For those of you who might have wondered about how these shows are judged, or who have had a quilt rejected and cannot understand what happened, I hope this article will be helpful to you.

Art quilt shows are judged in many respects like any other quilt shows. The difference is that regular quilts have distinctive criteria for the judging, and while the art quilts do as well, some of the criteria can be subjective, for it is the nature of the type of quilts they are. How can one judge workmanship on an art quilt when there are many techniques that use raw edge applique, burned edges, threads hanging intentionally off the piece, binding may not even be on the quilt at all, or if it is, it may be a different manner of binding than any of us have ever seen?

So the first aspect of art quilts is that there can be criteria that are subjective. Next, the design often must meet or portray a theme, but here again, this can be subjective, because the artist knows whether he/she is representing the theme or not, and each of us have our own subjective ideas of what meeting the theme means. Perhaps to me it means something I can recognize and say, "Oh yes, that truly portrays the theme." To another judge it means entirely something else. What is more, many artists, anxious to get their work out there, take a piece they have ready, whether it really meets the theme or not, and enter it because they are trying hard. Now there is nothing wrong at all with such people. They are trying the best they can to get their work out there. But it would often be better to study what is available for exhibit, and enter exhibits that really fit their piece. Generally, a fairly knowledgeable and fair judge will know what does meet the theme and will not, even if it involves a lot of discussion with other judges to make the final determination.

One of the mistakes fiberartists make, I believe, is to only enter art quilt or fiberarts exhibits, which in and of itself, limits the subject matter and their opportunities for getting accepted. Many could do better if they would enter Mixed Media events now and then, and it would help other fiberartists as it would open up more opportunities for everyone.

So what makes a winning art quilt? It is truthfully very difficult to determine, and sometimes it is going to be a piece that is within the current technical and stylistic trends, and sometimes it will be some maverick quilt that will start its own trend. No matter how skilled and how knowledgeable the judges are, there is always going to be some personal subjectivity in what each person considers to be a winner. That is why we work in teams. Hopefully the team judgment will balance out in favor of the artists. It doesn't always happen that way, but that is the idea.

Judging art quilts is difficult, time-consuming and tiring work. After you have spent half a day or a day looking at only half the quilts, and still have to go back and award the winners, make sure everything is written up properly by the scribes, and get the ribbons ready to hang before the show opens, it starts being very difficult. Time is frequently a constraint, plus you are pressed to use everything you know or have ever known about art quilts or fiberarts all day long until sometimes you are not sure you even know anything at all.

There are so many new trends, and so many new techniques, and unless each judge keeps up on it, as well as keeping up on who is doing what kind of work, it is also very difficult to make a good judgment. Sometimes the shows may get a judge because of some factor other than how knowledgeable the person is with art quilts, and unfortunately, that results in the person trying to judge art quilts as if they are some other type of quilt.

The judges have to be able to determine whether or not a quilt is an original design. If you really want to win anything, don't enter something that you have made in a class from a major known teacher. It is almost sure death for your work. Even if it seems primitive to you, it is better to do your own design work and technique, and just go for it.

Now when we talked about workmanship, even with art quilts, there are some things that are so obvious that the judges cannot possibly put it off as part of the artist's statement. Actually, I should not have to tell anyone, but if the quilt contains obvious puckers or folds in the fabric that are clearly not intentional, those will show up to the judges as poor workmanship. If the machine stitching goes from 4 stitches to the inch to 12 stitches to the inch and is inconsistent, it will probably count as poor workmanship. Such things as a piece that hangs straight still apply. Now if the quilt is an uneven shape, or some three dimensional format that would not hang well, it would be to the artist's advantage to mount the piece so that it can display properly.

The things we have discussed above are the general considerations when we judge the quilts in person. However, many shows have the judges do their judging from slides. The slides are gone through, and if any are bad, they are rejected right off. If you are serious about your fiberarts and really want to win, invest in a good slide camera and learn how to use it, barter with someone who is an excellent photographer to take your slides, or take the pieces to a professional to have them photographed. Since the slides can make the difference between a winner and getting rejected before you even get a chance, it is well worth the expense. Besides, it is a legitimate tax deduction if you are selling your work. Even if it weren't, after putting all the time into making the quilt, I would want it to have the best chance it could.

Enter often and try to make quilts that fit certain themes. If it is an annual competition and you can't get it finished for this year's exhibit, make it for the following year rather than rush it and risk some of the problems we discussed above. Good luck. And remember, when you enter an exhibit, whether you win or get rejected, it is a great opportunity to learn something new and also to do better the next time, and it is definitely not personal. You are a winner just for having the courage to enter.

©2003 Anne Copeland
www.artquiltconsultant.com
www.fiberartsconnsocal.org