Two gals at the Spring Quilt Shows
Those Curlewis Quilters, Good ol' Merle and Miss Shirl, have been touring the recent Spring Quilt Shows . . . .
Shirl : OOooooo, I like that one . . .
Merle (muttering) : . . no surprises there . .
. . . . . Shirl . . . doesnt matter whether you like it, does it fit the criteria?
Shirl : Par. Don. mwa?
Merle : Criteria. Judging criteria. An informative list of pointers that will help steer a Judge
towards a winning quilt.
Just look at this Mariners Compass quilt Shirl, and do try to use a more critical eye.
Shirl : Hmmmmm . . . I suppose the seams are a bit wonky ..
Merle : Exactly. Any more wonky and we'd be seasick.
And here's some other criteria to think about . . The Judges are looking for all
techniques to be faultless. Piecing, Applique . . . just look at this quilting . . not
enough on the borders compared with the body . . . see . . it doesn't hang straight!
Shirl : Gosh, didn't notice.
Merle : And then there's colour and design: all sorts of arty criteria, and even, is the quilt
entered into the correct category!
Shirl : Hell Merle, Curlewis one week, Houston the next . . . how do you know all this?
Merle : The August Guild Meeting. Super presentation by some members who are Judges.
Got us all thinking. Even had to do some pretend judging.
Told you to come.
Shirl : Sorry . . . sorry! . . . what else did you learn?
Merle : Well, Judges apparently give low marks to quilts with any stains: they get
sidetracked by stray threads, stray pins, pencil lines, careless sleeves, and,
especially . . low and behold if your binding is buckling, bulging, bursting
or anorexic! And you'd better make sure there's no shadowing, no stretching,
no inappropriate thread colours, no points cut off, no sports logos, no fading, no
colour running, no puckering, no lipstick, blood spots and . . . no fluff!
Shirl : "Fluff"! . . Fluff ? . . But I've seen Art Quilts with more fluff than Bruce's nosstraws!
Merle : SHIRL! I think you mean "Mixed Techniques" . . . see . . wrong category.
What they mean is, keep Minxy off your quilt.
Shirl : Oooo yes . . . I know that catoffstrophe . . .
Apparently there was a Judge who had an Anna Flattery action to cat fur on a quilt
. . ghastly . . . . died, didnt she?
Merle : Shhh . . Shirl, you're a shocker . . that is SUCH an urban myth . .
Seriously, you must come to the next Guild Meeting on Saturday, and use proper
Judging Criteria to cast a 'Viewers Choice' in the Hexy Challenge.
Shirl : But what if I don't like any of them?
Merle : You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?
. . . . C'mon . . time to find the tea and scones.
© 2013 Guild Blog Editor
1 comment:
I had a chuckle when I read this, but then I thought, when did we as quilters become so obsessed with perfection. I make quilts for the sheer enjoyment of creating something beautiful and if all my points aren't sharp and some of the seams don't quite meet, it is still a beautiful quilt.
When I go to a quilt show, I go to admire and be inspired by all the quilts, some may not be to my taste but I can appreciate the hard work that has gone into creating them, and I don't really care if the seams sometimes don't match up exactly or the points aren't totally sharp.
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