I happened to mention last week that I was doing a little quilt show judging, and there was some interest from people in what that might entail, especially from a competitor’s perspective. The show I’m involved in judging is online, but I’ve taken part in both online and real life quilt shows before, and actually I’m really intrigued by what judges look for too!
This is a judging slip I got back from the British Stitch & Quilt Village a couple of years ago:
So there is a criteria that the judges were given in that show, but it can be very hard to tell why you got the marks you did, where that puts you in the overall rankings for your category and why you didn’t win.
Looking at it now from a judging perspective I can see a few things that would be helpful to pass on, but is there anything in particular you’d like to know? I’m hoping to get a few different judges to give their insight, so leave me a comment if there’s a specific question you’d like me to ask.
An interesting conversation…
I am always interested in what the judges liked and did not like. The technical stuff is good to know, but the difficult question is why was that quilt picked over this one to win when they are both technically fine. What design or other elements make it a winner for the judge.
This is an excellent topic! I have heard lots of complaining about judges – seems like a hard job to me. I also think that we develop such attachments to our "babies" that even constructive criticism is hard to hear. I am looking forward to learning more.
Yes, it's very interesting to see it from the other side dispassionately!
but do you get to wear a wig?
Just looking at your judging slip I'm interested in how much weight is put on each category or are they all equal? Also do you have to put aside your own likes and dislikes when you judge and try and base it on technique and design principles or do you go with what speaks to you personally?