It’s Winter here in NZ, so I’ll just start by describing the weather. Gross. Howling easterly wind, which blows straight in off the sea and moans in the chimney and makes me NOT want to go outside. Of course, that’s not great for my physical exercise and I also happen to have a puppy to look after at the moment. The more time he spends outside, the less chance he has to have an accident on the carpet, right? How many times a day should a nine week old puppy pee? He really seems to have an overactive bladder…

But enough of the weather and puppies. Let’s get into some quilt stuff. A few days ago I came back from judging the Canterbury Patchwork and Quilting Guild’s exhibition and, of course, I had a wonderful time while I was there.

It’s such an honour to be entrusted to judge a show. Quilters put their hearts and souls into creating their work and it takes bravery to put them out into the world for everyone to see, and then another level of bravery to accept them being judged. But please know that judges take their jobs very seriously. We are quilters too and know that a thoughtless comment can linger in our creative hearts for years.

I was part of a team of three judges; two of us very experienced quilters and one a local mixed media artist and teacher. Great to have a pair of eyes from outside the quilting sphere with oodles of artistic and creative experience. We worked from 9.30am till about 3.30pm with a short break for tea and lunch. And we worked! Judging is always slightly different depending how people have set up their shows, categories and awards. We started with a walk through seperately to get a feel for the quilts and maybe mark our sheets for any that were immediate possibilities for one category or another. We were not asked to appraise each quilt seperately and provide comments so we began with some of the smaller groups, such as the guild challenge, the 3D award etc. We gradually worked our way up to the larger categories, where we had more choices to work through. I did 10.000 steps just going backwards and forwards and around and around the quilts to compare them, as we were judging them already hanging in their places for the exhibition.

In the end, our Best in Show winner was a quilt titled ‘Experiencing Epilepsy’ by Daena Schofield. Not a large quilt, but from a distance it still had a very clear impact. The form of the female head stood out clearly from the slightly chaotic background and the tilt of the imagery suggested sadness or depression. As you came closer in to view the quilt, the brain image became clearer and then the heavy jagged, metallic stitching line through the brain became evident. I appreciate a quilt that draws you in and reveals further details on closer inspection. The background piecing and the foreground image together had a very strong impact of chaos, depression, sadness or being ‘weighed down’. We all got a strong sense of the world today with war, pandemics, politics, and environmental concerns. Then the artist statement about how Daena feels when she expereinces an epileptic episode put it all together.

The use of strong colours across the quilt helped convey the message, but was also cleverly done, with it being non-uniform and small pops of the purple in the red area and vice versa. The female silhouette had enough tonal difference to stand out nicely from the background, which seemed important for the message this quilt was conveying. The slight variation in the colours and texture of the dark fabric stopped the silhouette from being flat.

However, a quilt cannot be a best in show with just the imagery. We were pleased to see that the workmanship of this quilt was of a very high standard. The quilting, done by Daena on a domestic machine, was neat and even and complemented the quilt. The quilt was finished with a facing, which was tidily done and also appropriate to the quilt. It hung square and flat on the wall. Congratulations to Daena for winning Best Art Quilt and Best in Show.

The overall show was a delight to view. It can be very difficult with guild shows to find the perfect venue, but this one did quite well. Every quilt had space around it and wasn’t crowded. There was plenty of room to move and to stand back and view the quilts. The lighting was pretty good, with only a few dark corners. And the quilts were wonderful!

There was a good variety of quilt styles and sizes. It was interesting to see how many hand quilted pieces there were, which may be a product of having a specific hand-quilting award. However, the wording of the award was for traditional, fine hand-quilting, so that disadvantaged some of the lovely big-stitch work we saw with heavy thread. The guild challenge was well represented and we really had to get nit-picky about the theme quote, and the encouragment to use embellishments.

I have heard many people say, “Oh, I couldn’t put my work in a show that will be judged, I’m not good enough, I won’t win anything.” Which makes me a little sad. How will we have amazing quilt shows to visit if no one puts their work in? So I was particularly pleased to see how many first-time entrants there were, perhaps also a product of having a specific award for this. So well done, you have given joy to others by allowing them the privilege of viewing your hard work!

Quilters often want judges to give comments on what can be improved. I always start with a reminder to pay attention to the details. Good workmanship is good workmanship, not matter whether you are making a traditional quilt, a modern quilt or a piece of textile art. Neat stitches, nice point-matching, excellent finishers whether it be bindings or facings, tidy quilting starts and stops, these will all be looked at closely if two quilts are being compared and considered against each other for a top award.

But if you are making a quilt with the hope of winning an award (and that’s an important distinction to make, many people are just making for the joy of making without any intention of trying to win) then you might like to start by thinking through how you will make an impact. How will you initially catch the eye, and then how will you draw the viewer in to view all your beautiful work? That first impression REALLY does count. But then you also need to be able to back it up with good details and great workmanship

If having your quilt judged does worry you, the important thing to remember is that it isn’t you being judged. You are still a wonderful person! No matter whether you are a beginner or have been making quilts for years and years, there will always be something to learn from every single quilt you make, and keeping an open mind when reading judges comments (if the show provides them) can help you progress on your quilting journey.

Congratulations to all the winners, all the entrants, and to the Guild for putting together an excellent show.

There is a lovely article done by the Otago Daily Times on the show, you can see it here.