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| 42 Minis |
42 Minis:
Award 2nd
Visual Impact--very good.
Design--good; theme well carried through with a good variety of blocks.
Construction--good; corners of all blocks should be ninety degrees.
Quilting--good; variety of quilting designs create good visual interest and texture.
Finishing--very good; Red patch in center right side has a raw edge that should be secured.
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| Totally Hexed |
Award 1st
Visual Impact--good; embellishments and other stitched details contribute greatly to make each block complete.
Design--very good; creative use of hexies.
Construction--good; piecing well done.
Quilting--good; circular quilting designs in border contrast well with straight line quilting in center.
Finishing--very good; outside quilt edges should be straight. Very good binding application.
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| Winter Ice |
Award 1st and Best Machine Quilting
Visual Impact--very good
Design--very good; border quilting design frames quilt beautifully
Construction--excellent
Quilting--excellent; great choice of fabric and thread colors to showcase quilting designs.
Finishing--excellent
All in all, great comments. I'm happy for the feedback about the raw edge that wasn't secured. I sure didn't see it. If there is a way to keep the outside edges of the quilt straight, I'd like to know what it is. I have blocked the quilt. I have used a non stretch tape to stitch under the binding so the edges would be straight.
When I was quilting Winter Ice, my 790 Bernina, "Joie," had a hiccup and needed a spa treatment which lasted a couple weeks because she needed a part. I quilted the middle section of the quilt on "Bernie", my 1630! To have won an award was amazing. To win the Machine Quilting award, especially since the project was quilted on two different machines, was totally unbelievable!!! I guess my tension and stitching is more consistent than I give myself credit!
What would help me though, is to know what excellent in each of those categories is or looks like. If I don't know how can I strive to get there? Or, if I received a good comment, what does excellent look like?
10 comments:
Whew...that is a lot of work in those three 'big' quilts! Everything about winter ice is excellent. I love everything about that quilt. Thank you for sharing the comments from the judges.
Thank you, JoJo! Who knew that the quilting would add so much interest to the quilt by the time that I was finished! (Not me!)
Feedback is good though I do think the edges look straight. Great quilts
Wendy
Thanks for sharing the comments, Terry! Thinking about that "edges straight" comment, I notice that Totally Hexed is not hung well, it is a little gathered at the top, and I wonder if that was part of the issue. But I see the edges are perfectly straight on Winter Ice, so I also wonder if it is a question of fabric quality, and maybe the orange, or the back on the orange, has stretched.
But don't let it cloud your achievement! Four ribbons is a very good haul indeed. :D
Wonderful quilts! Thanks so much for sharing the judges' comments with us!! A lot of the judging is subjective, so it can be hard to say what the difference is between "good" and "excellent." But knowing that the judges felt there could be improvement (they could be wrong), that gives you something to look at in other quilts and see how others are doing things in case that can help you make improvements. When you get to these shows, there are so many incredible quilts like yours that the judges have to be extremely nit-picky to have any chance of picking winners!
Thanks, Wendy. If I hung the quilt up. . .or had the space to lay it on the floor, I might see the edges that aren't straight.
Monica, there could be something to your comment about fabric quality as all the fabrics in Winter Ice are batiks and just the orange border is a batik. Hm m m . . .I'll have to keep that comment in mind! Thanks!
Thanks, Nancy. I'm thinking that too about the judging being subjective. I just wish that I could be present during the judging--not to hear comments about my quilts; but, just comments in general as I think that would help me distinguish what is good and excellent!
Terry, What wonderful quilts, and they got ribbons! Judges normally have very little time to spend on each quilt. One thing I do about the edges and corners just before I send a quilt out is to pin it to my June Tailor Cushioned Quilters Square and Blocker ironing board all squared up and give it a shot of steam, carrying it out across the part of the quilt on the board. Let it cool and move it to a new edge or corner spot. Do this until you get it all steamed square. Even if you block your quilts, they sometimes get a little out of square from damp weather or something. Also, make positively sure your rod pocket is truly straight with the top of the quilt. I learned these two things the hard way...used to get just the same kinds of judge's comments. I've even been known to take the binding off and redo it. I would say I spend more time making my quilts square and straight now than I ever did in the past, and I thought they were in the past...LOL...I used to fuss and fume over such comments. Now I usually get fully wonderful comments and seldom get a good ribbon. That's my puzzle. I think sometimes they just like a quilt better than another as a matter of personal taste, so sometimes the comments reflect that. Tensions and bindings are the places I used to get the most critical comments, and that seldom happens now. Now, I just don't get the ribbons even with great comments. Go figure. LOL
Betty Jo, what a great thought about blocking a section of the quilt at a time! I don't know either just what it is that the judges like enough to award a ribbon to one quilt and not another when they seem similar to me! I guess we just keep making our art and please ourselves! :)
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