Picture This!
By Marcia Stein
C&T Publishing; $27.95

I have been a fan of Marcia Stein’s quilts for a long time. We even put one of her quilts on the cover of Issue 100 of The Professional Quilter. It’s the same quilt that graces the cover of her first book. Subtitled Appliqué Pictorial Quilts – From Photo to Fabric, this book starts with how to take better photos, how to choose the right photo for a quilt and then how to use your computer to look at the photos to determine value among other things. From here you’ll learn how to transfer your photo to a master drawing that you’ll use to select your fabric and create your quilt. Marcia covers three different methods of appliqué: turn-under, fused or raw-edge. In addition to a gallery of photos, you’ll find three projects with detailed instructions to develop and build your skills. If you are looking to learn the technique behind creating realistic pictorial applique quilts, this is an excellent resource.

Here’s a link, if you’d like to add it to your library.

You’ve just finished your latest quilt, are proud of your accomplishment and want to show it off. You first share it with your family, then with your small quilting “bee” and finally take it to show and tell at your next guild meeting. For some quilters, this is enough. For others, it is not. Many quilters want to see how their quilts stack local, non-judged show or entering it in a major juried and judged competition. In addition to gaining recognition for your quilts, you also educate other quilters and the general public about quilting and its standards. For local guild shows, this is often a primary reason for holding a show. Additionally, if your quilt is entered in a judged show, you can set goals for improvement based on feedback from the judges or your own comparison with winning quilts. And, of course, you might just win a prize, either a ribbon, cash, or merchandise.

Impartiality in judging is important and one way this is done is through use of a panel of independent judges, usually three. Judges can be trained and certified by the National Quilting Association, or they can be trained through experience. They all adhere to similar standards of judging, although final results will be varied based on the individuals.

Judging can take place either before or after the quilts are hung, and each method has advantages. Judging quilts after they are hung allows the visual impact of the quilt to be better appreciated. Judging quilts before they are hung is usually faster, but visual impact takes second place to the ability to view the workmanship.

Judges often use scorecards or evaluation forms and either a point system, an elimination system or a combination of the two to evaluate the individual entries. The point system uses a predetermined maximum number of! points to judge specific areas, for example, up to 20 points for the color and design, up to 20 points for construction, up to 15 points for finishing, etc., with the total equaling 100 points. Each quilt is judged on its own merits, and the quilt with the highest total number of points is awarded the first place.

The elimination system, on the other hand, allows each judge to evaluate a quilt, make comments on its technique and offer feedback for improvement. If the judge feels the quilt should be held for ribbon/award consideration, it is put aside. If not, it is released from the competition portion. After the quilts are judged in this preliminary fashion, the held quilts are compared to others in its category and the winners are determined.

Neither system is perfect. Regardless, judges evaluate quilts against the same standards. Here are just a few of the commonly held standards that judges use:

General Appearance

· The quilt makes an overall positive statement upon viewing
· The quilt is clean and “ready to show,” i.e., no visible marks, no loose threads, no pet hair, no bearding, no offensive odors.
· The quilt’s edges are not distorted. This is easier to gauge when the quilt is hung.

Design and Composition
· All the individual design elements of the quilt – top, quilting, choice of fabric, sashes, borders, embellishments, finishing – are unified.
· The design is in proportion and balanced.
· Borders or other edge treatments enhance the quilt appearance.

Workmanship
· Piecing is precise, corners match and points are sharp.
· Seams, including those of sashing and borders, are secure, straight and flat.
· Quilting stitches are straight where intended and curved where intended.

As noted, judges consider certain “standards” when evaluating quilts – and the list is really quite extensive – but how do they decide which quilts are the prizewinners? And what is more important, design or workmanship? In the end I think it comes down to design, the quilt with the greater visual impact. But even the quilt with the greatest visual impact cannot rescue poor workmanship.

The Professional Quilter has an ongoing column geared just for judges, but it’s useful for those who are entering shows. Scott Murkin, NQA Certified Judge, writes those columns. We also offer three resources recommended for those in judging programs. You can learn more about The Challenge of Judging by Jeannie Spears, Judging Quilts by Katy Christopherson, and a audio recording of a conversation on “The Judge’s Perspective” between Morna McEver Golletz and judges Jane Hall and Scott Murkin on our resources page.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.

Jane Sassaman’s art quilts and fabric lines are instantly recognizable due to their exuberant style, inspired by the decorative arts. Jane herself is known as an inspiring and effective teacher. Eileen Doughty spoke with her on the phone recently to learn more about her and her business.

How do you describe yourself to a new acquaintance?
Introducing myself has become easier since I’ve started designing fabric because I can say, “I’m a fabric designer and an artist.” That’s a good place to begin. If the discussion continues, I’ll add that I’m a fine art quilter.

Looking back, what were your early goals?
I started as an art quilter. Entering Quilt National was my first big goal. From there, I picked shows that would produce a color catalog, as more people may see the publication than the show itself. That was my approach to getting out there. Quilt Visions was another goal. Paducah and Houston were great too, not only the shows themselves, but the competitions.

I watched Penny McMorris’s PBS show that featured the first wave of art quilters – Ruth McDowell, Nancy Crow, Terrie Hancock Mangat, among others, who did so much to break the trail for us to follow. I consider myself a second wave quilter and was able take advantage of the work the first wave did.

You seem to be a natural at marketing yourself and your work.
I have had a booth at Quilt Market for the past two years. I do the Fall Market because that’s when my fabric comes out. It’s the place to make sure people see what you’re doing.

I feel a bit like the odd woman out compared to other designers who put all their energy into designing and marketing their fabric. I can’t let go of art quilts, so I am in two camps. Doing Market is one way to do my part in promoting the fabric. Westminster/FreeSpirit has such an extraordinary group of designers.

One thing I understand is having a “look.” That’s where my strength is. Also, I take good photographs to sell the work. Other people may be better in making the calls to sell their patterns. I’m pretty good at putting together the actual product. I’d dearly love to have someone who thrives on business to partner with.

I’m at the point right now that I have to decide if I want my business to get bigger and how to get bigger. We do have some friends in the marketing world. There’s always a little hesitation in the back of my brain, because I so love to hole up in the studio and make work. You think if you get too big, you won’t have time for what you love to do. Studio time is so precious. If you want to grow, you should have knowledge of where you want to go. Not that you shouldn’t be flexible, but you should be able to guide it according to your dreams rather than someone else’s ideas.

Any tips for those starting out, building their careers?
Find your proper audience after you find your artistic voice. Some people bang their head against the wall, entering a show not appropriate for their work. If you want to be successful, then go where your work will be appreciated. There are so many ways to go about having a career, even some that no one has explored yet. There are ways to be a quilt artist that still haven’t been done.

Kaffe Fassett’s Simple Shapes Spectacular Quilts
Kaffe Fassett with Liza Prior Lucy
Abrams; $35.00

Once again, Kaffe Fassett and Liza Prior Lucy have produced a book that whets your color and design appetite. Kaffe’s ambition for the book was to draw attention to the basic shapes we use in quilting as they appear in our surroundings. To do this, he uses lots of architectural and nature photographs to highlight shape. The photographs of the quilts then cause you to focus back on the simple shapes, squares, rectangles, triangles, diamonds, quarter circles, and circles. Some examples: Kaffe’s quilt Bounce filled with circles and the photo of the installation at the Keukenhof Gardens in Holland of a “pavement” made up of upside-down flower pots; the quilt Striped Donut and the old door made of concentric squares cut from strips of distressed wood. The book includes instructions for 23 quilts. I believe the book has sharpened my design eye a bit, and I’m seeing even more geometric shapes in my surroundings. Fans of Kaffe and Liza will love the book.

Here’s a link, if you’d like to add it to your library.

Many quilters have a book in them and don’t know where to start. Some quilters will take the traditional route with an established publisher. Others will find their needs better met with a self-published product. In the current issue of The Professional Quilter, Gloria Hansen takes a look at an option know as Print on Demand. Here’s an excerpt from that article.

A few months ago while cleaning out an area of my basement, I came across some boxes filled with copies of a pattern I self-published into a booklet nearly two decades ago. To get high-quality color images printed on letter-sized glossy paper, I needed to have a minimum of 5,000 printed. All of these years later, more than half of them remain in the boxes. This illustrates some downsides of self-publishing – paying for an initial print run that may not sell and storing the printed material. Today a new technology greatly reduces the often high upfront fees, eliminates storage needs, and allows you to print as few or as many books as needed. It’s called Print on Demand (POD).

A range of POD companies offer “assisted self-publishing” services, including editorial guidance and design work, as part of their pricing plan. XLibris, CreateSpace, iUniverse and LuLu are examples. While these companies may offer features important to your needs, such as a wide distribution, they also require upfront fees that range anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on your goals.

Another option that results in a professional end product yet doesn’t require a high upfront fee is Blurb. Blurb, was initially set up to serve the self-publishing needs of both photographers and authors. And while companies that offer digital image printing services also offer photo POD books (such as Shutterfly, Apple through iPhoto, and SnapFish), Blurb compares very favorably in the price department and also offers you the option of adding your book to Blurb’s public bookstore. Taking a look at the bookstore, the high quality is obvious. If you choose this option, you can then set a price and keep any income over the printing cost.

When questioning professional quiltmakers about their experiences with POD, Blurb was the consistent winner. You can read more of Gloria’s article about the pluses and minuses of POD and Blurb in particular, along with the experiences of several quilters who’ve used Blurb in the Spring issue of The Professional Quilter. If your membership is not current or you need to convert your subscription, click here.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.