Oops, now that I look closely at the photo, I see that I missed the stitching around one of the black centers. I'll get that fixed before I take the block to Cathy tomorrow. Not whoop whoop worthy yet!
Quilt Show Judges' Comments
The Quintessential Quilt 2013 show is over and the quilts have been returned to their owners, along with the judges' comments. I like to see what the judges have to say because I can usually learn from them. One of the quilts I entered was Charmed Snowballs; here are the judges' comments for it:
| (+) = Excellent; (S) = Satisfactory; (-) = Needs improvement | |||
| Criteria | Judge #1 | Judge #2 | Judge #3 |
| Visual Impact | S+ | S | S |
| Original in design | S+ | + | S |
| Execution of chosen construction techniques | + | + | + |
| Appropriateness of quilting design | S | S | S |
| Execution of quilting technique | + | S | S |
| Use of Color | S+ | + | S |
| Balance of Design | S | S | S |
| Integration of all design elements | S | S | S |
| Overall Appearance | S+ | S | S |
| Most pleasing aspect of this quilt is: | |||
| Judge 1: Eclectic use of fabric | |||
| Judge 2: Variation of colors & patterns within the repetition of design | |||
| Judge 3: Black snowball fabric well chosen, makes quilt pop | |||
| An area needing improvement is: | |||
| Judge 1: A little more quilting? | |||
| Judge 2: More quilting in white area may have added interest | |||
| Judge 3: Shadowing of darker fabric to light "snowball." TRIM when piecing | |||
I'm surprised that they thought it was original in design since it's only the traditional snowball block. I appreciate the advice to trim away any show-through of a dark seam allowance behind a light fabric.
I'm kind of surprised that the judges wanted more quilting, especially in the white parts. The blocks are only 4-1/2". The straight line quilting forms an overall kaleidoscope pattern, which would be lost with more quilting in the white parts.
Charmed Snowballs
What do you think?
Have you ever had judges' comments from a quilt show? What was your reaction? Did you mostly agree or disagree? What did you learn?
I'd love to hear your thoughts - please share in the comments.
Congratulations Jan on your entry! Amazing feedback.....so loved the Charmed Square. Thank you for sharing the Judges feedback. Amazing how different people interpret what they like about quilts. I certainly would be happy with the amount of quilting on the white snowball. If you quilted more then the white would recede and the colour would come to the fore perhaps? It is all a matter of interpretation. I have never entered a quilt into a competition....well done you!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet quilt! I like that you can make it as scrappy as you want and still maintain the "snowball" look. I agree with your assessment of more quilting would have lost the kaleidoscope effect but it seems that there is a lot of extra quilting going on these days. I can't say I think it's needed all of the time! :-) I have entered only one quilt in a competition but it was online so was not judged in the traditional manner. I would like to get my act together in time to enter one because I would be interested in the judges' feedback. Thanks for sharing what you received!
ReplyDeleteoy! I've had so many judges comments that don't make sense. I believe comments are made often to justify who gets the prize more than making helpful suggestions. Your quilting is even across the top, it enhances the design, and more quilting would make the quilt stiffer, so one would have to be okay with that. There is a trend to over quilting. The only way you could add more would be to do double lines where you already quilted... and that's a design decision judges! I was taught to make quilting evenly spaced across the quilt. If you have a moment, please read my blogpost, Creativity Roadblocks on perfectionism and let me know what you think. I have a series on roadblocks, and that one came after judges comments riled me up!
ReplyDeleteLeeAnna Paylor at lapaylor.blogspot.com the blog is called Not Afraid of Color so you know we are kindred spirits!