Twice in one day?

I’m not sure I have ever posted twice in one day. But, after reading Barb’s  (Fun with Barb) post for today I felt I needed to share something to my fellow quilters. I hope I don’t blather on too much, better get something to drink.

One of favorite shows is Quilter’s Gathering which is now located in Manchester, NH. I love the fact that it still has quite a few hand quilted entries, but also has lots of modern and pictorial quilts. A really good mix. I usually go with friends and we have a super time. It is only 3 hours from home, but for some reason this year, I just didn’t make it over there. So, I was surprised to see not one, but two ribbons in the box when my quilts came back.

Thanks Judie (over 600 different Judie Rothermel prints in this quilt) won a second place for hand quilting.

Stone Soup (a potholder quilt that I started in 2012 but hope to add to soon) won a third place ribbon for color compatibility

Quilter’s Gathering doesn’t send you judge’s comments (although I think they have in the past) so I can’t tell you what the judge(s) were thinking. These are in no way my best quilts but just fun little pieces to make and I love sharing them with others.

And hereby lies my reason for this post. Barb was surprised a bit by one of the comments the judges gave her about the binding on her stunning Jubilee quilt. I was thankful she shared these comments with all of us as it allows us to learn how others feel about our work.  This was my comment on her post:

Hmm, where to begin? I don't like to make truly negative comments about judges and judging otherwise, why would I even enter quilt competitions? I enter to share my quilts and learn from the comments and from viewers. That being said, it is perplexing to get these kind of comments about bindings. I used to be marked down every time for using straight binding. That doesn't happen as much now and I'm wondering if they have finally figured out (in judge school) that bias binding is really a 20th century thing. 99% of the antique quilts we see here in NE have a straight binding and often with only 3 mitered corners - it starts on a straight edge like yours. So maybe they are learning. It is one area that I am not going to change so I guess I'll never win the big Kahuna award! I love your dolly quilt! And thank you so much for moving those scraps along. I'm sure the winner will appreciate them.

So what I really want to say here is don’t be afraid to enter your quilt in a show just because you may get a negative comment. I love to see ALL quilts in shows. I love getting ribbons and awards, but I can TRULY say that my main reason for entering shows is to share my quilts with other people.

Please check out Barb’s quilt (here) as it is absolutely beautiful.

And go enter a quilt.