Prepping for a Quilt Show

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QuiltCon 2022

In November, I got the exciting news that one of my quilts had been juried into the Modern Quilt Guild's QuiltCon 2022! 

I finished "Scrambled Q's" just before the October 31st deadline and decided at the last minute to include it in my entries. One of five quilts I submitted for consideration, it was admitted in the Appliqué category.     

These four quilts didn't make the cut:

Left: Not Your Grandma's Flower Garden,    Right: How Does Your Garden Grow

Left: Tangled,    Right: Raspberry Peach Experiment

The first time I got up the courage to enter a show was in 2017 for the 2018 Road to California. I naively filled out the forms, submitted the quilts and got their assigned numbers,- 13,626 and 13,627,- and that was well before the deadline. No surprise at getting email rejections with that kind of competition. (If you're interested in my insights at the time, check out posts under the "Quilt Shows" label of this blog.)  

Then, I found the Modern Quilt Guild. It felt like a more receptive place for my aesthetic, so I sent in entries for QuiltCon 2019 and 2020. Rejection got a bit discouraging, so I skipped entering for 2021. But, last year was pretty productive for me. With renewed hope, I tried again.

A few days before anticipated, four emails in a row appeared in my inbox with the subject line "Thank you for entering..." followed by the familiar, gently delivered, "no thanks." However, the last email in the queue was the first one that had been sent, subject line: "Congratulations!" To be honest, I was bowled over, excited beyond measure to share this quilt with a wider audience. 

It takes a good deal of effort to enter a quilt show, above and beyond the actual creation of a quilt and the emotional courage to put one's work "out there" for the world to see, . . . and evaluate.  

A photograph of the whole piece, and an "up close" photo to show details of the work, have to be taken under the best possible lighting. Often these photos require slight color correction to accurately match the original, plus a bit of tech savvy to get the proper pixel count and format. 

And there is writing involved; each entry is accompanied by a descriptive paragraph to display with the piece if it is accepted. Fill out the paper work, and repeat, for a maximum of five times. When you click that "Submit" button, you're more than ready to forget about it all. 

It turns out, even after acceptance, there's a bit more to do. One of my goals for 2021 was to be more consistent in completely finishing projects; a sleeve for hanging had been attached, which made it easier to photograph, and my usual embroidered label was already in place. 

4 inch sleeve for hanging quilt from a rod

But the show requires labeling with different information, so a second label was sewn on top of the first label. (below left)

Also, all identifying information needs to be covered for judging. A muslin label with the assigned quilt number is basted over everything, (right).

It was placed in a plastic bag and sent out on Monday.

It feels like I'm sending off a child into the world to shine. 

Phoenix here we come!


PS- In 2021 I also started an Instagram account. Connect with me at @creativelifesampler.

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