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A while back I shared the sad news of my dear friend Evelyn’s passing. I enjoyed sharing stories of the fun we’ve had together over the years. If you’re new to my blog and you missed that post, please click here (when you go there you may have a deja vu moment because that previous post begins with this same photo 😊)

In February Evelyn’s daughter Gwen contacted me with the news of Evelyn’s passing, and we’ve been in sweet communication since then. Gwen asked me if I wanted any of Evelyn’s quilts, and she graciously offered to let me keep the quilt Evelyn and I made together ~ Intragalactic Journey (aka Out of the Bathtub). What a generous and wonderful gift!

Shortly after that conversation she texted me to ask if I’d like Evelyn’s collection of Quilt Sissies (a quilter’s version of Flat Stanley). I immediately said “yes”. In that previous post I shared the story of Evelyn’s Quiltilly and my Quiltina. After the ransom note adventure Evelyn made a second doll, and then she inherited her sister Hazel’s Quiltzilla when Hazel passed away. No one else would appreciate them like I would, and it was an exciting day when they arrived at my home.

As soon as the box was opened I took them down to my studio to be reacquainted with my Quiltina. They were so happy to see each other, and began playing around my sewing machine.

This quilters doll thing is contagious (and maybe getting a bit out of hand 🤣), but the story continues. Last year my friend Lori met Quiltina in Paducah. This year her own version, Scrappy Flat Florence, joined us. The two dolls became fast friends. After our lunch at Flamingo Row this year

Flat Florence (on the left) went missing. Lori searched our quarters to no avail. What a relief to find her hiding in one of Lori’s class bags at the convention center the following day.

 

 So much silly fun! And I thought this post would end here, but as I was packing up to teach in Janesville last week they all snuck into my suitcase. I had a wonderful time with this delightful guild, and the dolls were a big help while setting up for my lecture (just see if you can spot all 4).

And, as always, Evelyn’s Quiltilly kept clowning around:

But it is fun to have them travel with me.

They are a wonderful gift, and a fun way to keep Evelyn’s memory alive. I know she would love it!

PS The jacket I made with Evelyn for my trip to Japan (and posted about previously) has gone missing. I’m not sure where I left it, but it may have been when I shared my “Gone to the Dark Side” lecture in Endeavor, WI. If anyone has seen it please let me know.

For years I taught a class I called Spinstar. It was my version of a “Stack and Whack” pattern, and it was very popular.

Then my friend Ruth showed the Fiberistas how to make a different version of Stack and Whack called One Block Wonder, and ever since I’ve been hooked on making these fun blocks. In fact, one of my recent quilts was made for my friend’s new little one, Nathan (click here to read about that quilt). A few weeks ago I got to meet him and give him his quilt and book.

The technique Ruth taught for fussy cutting the triangles worked quite well. I decided to use it for a Spinstar baby quilt I’m currently making. It’s for my cousin’s daughter who’s expecting in June. The theme is woodland creatures. So, a few weeks ago, while on a trip to Portage, WI to visit our accountant, we stopped at the Welcome Home Sewing Center.

I posted about this great quilt shop in Portage last year (click here for that post), and I knew I wanted to return.

Diane and her staff are delightful! And her fabric selection is great. They were having a 10% off all fabrics sale while we were there plus ~ they had a special offer going on that is uniquely their own. It’s called “crack the wrap”. If you find a bolt you like that hasn’t been unwrapped yet. They will crack the plastic wrap and give you a discount depending on how many yards you buy. I couldn’t resist purchasing 3 yards of a beautiful turquoise floral, and I got a fourth yard free! What a wonderful deal!

I also found a sweet woodland animal print for the baby quilt, and some nice coordinating fabrics to go with it. None of these were in the wrapping, but two of them were the end of the bolt so I got 15% off! WooHoo!

My favorite part of making the spinstar blocks is laying out the identical triangle stacks to see the patterns they create.

By laying some of them on the different background fabrics I could determine which one to use.

Mike and I both preferred the blue. I began sewing the blocks together and was having trouble getting my seam allowance to be even. I don’t know if you’ve experienced this, but I’ve had it happen before and I remembered what to do. I’d been stitching something that required my open toe presser foot, but when I went back to precision piecing I needed to put the basic closed toe foot back on. That did the trick!

I finished the quilt in time for the shower, and I was pleased with the results.

I even found a sweet book to go with it at a Ladies Retreat I recently attended. The author had a table there, and I couldn’t resist her stories that teach lessons from the Bible!

I wrapped it all up and gifted it to Kirstin at her shower. Shortly thereafter she sent me this photograph of Arthur’s room:

I think she liked it 😊! I can’t wait to meet this new little one!

A few months back I posted about the book I purchased from Carla Klop while at her shop in Florida (click here to read that post). I was intrigued by her techniques, especially the one for Hunters star. I’ve made quite a few Hunters Star quilts using Deb Tucker’s technique, and even taught classes on it.

But this method looked even easier. So, I tried Carla’s way and was pleased. While in Birmingham England last August, I purchased a piece of fabric with VW buses on it. Our daughter-in-law likes them, so when I saw this fabric I couldn’t resist buying it, and the dark turquoise pin-dot to go with it.

I grabbed the rest of the fabrics from my stash, and jumped in. Carla’s way is to make framed square blocks, and then cut them three times diagonally (this shows the first 2 cuts):

The narrow middle units then have a triangle of the central square fabric added to them to make a larger triangle. This is repeated in a different colorway, and one of each of the resulting larger triangles are sewn together to make the hunters star block.

The leftover pieces make a fun border. If you want to try Carla’s technique for yourself, I highly recommend her book! She includes all the measurements to make them in many, many different sizes (click here to link to her site).

I loved making the blocks, but there was a problem. I ran out of the yellow dot fabrics (ugh).

So ~ I had to go shopping. Once I had additional coordinating fabric I took it along to Paducah and made more blocks. While there I decided I wanted to do something “outside of the box” with my new collection of blocks and VW bus fabric, but what?!? I had the start of an idea and laid it out on the floor in our flat in Paducah.

As I was making these blocks I realized my rotary blade needed changing (why do we wait so long?!) When I opened the container I discovered that I was down to the last of the ten blade pack, and the oil that the blades come covered with had turned to goo! I’d brought my Magna-dots™, so I placed the blade on the table and rubbed off the old oil with some fresh sewing machine oil on a swab.

The “now clean” blade was put into the handle and it worked great! I hope you found this tip helpful.

I must admit I didn’t have much time for stitching while in Paducah this year, with all the excitement of the show ~ and teaching. I wish I’d taken more photos of my classes, but I’m grateful to have snapped this one. All the students were such a joy!

Along with that pic, I found a few additional photos from the show that might interest you. Here are some I took after we’d taken down the quilts, and helped to roll the art quilts for shipping. These are views most people don’t get to see 😊. The first photo is of the miniatures we had the privilege of pinning into the cases:

And this is how it looked after the show. The quilts are out of the cases and boxed to ship home:

And the curtains are empty.

The show certainly comes down a lot faster than it goes up! And now for two parting images. The first is of a quilter wearing a different version of patch pants from the ones I made for my granddaughter (click here for that post).

And a closing image of Etcetera bubble tea.

Can’t wait for next year!

The quilts in Paducah were amazing! And you can view the top prize winners on the AQS website. They’ve shared most of the other winning quilts on their Facebook page as well. Each year, I like to share my favorites here ~ whether they won a ribbon or not 😊.

That being said, “A February’s Dream of Spring” by Laurie Tigner won the Best of Show. It is truly beautiful, but what I enjoyed the most was talking with Laurie about the making of her quilt. She is a sweet and very talented lady, and I enjoyed our conversation.

As I walked past this next quilt I heard Holly Lee Wilson say: “every time you finish a quilt you’re a winner!” She was standing next to her quilt “Richard’s Star”. I love her attitude!

It’s always special when the maker is there to talk about their quilt, especially since AQS no longer prints their stories in the show book. I had taken a photo of Kathy Tolbert’s quilt “Our Code” on a previous walk through. This time she was there and she said that her husband is a ham radio operator, and the colorful design in her quilt is Morse code for the lyrics to Ronnie Milsap’s song “Let’s Take the Long Way Around the World”. Wow – who knew Morse code could be so attractive?!?

There were quite a few pictorial quilts that captivated me. “City of Saints” by Jaimie Davis in fascinating. She put many famous structures from around the world together. From Big Ben to Neuschwanstein Castle, they can all now be found in one place!

“Path of Silence” by Mimi Ghaun-Young is a quiet “slice of place” (my words). I often am drawn to quilts like this, and her shading is spot on.

I loved the colors and design of “The Turning of the Wheel” by Pamela Trantham. Her attention to detail is delightful. Who would have thought to make each border different?

I found “Cabin on the Beach” by Mindy Skinner very interesting. Her log cabin blocks are made up of soft hues that wash together so gently that the overall petal quilting design almost overpowers the piecing. What a lovely effect.

“Melodeon” by Besty Vinegrad also used a creative effect. This time the overall look of the quilt is 3D because the values of the fabrics were changed in each visual column. Well done!

“LifeV” by Noriko Misawa created what I would call a broken line illusion by heavily quilting everything but the dark lines that “fracture” the quilt.

At first glance I thought “Kiwi Peel” by Ben Darby was just an orange peel quilt made up of solid colors. Then I realized that each arced piece was different from the others. So interesting.

Another quilt that used asymmetry and embroidery in a fascinating way was “Spring Dawn” by Yuko Murkami.

“Take a Bow” by Leslie Swearinger made me take a second look. What do you see? If you look closely it’s a ballerina with a 3D bun in her hair 🤔.

“Midnight Magic” by Joanne Baeth was very deserving of this ribbon. I had to get up close to discover the reflections were made with paint.

“Forest For the Trees” by Jane Zillmer is another quilt with amazing attention to detail.

“Blooming Bright” is a beautiful floral quilt by Pat Durbin. I don’t think she’s ever made a quilt I didn’t admire.

And of course there were many amazing traditional quilts. This was my favorite ~ “Bird in a Cherry Tree” by Rebecca Collis. Everything was done very well done.

The design and workmanship was so lovely on the quilt above. “Wild Rose” by Noriko Kido was just as well done, but veered a bit from the traditional in Noriko’s choice of background color. I loved it!

Arcadia Avenue by Clara Cartwright is a fun hexagon sampler that only uses solid fabrics!

And now for something completely different. I think “Retro Living” by Tami Graeber was one of my favorites. It is big – 91″ x 66″ – and such fun, especially if you lived during that time (my in-laws had that couch 🤣).

And just look at the fun color play in “Scrap Maze” by Anthony Bowman.

“Millefleur” by Jan Hutchinson is one of the most amazing whole cloth quilts I’ve seen ~ yes ~ whole cloth! The dark green fabric is covered with a myriad of colorful threads. Beautiful!

This whole cloth quilt with a very different feel was made by my friend Diana Fox. She dyed the background for “Deep Space Nebula”, and then covered it with spectacular free motion stitching.

Last year I stumbled into an art studio in Paducah and met 3 very talented artists (click here for that story). Diana was one of them. I found it again this year, and it was fun to get reacquainted with Diana, Beth and Donalee. They made a quilt together and entered it in this year’s show. It’s called “Whirling Dervish”, and they won a ribbon in the group quilt category. Congratulations ladies!

And now I’ll leave you with a smile. “Happiness” is a triptych by Kathy McNeil, and it is delightful!

What wonderful quilts!!!

We knew we had arrived last Sunday night when we drove over the Ohio River on the “flying geese” bridges.

The weather, the trees, and the singing birds were all beautiful.

The next morning Lori and I decided to take our teaching stuff over to the teacher’s room at the convention center for safe keeping until our classes began. The problem was ~ all 23 gates were in the flood wall because the water had been high. It’s been over 14 years since the show had to be moved at the last minute because the flood gates were put up (click here to read that post). You see ~ the quilt show is held at the Bill and Meredith Schroeder Convention Center which is on the wrong side of the flood wall!!!

The river was low enough at this point to have the show there, so we had to drive all the way around to the high end of the wall to get in. It would have been awful if all the traffic to the show had to get in this way. But AQS was working on it. So we unloaded our stuff and got it moved in.

Jeanette, Lori and I returned a few hours later to start hanging the quilts and pinning the miniatures into their cases. It was great fun as always, and it was especially delightful this year because Lori had three quilts in the show! Congrats dear friend.

We began by pinning the miniature quilts into their cases.

Then we finished helping to hang the small wall quilts. It was so exciting to see these wonderful works of art up close.

The next day, the day before the show opened, the city removed the four flood gates directly around the convention center. Hooray!

I was able to walk down by the river and, although it was high (just look at the trees “standing” in the water), the water was low enough to allow for these gates to be removed. What a blessing.

This also was the day that the newest mural to be painted on the inside of the flood wall was revealed. The mural project began in 2017 with Carol Bryer Fallert Gentry’s quilt “Corona II: Solar Eclipse” being the first one painted on the wall. The flag quilt on the far left, made by Melinda Bula was added a few years ago, and this year “The Cheyenne Has Been Closed” by Ian Berry was revealed.

Here it is close up. Ian’s work is all done using recycled denim clothing and glue – it’s not actually stitched (and of course this is a painted rendition of his work).

It is amazing! I met Ian in 2018 when AQS put up an exhibit of his work at the Spring show. Please click here to visit his site. I promise you’ll be blown away.

After visiting the quilts and vendors at Carson Park, Lori and I introduced Jeanette to Flamingo Row. We had a yummy lunch. Quiltina and her friend Flat Frances (Lori’s scrappy companion) joined in on the fun.

The following day the show began. I have quite a few quilts I’d like to share with you from the show, but there isn’t room enough in this week’s post. So I’d like to share some insights into the exhibits at the National Quilt Museum this week, and fill next week’s post with my favorite show quilts.

The main gallery in the museum was filled with many prize winning quilts from previous years. It is always a wonderful trip down memory lane for me, since I’ve seen the winning quilts in Paducah every year for the past 34 years. The one that I loved revisiting this year was Escapade by Libby Lehman. It won a first place ribbon here in 1993, and she was the quilter who really introduced the quilt world to thread painting. WOW!

My favorite miniature of the ones on display was Dancing at Netherfield by Judy Day. I believe the hexagons are 1/2″, and many of them ~ plus some of the ladies dresses in the border ~ are fussy cut. Beautiful!

The side galleries featured the work of two amazing quilt artists. In one was a very impressive exhibit of a group of quilts by Victoria Findley Wolfe. The quilts were huge and visually stunning.

I actually met Victoria when I taught for the Empire Quilters in New York City way back in 2013. My friend Maggi Gordon had moved there and invited me to tour the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a friend of hers ~ and that friend was Victoria. I was hoping to reconnect with her, but alas, she wasn’t there when I was. However, I thoroughly enjoyed her breathtaking exhibit.

In the opposite gallery were the quilts of Caryl Bryer Fallert Gentry. Caryl has been my favorite quilter and teacher since I first laid eyes on Corona II. Since then I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to take many of her classes, and stay with her when she lived in Paducah. It was so nice to see her and her work.

I’d never seen her first quilt before. A rail fence made from many different types of fabric (This man studied the quilt for so long while I attempted to photograph it, that I decided it would be best to keep him in it 😊).

Her style has definitely changed. I wish I could show you all of her work, but you can search the net for much of it. Caryl was the one to introduce the quilt world to “out of the box” free motion quilting. Just look at the stitching on this quilt! What an innovative mind!

And I want to leave you with my favorite quilt in the AQS Paducah 2025 show, just to give you a taste of some of the fascinating pieces I’ll be sharing next week. This quilt won Viewer’s Choice in the large quilt categories. It was made by Lorelai Kuecker who just turned 16. She also made her dress.

She is sweet, articulate, incredibly talented, and she and has her own sewing and longarm business. Amazing! Click here to visit her site. I met her the first day of the show and was so impressed. She said her mom doesn’t quilt. The next day I ran into them together and couldn’t resist a photo. I’m so grateful to have met them both.

AQS Quilt Week Paducah is such a spectacular event, filled with so much creativity and inspiration. I can’t wait to share more next week!

I’m on my computer posting this week’s topic to my blog, as my friend Lori Dickman and I are driving to Paducah (don’t worry ~ she’s driving 😁). We know that it’s Easter Sunday, but we are both women of faith who celebrate the resurrection of our Savior every day in our hearts, so we will listen to our church services via LiveStream, and praise God together while we’re on our way!

And since we’re both teaching ~ the truck is packed full!

Once there we’ll meet up with our friend Jeanette, and Monday afternoon we’ll begin to hang the quilts at the AQS show. What a blessing! Last year I taught at the show, and this year Lori and I are both teaching classes. WooHoo! As I was preparing for Quilt Week I got to thinking that you might find some of my pre-trip craziness interesting.

Back in March I contacted Y.L.I. Thread to ask them about thread for the kits for my classes. They have generously provided thread for my students in the past. The response I got came from Bob Purcell. I knew that name!?! I remember attending a number of his talks on thread years ago. He was so knowledgeable and he shared that knowledge in a humorous and informative way. He and his wife owned Superior Threads at the time. Over the years I’d heard that they had retired and sold Superior Threads. So why was he at Y.L.I.? I did a bit of web surfing and discovered that his wife Heather passed away in 2022, and since then he purchased Y.L.I because he found retirement “boring”. His response to my email was very generous! He sent spools of Y.L.I. Elite thread for each of my students. What a blessing! I can’t wait to visit their booth at the show and thank him in person.

Please click here to visit the Y.L.I. website. The site also includes a “Thread Mastery Institute”, which contains thread tutorials that are very helpful. And if you’re going to the show, Y.L.I. has some special pricing in their booth. Here’s the flyer:

Sew ~ a week and a half ago, I started making the kits, and they require a lot of cutting. I wouldn’t want to do it without my Quilter’s Slidelock™ and my June Tailor Shape Cut ruler™.

Providing kits for classes allows the students to get right into the stitching without taking up class time for cutting. But it does take me a bit of time and effort. As I cut the pieces for my “Fall Into Repliqué” class I stack them in piles.

Each pile is then placed in a bag with handouts, and put in a bin ~ ready to go.

I’m not providing kits for my Beyond Meandering class, but I still have to pull the quilts I need as examples from my shelves and magic box.

Isn’t it interesting that I’ve pulled all the quilts I’ll need for ALL my classes, and yet it doesn’t look like anything is missing from my shelves. After 38 years of quilting one does acquire quite a collection 🤪.

I saved the Seminole Sampler kits for last because they require the most effort. I not only cut all the strips, but I arrange them in files according to each border we’ll be making to avoid confusion in class.

If you’ve taken this class from me you’ll probably remember that I’m a control freak about these kits. I take a lot of time combining the strips for each border we’ll be making, and I put them in the cases in order. And NO ONE is allowed to pull anything out until given permission to avoid confusion 😁!

Making the kits this way is worth it because it’s such a joy to see the students accomplish so much in a 3 hours.

On top of all that we’ll be setting up our kitchen studio at the B&B, so we need machines and supplies for that. It’s going to be a wonderful week! Thank you Lord!

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And one more bit of information for those of you heading to Paducah. Last year there was a wonderful additional area of quilts and vendors at Carson Park.

This venue is not walking distance to the show, and this year Paducah has discontinued the bus that ran out to Carson Park. I was saddened to hear that because it was a very nice stop, and I purchased some unique pieces there. So if you’re at the show, I hope you can find a way to visit this show. For more information click here!

I hope many of you got to see all the wonderful quilts at the Crazy Quilter’s show! The ones I saw I really enjoyed, but I was a bit disappointed the quilts were not all hung by the time I left because I knew I wasn’t able to return that weekend. The crew was doing a great job of hanging them, but after judging I was too tired to stay until the last quilt was hung. I did take photos of some of my favorites that were up – and they will give you just a small taste of the show. This first one was awarded my Judges Choice ribbon. Congratulations to Vicky Krause for American Quilter Quilt.

I have a soft spot in my heart for samplers. I also love America, so I fell in love with this beautiful quilt. I also really enjoyed this next sampler quilt with blocks in the trees. Both of these sampler quilts are so clever (sadly, I wasn’t able to read the maker’s name on the label from my photo of the tree quilt. If you are the maker or know who she/he is, please share their name in the comments).

I’m always intrigued by “Stack and Whack” style quilts in which the original fabric is cut into pieces and put back together in a kaleidoscope fashion. They really appeal to me. Rotating Flowers by Mary Pfeiffer is a pure delight! What a great use of that border print!

A little farther down the row I found my friend Debbie Hawver’s hydrangea quilt. It’s a One Block Wonder quilt made from panels, and she did a lovely job.

“Panels” was the show theme. So many of the interesting quilts entered were made from preprinted panels. It was fun to see the clever ways they were used. Endearing by Amy Stowlowski was bordered in a very appealing way. And don’t miss the scene printed in the back of the large dear.

Elephant Walk is a delightful crib quilt made up of reproduction fabrics (I must apologize to the maker once again as my photograph wasn’t clear enough to read the name). This sweet quilt made me smile.

Red and White All Over is a lovely two color quilt by Mary Thuillez. All aspects of it are done well, and it’s just so pretty.

Then I must admit that I marveled over both of these tree skirts for quite a while. I’m amazed at the beautiful designs which can be made on embroidery machines. Both of these talented ladies did a great job! The top one is Snowflakes Glisten by Kelley Draves. The second is Tree Skirt by Betty Butenhoff.

There were also a number of special exhibits in the hallways outside of the main show. The Crazy Quilters did a monochromatic group challenge this year in which the quilt could only be made from different values of their chosen color (no black, white or gray could be added). They were very well done.

It was an interesting contrast to the ThreadBender’s Achromatic challenge which was also hanging there. Our quilts could have no color, and here they are from both directions. Thanks for putting up our display Maryjo and Vicky!

As I stated ~ it was a wonderful show!

So, last week I did a bit of an essay on what quilt judges look for (in my opinion). While writing it a few things popped into my head. The final comment on each form at the Crazy Quilters show was labeled “Needs Improvement”. Years ago it was usually pretty easy to come up with a comment to place there. The past few years I’ve judged many quilts in which I struggle to find something that could have been done better. The makers accomplished what they set out to do! This is a good thing! But then the question arises ~ “why didn’t it get a ribbon”. That answer is often quite simple ~ The category had 30 quilts (for example) and only 4 ribbons could be awarded. That’s why I stated last week ~ enter your quilts so that others can see and enjoy them ~ not to win a ribbon 😁.

Also, I’m a teacher at heart. So when I make a “Needs Improvement” comment, there’s a part of me that often wants to suggest to the maker a tip or technique to make it better. Of course that’s not possible on the form, but I can’t resist including one short lesson in this post.

A common comment I’ve heard and used over the years is “binding should be full”. Do some of you wonder what that means? When a binding doesn’t have batt filling it to the edge, it can get a bit sloppy overtime and after multiple washings. Usually these bindings aren’t full because the maker stitched the binding to one side of the quilt and then wrapped it to the other side for the second stitching, lining up the folded edge of the binding with the previous stitching. If the binding strip wasn’t cut the correct width there will be a portion that is “empty”. The solution is to either cut the binding strip narrower, or fold it past the previous stitching even if it’s visually a little wider than the other side.

In this example I’ve cut my binding strip 3″ wide, and I’m sewing it to the front of the quilt and folding it around to the back. I’ve folded the binding strip in half to use as a double binding and I’ve stitched it to my sample quilt with a 3/8″ seam on the left, and a 1/2″ seam on the right (this view is of the back of the sample).

When the binding strip is folded over the edge of the quilt on the front, this is how it looks on the back. On the side with a 3/8″ seam there is more binding left to fold over the previous seam. The portion sewn on with a 1/2″ seam is just about equal.

In the samples below, the top shows the one sewn on with the 1/2″ seam. It folds tightly around the edge of the quilt and just covers the previous seam, leaving the binding full.

The bottom sample has to be folded beyond the previous stitching to fill the binding. This will make the binding wider on the back than on the front. The good news is that there is no reason why the binding has to be the same width front and back 😊 ~ so it’s an easy fix.

I hope this was helpful!

I’ve been asked this question often, and recently I’ve been thinking that it might be helpful to share some of my thoughts on this topic. Then I had the wonderful opportunity to judge the Crazy Quilters Show in Mukwonago last week, and it confirmed that this post’s time had come. I really enjoy judging this show each year. The guild members are delightful, and the quilts are always wonderful. But I must admit I think judging is the hardest job I do in the quilt world. It takes discipline to set aside a person’s personal likes and dislikes. I also really want to be an encouragement to everyone because, let’s face it, most of us put our hearts and souls into our quilts because we love to quilt!

I’d also like to preface this topic by encouraging all of you to enter competitions because YOU WANT to make a particular quilt and share it with others. I’ve found the ones I’ve made because I want to win a ribbon usually don’t do as well. That being said… here are some judging thoughts:

Most judges have been part of the quilt world long enough to know what makes a good quilt (and many have been certified to do the job 😊). You probably know many of these things too – the trick is for all of us to make them to the best of our ability, and grow in our skills with each one.

Typically the first thing judges look at is the overall appearance/design. In order to get a feel for the entries in a category we usually begin by having the quilts held up by volunteers to be viewed from a distance. This is easy for small quilts. Bed sized quilts are most often layered on tables, as in a bed turning, and the top half of each is held up, showing half of the quilt, then folded over forward, so the next can be held up. I have judged shows where all of the quilts are hung first and then they are judged hanging. Both ways have their pluses and minuses. In either case, I like to start with this overall viewing because it helps me get a feel for what’s in the category – sort of a preview of the competition. This also allows us to have a distance view for the overall “design” portion of the judging form, as we can see how the color, value and pattern all work together in each quilt. So what are we looking for?

Are the color and value of the fabrics well balanced?

Is there good visual impact? What’s the “wow” factor?

Are the main seam lines straight (at least the ones that are meant to be straight)?

Do all the components work well together?

Is the quilt so busy it’s difficult to see the pattern? or is this the look the maker was going for?

For this question we also need to keep in mind the intended use of the piece. If a wallhanging is very busy with “no place for the eye to rest”, it may get a “needs improvement” comment. But often a busy bed quilt works on the bed, even if it would be quite busy hanging on the wall. The bedskirt, carpet, etc often balance the busyness. This was something I’ve learned over the years (thanks Karen!)

I think you can see from this list that many of the questions are answered before the maker even begins if they are using a kit, or matching the fabrics precisely to the photo from a pattern or book. I find this part especially difficult when judging because I can’t be familiar with every pattern and kit available and, if you think about it, telling a quilter her value choices were great when a kit was used isn’t really a compliment to him/her 😊.

Next we look at the quilt “up close and personal” to assess the workmanship. This is often where we generate the “Needs Improvement” comments. We all strive to do our best and I think most of us, no matter how good we get, still have room for improvement (myself included). The basics come first:

Do seam intersections meet well?

Do pieced triangles have all their points, or were some “blunted” by seams or the binding?

Are appliquéd pieces stitched neatly and securely? Are curves smooth?

Does the quilt lay flat, with no “bubbles” in the middle or “wobbles” along the edge?

Are the corners square?

Are quilting stitches consistent in length (hand or machine)?

Is the tension good when machine quilted?

Please remember too that when there are a lot of quilts in a category, the judge looks even more closely at each of these things.

And then there’s bindings! Years ago it seems I put a “Needs Improvement” comment about the bindings on 75% of the quilts entered, but that has improved greatly over the years. I think many teachers, like myself, have made it a goal to teach good binding technique. But some less than perfect bindings still show up. It seems some quilters get tired of a project by the binding step and just slap something on so they can get on to their new and exciting next project. It really is worth the time to finish the quilt well!

I’ve found many of the judges comments I’ve received on my quilts to be helpful, but most of the time I already know what they’re going to say. We typically are aware of our own shortcomings 😁.

I’ve also found it a bit more difficult to judge in recent years because so many quilts are entered by the maker of the top, but quilted by someone else. So the question is – should the comments be more about the work the maker did in the design, piecing and appliqué, or should it be about the quilting if not done by the original maker? Ugh. Did I mention judging is not easy???

Lastly, I have been asked to judge challenges and contests too. These are not quilt shows and by nature are judged a bit differently. Typically these have a theme, and successfully accomplishing the theme should carry a great deal of weight compared to the other judging aspects. In most of these cases I’ve been asked to give the most weight to how well the theme and rules were carried out. Next, or equal to it, comes workmanship. The show committee gets to decide which aspects are the most important.

Since this post didn’t have many photos, I decided to have fun with this aspect of judging and share some very old challenge quilts from my past. This one is from 1992. It was a challenge at the Sun Prairie Quilt Show in which we were supposed to use the flag fabric (in the top banner and bottom ships) in a quilt that paid tribute to the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America. I decided to make a Miniature Patriotic Sampler, and was awarded a second place ribbon.

A few years later that same show’s challenge was to use a fabric printed with sewing machines in a small wall quilt. I came up with a quilter’s town I called “Pieceful”. The printed machines are used to make the buildings on main street, and also in the border corners. I really had fun with this one: the border is made up of “bolts” of fabric with sewing motifs, the telephone poles along the road are needles with metallic thread running between them, and the grass was inspired by Olfa cutting mats. I don’t remember it winning anything ~ but I had great fun making it.

In the late 90’s my quilt guild challenged us to make a quilt based on a nursery rhyme. I had saved some of the cute pockets from my daughter’s jeans. Perhaps I could fill them with posies (and other things) as in Ring Around the Rosie.

I’ve always loved challenges.

So now – to get back to the topic at hand – what’s the takeaway? A very wise quilt judge once told me it doesn’t depend as much on the degree of difficulty of a pattern or a technique – what matters is how well the maker accomplished what they set out to do. If a quilt is simple, but done to perfection, and another is very complex, but with points that don’t match, or quilting with bad tension, the one that did the different parts well may be deserving of the ribbon. But, when a person takes on a difficult pattern and nails it – that’s a ribbon winner!

At this point I’ve run out of room to share some specific thoughts and photos about the Crazy Quilters Show. Please stay tuned for next week’s post!