSewSimple]

I took a class from Ann a few years back and really enjoyed her.

[Primitive1]

Bobbi,

I totally agree with both you and Ann, I came home from MQX kind of feeling the same way...I love traditional quilts and feel that things are headed in a different direction with art quilts being the show stoppers. Now I do like to look at them but I still love traditional quilts too. I took a class at MQX on show quilting and one of the things the instructor said was that some areas of the country are more prone to emulate art quilts where other parts of the country such as Paducah seemed to emulate traditional quilts...so I think my instructor's message was to pick your shows according to your style of quilting both for viewing and showing...

what do others think?

[PeggyB]

I read her post and I think I understand what she is thinking...

In an older post she supplied a link to the winners

http://tinyurl.com/82adk4d

I looked at the winners and even in the small pictures with no close up on the quilting I thought most had visual impact. Ann Fahl's quilt have a very strong visual impact, but I am not sure all quilts need to have a design so strong you see it from across the room.

I thought there were some very traditional applique quilts in the winners.

I do like the idea that there be a separate category for an original pattern.

I quilt more heavily since I have purchased a longarm and I do like the look so I don't agree with one commenter on Ann's blog (not Ann herself) that said heavy quilting belongs on a whole cloth where it is the star. I think there needs to be a synergy between the quilt and the quilting something that makes the quilt better whether it shows or not.

I think the quilts with paint and bling are pretty but they should be in a separate category from more traditional.

I have mixed feeling on photos printed on fabric (no piecing) and then quilted heavily should be in the same category as more traditional work.

I do love going to the big shows. I love the wow factor and I think I learn from everything I see and my quilts are better for it.

[GrandmaLKB]

My quilting friends and I have noticed this trend as well. We like the more traditional quilts. The "art" quilts are fabulous and I appreciate all the work that goes into them, but it's not fair that they be judged in the same category as a traditional quilt.

[Anette D.]

I also think there should be separate categories for "traditional" and "contemporary" quilts. I would go even further and separate the categories into "piecing" and "quilting." Sometimes the quilting is glorious, but the quilt top is not. The opposite is also true.

As it is now, it's almost like saying that a student with great penmanship gets the better grade, even if the content is less than exceptional. And, in the reverse, the student with poor penmanship is overlooked even if the content is outstanding.

Just my thoughts.

[ffq-lar]

I would hate to be on the committee that decides categories for a quilt show! Ann has valid points, but the separation of styles/types/ traditional v. less-so/ embellished/not embellished, machine quilted/hand quilted....very hard to decide.

Then, of course, the majority of the heavily-quilted-hyper-embellished quilts are stitched by longarmers. Most of us think "more is better"--after all it's what we do!

So if one is unhappy with categories in quilt shows or trends in the ribbon winners, speak up as Ann did on her blog.

Shoot an email to the show officials.

Talk it up at guild or the LQS.

Write a letter to the quilty magazines.

Leave a comment on Facebook.

Express your opinion wherever you can.

And realize that trends will always change the face of quilting.

[Guest Linda S]

Several of my friends and I have been discussing this same thing. While I enjoy a bit of bling it can be way over-done. I also find it distressing that many of the "big names" put their quilts out on the internet before shows and I believe when the judges see them at the show, they know to whom the quilt belongs and automatically award a prize. A friend and I were wowed by the many knots and areas of flat-line stitching on the back of a ribboned quilt at a recent show.

I am basically a very traditional quilter, but I've had a few art quilts inside me fighting to get out for a while now. One of them has won and has begun to take form. It will not be full of bling. It will not be shared on the internet before it goes to show (if it makes it that far). I'll just keep on plodding on and hope that someone likes what I like. Oh! And I won't let anything leave my studio with gopher guts on the back!

[Ferret]

Originally posted by Linda S

I also find it distressing that many of the "big names" put their quilts out on the internet before shows and I believe when the judges see them at the show, they know to whom the quilt belongs and automatically award a prize. A friend and I were wowed by the many knots and areas of flat-line stitching on the back of a ribboned quilt at a recent show.

I am basically a very traditional quilter, but I've had a few art quilts inside me fighting to get out for a while now. One of them has won and has begun to take form. Oh! And I won't let anything leave my studio with gopher guts on the back!

Gosh, a lot of good points there. I've been on both ends of people recognising my quilts, and personally I don't like it either way. One year I put several quilts into one show. They were hammered by the judges, except for one. The one that got the highest marks I had almost withdrawn. It hadn't come out as well as I had hoped and had been finished in a hurry, but no one thought it was mine. Hmm, looked a bit suspect to me.

Every one told me not to worry it would be my year the next year. Guess what, when I won awards the next year I was just as disgusted. What is it worth when it's just your turn. After that I started entering odd quilts in different styles and from different locations.

I am fairly sure a lot of judges don't spend much time looking at quilts online or elsewhere, just from how often they don't spot patterns, books and stock designs.

I also have to admit to putting out a quilt with "gopher guts" on the back. I made it as a sample with no intention of it ever leaving the house. Then people bugged me to show it, and I gave in. More than one show hung it double sided, yup I was mortified.

I think there is room in the world for anything and everything we can do with or to quilts. However I really hope people will remember that quilts were a way to turn scrap fabric into something to keep you warm. You can join bits of fabric to get a piece big enough to cut what you need for your pattern. You can use left over wadding and join it to finish your quilt. You can use old shirts or any other fabric you can get your hands on then use and abuse your quilt. Today I have been teaching one of my speed quilts. In a day ladies have made a 60" square in a square amish looking quilt. It's quilt as you go so it's ready to use now, although it would be better if they bound it.

Please do keep doing what you like and have fun. I was really shocked at how critical people were of my first book, just because it is a fairly traditional sampler quilt. Apparently I'm not allowed to do that because I am an art quilter. Stuff that, I'm a quilter.

Ferret

[Guest Linda S]

Good points Ferret! I think I've only had the pleasure of seeing one of your quilts in person and it was very well done. I guess what I'm think of is so many quilters I know who enter show after show after show and are so severely disappointed they didn't get a ribbon because some of the "big girls" win steadily, every time. It has gotten so they enter their quilts even in the smaller shows and make a fairly good sweep of the prize money for the year, and some of them are just not that well done. Don't get me wrong. Some of them are fabulous. Artistic masterpieces, well executed down to the last stitch, but I think some judges fall under some spell at shows and totally neglect the technical skills for the "oh, I know who did this and she's friends with my friend so-and-so." That probably doesn't happen all that often, but I've worked in a few judging rooms and, to think that some of the pieces are totally anonymous is folly.

Most of what I do never sees a show floor. And nearly all of it stays off the internet. Every now and then I'm very proud of something I've done or I like a new design, or really like a customer's quilt, or something like that and will share, but I don't put all that much stuff up for people to see. I agree we should just keep doing what we like to keep us happy!

[Janette]

I was chatting with a customer the other day and she is training to be a quilt judge here in the UK, (I didn't even know you had to train and take exams to do this) and she said that if you know who has made (pieced, quilted whichever) then they must pass the judging to another judge for scoring.

Now I know nothing of quilt judging so I don't know if this is correct or not.

It seems that there is a fair amount of "snobbery" if that is the right word, at all levels, wether it be a quilter "frowning" upon quilting an allover on something they consider to be worthy of "custom" right up to the critical stages of judging and show contestants critising the "over quilting" of quilts in the major shows who are winning ribbons. Everything seems to be very much personal opinion anyway, and there will always be people who agree with you, and always people who disagree with you.

At the end of the day, if a customer is not willing to pay for custom, and wants an allover whether it be pantograph, computer, or freehand, then what do you do... turn good paid work away when there are bills to be paid, only for another quilter to criticise the quilting choices made because it isn't what they would have done on that particular quilt style, or for the customer to go to a quilter who will quilt an allover design over her quilt as her budget won't stretch to the fancy stuff. Of course, I would never dream of quilting a panto all over something like a baltimore album quilt, but the chances of being asked to are unlikely (sorry I digress...)

[ffq-lar]

In a perfect situation the quilts are all anonymous. But who in the quilt world would not recognize Sharon Schamber's work. Or Carol Bryer Fallert? Or Hollis Chatelain? Plus all these big-name quilts make the rounds of all the shows for a maximum of two years. It's planned that way. No judge could avoid seeing the winners from a big show and possibly they may judge the same quilt more than once.

[Ferret]

Originally posted by Janette

At the end of the day, if a customer is not willing to pay for custom, and wants an allover whether it be pantograph, computer, or freehand, then what do you do... turn good paid work away when there are bills to be paid, only for another quilter to criticise the quilting choices made because it isn't what they would have done on that particular quilt style, or for the customer to go to a quilter who will quilt an allover design over her quilt as her budget won't stretch to the fancy stuff. (sorry I digress...)

Personally I do turn them away if they really want something I think will look bad when it's done. I don't want to look at my work and feel bad about it. A lot of the time we can work out something that will look good and cost the right amount. One of the very common request I get is "can you just cross hatch the whole quilt". Usually that turns out to mean I need it to be cheap There are a lot of things I can do in cheap that aren't cross hatching, which for me to do isn't cheap. I get a fair number of I want XYZ panto on this quilt, in which case they need to go to someone who can do that, I can't so I won't be taking on that job either.

I'm also very well aware that I do things that driver other longarm quilters crazy. I leave things unquilted and I very very rarely stitch in the ditch, largely for cost reasons but also because I don't feel I get value for effort out of it. Am I going to change, nope, it's what I do and that works for me. Judges regularly complain about it and so be it.

On the subject of passing things on to other judges, I had heard that too, but I wonder how it is going to work. Most UK shows use unqualified judges anyway, but those that don't hire just what they need (or slightly less than needed if you believe the judges and I do) and given them less time than they need. I can't see how they could opt out every time they found a quilt where they thought they know who made it and still get the judging done on time. I was very lucky to once see the judging process at a big UK show. Rather them than me, it's a heck of a lot of work and they have to move fast. I think they have a slightly easier time in the USA but I doubt it's a walk in the park there either.

Ferret

[Ferret]

Another slightly sideways question, does anyone know how well the crystals stay on a quilt? They seem to be really popular now, and I'm thinking about a few on an art quilt, but I am not good with glue. I can make most sticky things non sticky just by looking at it. Should I leave crystals well alone or are they really idiot proof?

Ferret

[bobbi]

Wow. What a great topic! Keep your thoughts coming...

Ferret, check out "crystals" on google... You'll need a hot fix applicator wand and plenty of patience... Although, if you add crystals at the end of the day when you have time to sit, it works out. My friend who only makes art quilts covers all "boo boos" with crystals and ornaments...

I like my quilts to be used and used. I think they get better with age. Just me maybe.

As to the judging, At our show we usually have one NQA certified judge and one in training. It's hard to find someone completely unbiased... If they don't like a certain style - those quilts may get lower marks.

Thanks everyone! I so appreciate the input!

[Susanne.Hughes]

Ferret makes some very relevant points. And so does Janette. Sharon Schamber was asked on one of her trips down under, how she plans an award winning quilt. She answered that she doesn't. You cannot make a quilt to win a prize! You have to make the quilt to please yourself. If you enter it in a show and the judges on the day, like it, then it will win. She has entered many shows and not won as well. In the end it depends on the judges mood on the day.

Judging is subjective. As they are not entites beamed down from another planet on judging day, they can recognise workmanship, styles colours etc used by the more well known quilters. They have friends who quilt and they quilt themselves. They read books and magazines and have their own "passions" as far as quilting is concerned. All this will influence them. As far as more categories in quilt shows, heaven, who is going to make the decision as to which quilt belongs into which category?

To me it is, as we tell our Newbies - find your nieche that makes you happy and that you are good at. Keep practicing at that and be the best you can be. There is a little Nook for everyone. The fact that quilting has progressed to the point that Art quilts are now such a large part of the quilting world is a good thing. It means that the artform of quilting is expanding and evolving and growing. Will it take over and rule? Certainly not, because the need to make traditional quilts is still overwhelming. We want to cover loved ones with quilts to snuggle in, to keep warm and comforted and these will always be the good old traditional patterns without bling. Will they be deep traditional colours or will they be blindingly bright? What does it matter! With each quilt made, we share a little of ourselves, our tastes, our believes, our wishes and our dreams. The quilt reflects us personally and what we want to share with the recipient. Sometimes, we feel proud enough to want to share this with the wider quilting community and we show it. But do we show it becasue we are proud of what we have achieved or because we want money and a fancy ribbon? In the end, how many of us really sit and make a quilt purely to win a prize? When did the award of prize money become such a vital part of the quilting process? To me, if the making of quilts revolves purely around the ribbons and prize money, then we as quilters have relinquished our drive for personal growth, we have reduced an evolving way of life and art to mere dollars and we will all be the poorer for it.

Be proud of what you have achieved and continue to share this in all forums (from the internet to quilt shows), but remember that everyone looks at your quilt subjectively and with their own biases. Whether they like it or hate it, they would have learned something about themselves and most likely the knowledge, that they have not shown their quilts because they do not have the same pride of achievement in their work as you did. And whether you had won a ribbon or not, you have caused people to think, to question themselves, to be inspired and maybe to try and copy or better, what you did, and that benefits all of us and should be seen as the greatest reward of all.

(Did I mention that I wish I could quilt like Linda, or Ferret or Heidi or Dawn or ....................!!! Every quilt shown here I learn from.)

Off my soap box ................

[Pat C]

My comment is for Ferret on the crystals. I've used the hot fix crystals and they've held very well. It's not a quilt that I wash, it mostly just hangs on the wall. I've picked at the crystals with my fingernail just to try to get them off and they're stuck good. It's time consuming to heat-set them on, but the results are very pretty. I've only done this to one quilt (which I also hand-sewed beads onto). It was an 'out of the box' quilt for me, mostly to get me out of the rut of traditional quilts (which I will always love).

[ffq-lar]

I'm so impressed by Susanne's well-stated and heart-felt post! That says it all. I'm saving this one!

From my experience taking classes at the machine quilting shows, for the Big-Girl quilters sometimes it is ALL about winning a ribbon. I was in a first-day class at Innovations several years ago given by a familiar name. Someone asked her if she had an entry in the show, which would have winners announced that evening, and she (probably without thinking) said "Yes, and if I don't win a ribbon my publisher will drop me and I'll never publish another book." OMG, I wasn't so much stunned as I was sorry for her. There is enough pressure on quilters who enter shows without the added stress of something like that! Those who have such elevated skills and talent and who branch out into teaching always have something to sell--maybe a booth at the show with DVDs, pantos, templates, stencils, digitized designs--and rightly so because three months spent on a quilt that wins a $3000 award doesn't put a lot of mashed potatoes on the table! They need the awards to add to their list to keep them in the forefront of the business.

Seems like the ugly side of the show circuit, doesn't it!

[Quilting Heidi]

Bobbi I'm with you. I always appreciate art quilts but in the end it is the traditional quilts that bring the love! I want my quilts to be snuggled and loved. I've done some quilts that are just wall hangings but the overall majority of my quilts are meant to be loved. I hope the shows add in some categories that keep the tradition alive because I sure would hate to see traditionals style quilts go away.

[Sheila Poore]

Ferret, hot fix crystals work very well. The iron is important , I have seen at least two different wattages so make sure you get a hot one! Linda Taylors partner sells a good one along with swarovski crystals. (her name is escaping me at the moment). If you are interested I will get it for you. Let me know.

[Ferret]

I tell friends and students to treat shows like a lottery, the more tickets (entries) you have the more chance you have of winning. It is a lottery, good work helps, but we've all seen surprise winners. The best thing about having your quilt in a show is seeing it hung so you can view it from a distance. Those who enter quilts needing/expecting to win are setting themselves up for disappointment.

Thanks for the tips on crystals and irons, so buying the cheapest to try it out would be bad then. I'll have a look around and see what I can get over here. I'd rather have one that works on our power directly if I can get one.

Ferret

[sewlinzi]

Ferret: www beadsandcrystals.co.uk

Still waiting for it to be my turn for a quilt show win

[Primitive1]

Wow! Lots of good points made on this thread! I love how we can all share our knowledge and opinions and learn from each other!

Suzanne, you put into words what I was thinking - to come away from a show with inspiration on how to improve what I am doing with my quilting is the goal. I just want to be better at what I am doing because I love what I do!

[Corey]

Suzanne,

Thank you, you penned what's in my heart to express, after all, we become the quilters that we are now because of those trailblazers.

I learned a lot about professional judges when I volunteered in a quilt judging room.

Viewing quilts in big shows is always a treat, we go home inspired and create what we really like and love, to express the picture only you, the quilter could paint.

Corey

[Ferret]

Originally posted by sewlinzi

Still waiting for it to be my turn for a quilt show win

Your time will come, you've been doing a lot of non competition work which makes things trickier. To be honest the yurt has probably been better publicity than a show win anyway.

Ferret