Have you ever been to a quilt show and looked at some of the quilts with ribbons on them and wondered, “Why does this quilt have a ribbon and that one doesn’t?” Well, I think most of us have. What goes on in the “judging room” is a big mystery to many quilters. Since I’ve been in a lot of judging rooms, both as a judge and as an aide, I’m going to try to de-mystify this issue for you.
This week I have a very special "Guest Blogger"; Kristen Vierra. Kris is a national and international award winning quilter from Lincoln, Nebraska. Her quilts have been featured in numerous magazines and displayed at quilt shows throughout the country. Kris' awards include thePfaff Master Award for Machine Artistry, BOS at NW Quilting Expo, and a number of best long arm quilting awards; several at AQS shows. She has a full-time longarm quilting business and enjoys teaching quilting and sharing her love of all things quilts.
I know you're going to love reading this blog from Kris, as it pertains to each and every one of us. So, without further ado, here is Kris' blog...
Have you ever noticed that quilt show judges sometimes get a bad rap? For some reason, many quilters have a preconceived notion that all quilt show judges are MEAN! Well, I’m here to dispel that notion and have an in depth discussion about quilt show judging and the people behind the scenes.
People ask me all the time, “How do you quilt such large quilts on a home sewing machine?” To them, the task seems overwhelming. But my standard answer to that question is, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!” And it’s the same concept for quilting a large quilt (or any quilt for that matter).
I’d have to venture a guess that there’s not a quilter in this country that hasn’t heard of the “Road to California” annual quilt show in Southern California. It takes place every January in Ontario, CA. I’ve attended a lot of the “big” shows, and this certainly ranks up there in the top 5 in the country, and is definitely #1 in the state of California.
I’ve been entering quilts at “Road” since 2002, and have some fun and interesting stories to share with you about those entries.