Tips to Prepare your Quilt for Show

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Quilting for Show ~ A Practical Guide to Successful Competition Quilting is a completely revised and expanded version of Karen McTavish’s originally self-published book of the same title. In this book, Karen, along with a collection of the nations’ best quilters, a quilt appraiser and multiple judges reveal the methods for making a show quality quilt. Following, courtesy of Karen, is an excerpt from her new book that reviews tips to prepare your quilt for show. Enjoy this sneak peek......then grab the details to order the entire book at the end of her article.

Blocking a Quilt for Show & Cleaning it Up
Blocking a quilt is done before the binding is sewn on. Blocking ensures that your quilt will hang flat and straight on the rod and drape at the show. When you are done with the blocking, and have placed the binding, sleeve and label onto the quilt, it is time to check for stray hanging threads or dog/cat hair and get rid of them. Make sure you look at your quilt at eye level -- this will be the area of the quilt that a judge will get closest to. Make sure your binding at eye level is excellent on both sides. This is where they will flip the quilt over to check on your binding skill.

Sleeves
Most shows have an expectation of where sleeves should be placed. Each show is different in terms of how the quilt hangs. You don’t want the quilt hanging on the show floor. Check the entry form for the show’s sleeve requirements before it goes to the show. If your quilt does not have a sleeve, you are immediately disqualified from the show. When sewing your sleeve onto the quilt, make sure the sleeve is not visible when your quilt is hanging.

How to Ship the Quilt to the Show
When sending your quilt to a quilt show, I suggest you insure it with the United States Postal Service. Most quilts are considered “irreplaceable” and will not be covered by most carriers. In a nutshell, they will not be covered if you ship them even if you have paid the insurance. The United States Postal Service will cover your items if the quilt is damaged while it is in their care. If your quilt is accepted or juried into a show, you will get a letter of congratulations. The letter will also tell you where your quilt should go, how it should go and when you will get it back. Most shows want you to place your quilt in a pillowcase, then in a clear, plastic bag marked with your information. Some shows will provide you with identification tags. Each show has different requirements, but generally you ship the quilt about two or more weeks before the show opens so it arrives in plenty of time. Each show will also have a drop off location for quilters who prefer to hand deliver their quilts.

Folding
The best way of folding the quilt to prepare for being shipped to a show is to fold the quilt in rectangles (length wise) so gravity will do its job to straighten out the quilt when it hangs on the rod. Some people scrunch the quilt into a ball and ship it that way. (See image above.) This method isn’t universal and seems kind of shocking. The theory is that bundling the quilt up in a messy ball will help the quilt from having a memory of fold lines. But in reality a messy ball can create many, many messy fold lines. Remember, that quilt has been in a cardboard box for a while. Although rolling your quilt and shipping it in a tube sounds like the best way to avoid fold lines, quilt shows do not prefer this method as shipping the quilts back can become complicated. Some quilters prefer to hand deliver and pick up their quilts, avoiding the issue of shipping altogether. If you have to ship your quilt, one suggestion to avoid fold lines is to place wads of tissue paper inside the folds for shipping. When the judge is looking at the quilt, you do not want fold lines to distract them. Major shows steam out the fold lines once the quilt is hung, but most shows do not.

Adding Value to a Quilt
Below is a short list of what’s important for adding value.

Ribbons, special honors or invitationals. (Be sure to keep good records and tell your appraiser about winning awards. Awards, especially at the larger venues, will increase the quilt’s value. Also, they are part of the full history of your piece and should be included on your appraisal document.)
Publications of your quilt, patterns, or articles
Being juried into a major show such as Houston, Paducah, and Chicago
Quiltmaker’s recognition in the quilt world
Specialty fabrics or embellishments used in its construction
Quality of construction and workmanship
Graphic appeal
Quiltmaker’s record of sales (if applicable)

Photography & the Jurying Process
Before the judges ever see your quilt, you will first have to enter the quilt in the show. All shows are different in terms of how they accept quilts into the show. Some show committees will sit down as a group and “jury” the quilts into the show with slides or transparencies. Other shows will accept a digital photograph of the quilt with entry forms. Smaller shows do not jury in quilts, and will not reject any quilt but will want a photo of the quilt with your entry form for identification. You will need to get your quilt shot by a professional photographer if you plan on entering the quilt in different quilt shows. Doing it yourself is not always as professional as having it shot in a studio. Some shows will want two shots of the quilt to prove to them that it is finished. The photographer will be able to get a full size view (showing the binding) and a close up. They will be able to crop the photo so it looks its very best. The photographer can provide you with a CD-ROM of your quilts for a Web site or provide you with slides for quilt shows. The high resolution photography will show the quilting well and give a show committee more reason to jury your quilt into the show. If they cannot see the quilting, your quilt will not be accepted. The juried shows are looking for the “not so great” quilts. This means they will most likely eliminate the tied quilts, the cheater panel quilts, T-shirt quilts that do not look well made, quilts without sleeves, etc. Jury committees have a tough job and they only have so many spots in the show. Some quilts will make it in the show because the photography is very well done. If you have put hundreds of hours of work into this quilt, it’s a good investment to use a professional photographer to create a record of your quilt.

Reprinted from Quilting Now, May 2007

Order Your Copy:

Quilting for Show ~
A Practical Guide to Successful Competition Quilting

The new Quilting for Show showcases a collection of the nations’ best quilts and quiltmakers. Author Karen McTavish explains what it means to quilt for show, how to go about finding a show, what to expect from judges, what kind of behavior is ethical, what to do about photography, how to ship your quilt to a show and why appraisals are important. She also shares practical, quilt construction knowledge such as how to bury your threads, how to block a quilt, how to add a sleeve and how to quilt like a hand quilter.

This book is organized into four main sections to guide the reader toward successful competition quilting: Inspiration, Before the Show, Into the Minds of Judges and Quilting Concepts -- the practical guide to quilting. Each section includes multiple examples of award winning quilts with comments and advice from the quiltmakers. Helen Squire, Caryl Bryer Fallert, Diane Gaudynski, Ricky Tims, Sharon Schamber, Hollis Chatelain, Linda Taylor, Linda McCuean, Carol Selepec, Myrna Ficken, Kim Brunner, Carie Shields, Anita Kris Mattson, Jean Carlton (quilt appraiser) and Pepper Cory (judge) add their collective wisdom to Karen’s instruction on what it takes to quilt for show.

The book and DVD include lessons in blocking a quilt, applying a sleeve, quilting feathers, rope and cable and straight line quilting such as crosshatching, enabling the reader to enhance any kind of quilt with show quality quilting. Quilters who have been asking Karen to re-release Quilting for Show will be delighted with this new book and accompanying DVD.

This book is softcover, 112 pages, features 25 award winning quilts in full color with close-up pictures of quilting details, and includes a DVD with detailed lessons in blocking a quilt, applying a sleeve and learning to quilt like a hand quilter. It retails for $24.95.

To order, visit the On-Word Bound Books LLC Web site at www.onwordboundbooks.com, or call 1-218-525-5282.

Longarm machine quilting allows Karen McTavish to combine her two passions: Wholecloth and Trapunto. Karen specializes in crafting award-winning quilts using techniques which allow machine quilters to replicate traditional “hand quilted” effects. Karen has been a full-time professional longarm quilter since 1997. Her books, Mastering the Art of McTavishing and The Secrets of Elemental Quilting are available through her Web site: www.designerquilts.com.