On the other side of the table!!

As I mentioned on the weekend, I spent 2 days helping to judge the quilts at the Georgia National Fair.

There were 6 judges…..

…and it quickly became obvious that we had our work cut out for us!!!

We first judged a practice quilt and were put into teams based on the scores that we came up with. This was one of the hardest things to do because we three new judges really had no idea what we were doing!!!

I was teamed with my friend Deb which was just fine with me!! I knew that she and I would work well together!! Each team was sent to their table which held approximately 85 quilts that we were to judge!!

It was a slow start, but I finally got the hang of how to judge the quilt and assign the score. After that happened, I started to enjoy myself!!!

It was fun to see the quilts “up close and personal” and to see the amazing creativity that exists in the quilting world.

It was also eye-opening to view the quilts from the “other side of the table”…..ie from the judge’s viewpoint, and I learned SO many things that I need to watch for in my quilts!!

First of all, when I sew those long lines of blocks together or attach them to a sashing, it is so important that the seam be straight!! This can be done with accurate piecing and especially with a good ironing technique.

Next, I am bad about piecing with whatever thread is on my machine but it makes a huge difference if the thread matches the fabrics (or at least splits the difference with two contrasting fabrics). Note to self…..change the thread!!!

I also need to watch for dark fabrics shadowing thru light fabrics and showing on the top. This was particularly distracting!!

The one thing that was hard for me was to see the number of quilts that were quilted with an all-over pattern that didn’t particularly enhance the piecing. It re-invigorated my desire to encourage others to do their own custom quilting!!

I also realized how important good tension is when machine quilting. I tend to “not worry about it”, but that is going to change now!!

Finally, I realize that it is important to apply the binding straight so that the sides of the quilt don’t wave!!

Once we had all finished, it was time to select the superlative awards for the show…..

This was the first time that we had seen many of the quilts and it was fun to listen to why each team had awarded their particular score. A consensus was quickly attained and it was time to attach the ribbons…..

I did find a minute to snap a photo or two along the way…..

And the quilting on this one was amazing…..

A big SHOUT OUT needs to be given to the volunteers who helped during this entire process. They were taking in quilts and laying them out until 10pm the night before, but were back and smiling happily at 9:00am on the next two days. When we finished, we left the building and headed home but they were all still working hard getting all of the quilts stored until the hanging days.

It was an amazing experience and I hope that I get to go back again!!!

Now I can head to the studio to go make BETTER quilts!!!!

A New Adventure…..

Today I am off on a new adventure to help judge the quilts for the Georgia National Fair!!!

I am super excited and pretty nervous too!!

They use a checksheet scoring which should make it a bit easier and, hopefully, after the first 10 or so quilts, I will feel more comfortable with it!!

I have a long history with fairs!!

In Abilene, Texas (where I grew up), my favorite part of fall was the West Texas Fair. We would be released from school early on the first Tuesday of the fair and given free tickets so that we could attend!!

It was such fun to walk thru all of the pavillions, pick up free goodies from the advertisers, stroll thru the homemaking tent where the crafts and bake goods were housed, and then finally visit the barns. My Dad LOVED the barns so we spent an inordinate amount of time there….but it was fun to smell the farm fragrances and see the beautiful animals.

And then there were the rides!!! It is sad how much faith we put into rides that were hastily built and seldom repaired, but it is fun to remember the screams of joy as we whirled thru the air. Since I was an only child, Mom and Dad would often let me bring a friend, but if I was there by myself, I could always count on my Dad to climb on the ride with me!!

Back in 1971, I knitted a pair of houseshoes for a Girl Scout project and entered them in the fair. Naturally, my Mom kept all of the documentation and apparently, I won a Second Place ribbon…..

When my Mom returned to quilting in 1976, she immediately started winning ribbons at the West Texas Fair and she was SO proud of them.

In later years, she even helped to judge the entries…I guess that nut didn’t fall far from the tree!!

Her last entry in the fair was a quilt that she and I had made together…..

She had hand appliqued all of the amazing flower blocks and was just going to put some borders on it and call it done. I asked her if I could finish up the quilt and she happily acquiesced!!

She was SOOO excited that it won first place that year in the Applique division and I even have the ribbon that I purloined from her house…..

So Fairs seem to run in my blood.

I’ll let you know how this weekend turns out!!!

WARNING….Judge in training (maybe)

From the first time that I helped in the show judging room I was enamored with the process and wondered if I would enjoy being a judge. The judge at our guild show told me about a two day seminar that was designed to give you basic information about judging and about the certification process. When I heard that it was being held in Atlanta (just over an hour away) I knew that this was my opportunity!!!

The seminar was held in conjunction with the East Cobb Quilt Guild show, “Georgia Celebrates Quilts”. Since I had to be at the venue early on Sunday morning to deliver the quilts that I had entered, I contacted the person in charge of receiving and judging and asked if I could help during the morning. She jumped at the prospect of having another volunteer so I happily joined the throng of women receiving the quilts and preparing them for judging. It was interesting to see the process that they used and see how it differed from the one that our guild uses.

I was also excited to be allowed to remain in the judging rooms as an observer. This show is half again as large as our show and was being judged by TWO judges which made things even more interesting.

The two judges were Scott Murkin and Cindy Erickson. I had seen them both judge our show over the years but it was fun to see them work together…..

In the categories with fewer quilts, they judged separately but the larger categories were split and each judged half of the entries, holding out the quilts that they deemed to be the best. Then they convened and selected the ribbon winners from the ones that had been held. I had never seen this process and found it extremely interesting to see how they worked together as a team.

Then, on Monday and Tuesday, I attended the initial Judge Training seminar. It was a VERY interesting two days as we discussed various aspects of the judging process….from preparation of contracts to handling special situations that arise in the judging room.

When we first started looking at the quilts and making judgements on them, it was hard to think about what you might say about each quilt but as we looked at more and more quilts, it became easier to see and verbalize what you were seeing. Much of the discussion centered around ways to make constructive, helpful comments rather than comments that would just discourage the quilt maker.

IF I go ahead with the process it will take 3 to 4 years to complete the training. The jury is still out on that right now (pun NOT intended but it works anyway!!!)……

So, how do I look in black????

cartoon judge drawing royalty free vintage drawing gerichtssaal stock images photos

Feeling Judged

This is one of those posts where I feel like I need to re-introduce myself….it has been far too long since I have posted anything.

There are several reasons for my absence including being super busy at work and preparing for my guild’s quilt show. We are also struggling with some family health issues at the moment. My husband has been diagnosed with Metastatic Melanoma which has included two surgeries in the last two months and now we are waiting to hear results of a Lymph node test to determine if additional surgeries will be required. News like that really manages to slow life down to a crawl!!

There have been some fun times in the past two months, including our guild quilt show. The quality of work in our show was wonderful and it was so inspiring to spend 3 days looking at these examples of fine quilting. I will post photos from the show in the next week….I promise!!!

I was interested in the Judge’s comments about my entries…..

I was surprised that this piece received a 2nd place ribbon in the “Wall Quilt – Applique” division…..

I am NOT known for my hand work so was excited that this was received well. The Judge felt that the small yellow border did a good job of suggesting a light source and the shadows on the table encourage that idea. I REALLY wish that I had done it for that reason, but sometimes serendipity knows better!!! She did comment that the points of my petals could be more precise and I totally agree with that comment.

The other quilt that received an award was my pineapple quilt….an Honorable Mention in “Bed Quilt – Pieced”…..

She liked the color flow and the use of the yellow in the pineapple corners but felt that the yellow border was too intense. I hadn’t really thought about it, but now that I look at the quilt further, I can see what she means!!

For this quilt…..

….she liked the lettering, the reduced Chroma in the photo and the focal point of the quilt, but noted that the photo could have been sharper. I agree with this assessment but had just used the photo that had been given to me. Next time I need to play with it more and see if I can use Photoshop to sharpen it up!!

She didn’t like much about this quilt…..

….saying that the fused edges were too frayed and that it was hard to read the landscape with the similar values. I sort of agree with the value comment but I also like that it is a nighttime scene with the light seemingly coming from the buds on the tree.

I fully agreed with one of the comments about this quilt…..

One of her first comments was that the perspective wasn’t quite right. I felt this as well, wishing that I had made the windmill shorter and wider. BUT, the exciting thing for me about this quilt was that I did almost all of it freehand and without a pattern and am just happy that it didn’t turn out looking like a Picasso!!! She also felt like the eye was drawn too much to the flowers. I dont know if I agree with that but am actually quite happy if your eyes go there first!!

Probably my biggest disappointment were the comments on the Himalayan quilt….

….but after I thought about them more, I can actually agree. She commented that the top part of the quilt was more effective than the lower part because of the value differences in the mountains. She liked the flags, but didn’t like the lack of value contrast between the monument and the grass, and this is what I agree with. I remember when I placed the monument on the finished background that I was concerned about this. However, in my rush to finish the quilt, I didn’t listen to that niggily voice telling me to FIX IT!!!

So now I am trying to decide if I want to try to fix it or leave it the way it is. I know that I could use some paint to darken the monument but I am afraid that I will have to get it REALLY dark to have enough contrast from the grass. So instead, I am trying to think of a way to lighten the grass….maybe sponge a creamy, yellowy brown paint over the green fabric, especially directly around the monument. I am also sure that I want to add some shading to the “steeple” and also to the inside side of the monument.

Now I just have to work up my courage and tackle it with a sponge and some paint….maybe I will wait for a while!!!

It was interesting to hear people’s comments about the quilt at the show. Many had no idea what it was and couldn’t figure out why there was “washing hanging on the line” or “flowers inside the brick oven”!!!

I did buy an interesting book…..

She starts with plain white fabric, adds layers of textured fabrics, paints those fabrics to create a background and then thread paints over them. I LOVE the texture and am anxious to try this technique!!!

One of our vendors presented an interesting method of using Derwent Paint Sticks…..

He would shave the sticks into a small jar, add some Aloe vera gel….

and mix it to form a paint consistency. He said that using the gel helped to control the bleeding of the paint that you often get when you add water to it. Again, I am looking forward to playing with this!!!

OK….I have done my duty and caught you up for now. Hopefully there will be more to come soon!!!

Judging!!!!

On Thursday and Friday I was part of the judging process for our local guild show, which happens at the end of this week. Since I am the Co-Chair for the show, I am REALLY looking forward to it…..and to it being over!!

Our judge was an NQA (National Quilting Association) certified judge named Mary Walter. She was personable, wonderful to work with and a font of information!!

The judging process went this way…..

All quilts for an individual category are laid out on top of one another on a huge table. They are then folded back in half so that the backs are showing.

Once the judge has read the description for the category, the quilts are “fanned” by unfolding each one quickly back onto the table.

This process gives the judge a quick view of all of the items that she will be judging in that category.

She then looks at each quilt individually, starting out by looking at the quilt as a whole, commenting on the design, including fabric selection, color coordination etc.

She also studies the quilt up close and comments on the technical aspects of each quilt, including quality of piecing, applique, quilting, etc.

As she comments, the scribes write down what she says. These results sheets are given to the quilter at the end of the show….

After she finishes with a quilt, she will do one of three things……

– release the quilt which means that it is not in the running for a ribbon

– hold the quilt for the category which means that it “might” get a ribbon

– hold the quilt for one of the special awards (Best Quilting, Judges Choice, etc).

Now comes the fun part….. after she goes thru all of the quilts in the category, the “holds” are returned to the table, and as you can see, EVERYBODY in the room gathers around to hear her choices. At this point, she may release additional quilts until she has narrowed it down to the number of ribbons, or she may just immediately select 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.

As you can see, it is not always an easy choice!!!!!

Bottom line, it was an exciting 2 days!!!!