The Winners in My Category

NQA is a member-driven organization that relies heavily on volunteers. Each year it holds an annual show and accepts up to 400 quilts for display and judging. Ribbons are awarded, but there are no cash prizes. It's fairly prestigious to win a ribbon there, although there are shows like AQS and Quilts, Inc. that are probably more prestigious. Anyhow, at NQA a quilt is entered into one of 16 categories. Within each category three ribbons are awarded (first place, second, etc.) and, at the judges' discretion, one or more "honorable mention" ribbons are awarded.

So, my quilt was in the pieced wall hanging category. There were 27 quilts entered. Four received honorable mention ribbons, thus a total of 7 ribbons were given out. Truly, there were some pretty awesome quilts in my category. Let's look at them, shall we?

First, I have photos of 3 of the 4 Honorable Mention winners:

This is smaller than the others. Those little squares are 3/4". This is accurately pieced and hangs so nice and straight. Pretty, too.

You really need to click on this picture and look at the quilting around the center medallion. It's gold thread on dark blue fabric. Incredible detail and probably requires more concentration than I am capable of. It was hanging next to mine and as soon as I saw it I knew there was no contest. Most deserving.

This quilt is based on an astronomical system that classifies stars by temperature and brightness. It's a very interesting interpretation of a scientific concept and quite different from most of the other entries.

I LOVE this quilt. Love, love, love it. Look close. This is a "simple" grid of same-sized blocks. It's all about the use of color. This is one of those quilts that's even more effective the further away you stand, because the colors blur together in your mind. It is titled "Homage to Herbert" and it's an abstract interpretation of an aerial view of Herbert Glacier in Alaska. I got to see some glaciers in Alberta, Canada once, and I can totally see what the quiltmaker is doing here. So pretty and meticulously pieced. It won 3rd place.

This second place quilt was inspired by the Art Deco movement. I love the use of color here. No doubt in my mind that it was complicated to construct, and indeed, it won a special additional award for "Exemplary Piecing."

And this is the first place winner. Excellent design and this had to be difficult to construct. It deserved to win.

Well done, judges! A complete list of winners can be found here.