What is "embellishment"?

A friend and I went over the week-end to the Pacific International Quilt
Festival in Santa Clara CA. One category for an award was Best Use of
Embellishment, Traditional Diviision. The winner was a machine-appiqued
version of a Baltimore album quilt with red and yellow baskets and
flowers done partly in black cotton fabric with bright multi-colored
tiny polka dots and partly on black fabric with bright multi squiiggly
lines. There was also a plain black fabric interior border which was
stipple-quilted in black. The squiggly lined black was quilted in
multi-color thread. The polka dots had tiny crystals glued on some of
them. There were beads sewn around the edge perpendicular to the
binding.
There was another smaller crazy quilt entry in velvets, satins, and
some prints, done all by hand with various hand stitches and/or beads
on every seam, silk ribbon embroidery, stem-stitch embroidered figures
on some patches, wired ribbon flowers, charms, buttons, yo-o's, etc. It
was highly decorated, but we did not think it was overly cluttered.
We did not understand why the winner beat the other one, which had
so much more work on it, all by hand and obviously over many, many more
hours. (Both were neatly done with no evident flaws.) My friend
maintained that colored quilting is embellishment. I said would that
mean that the black quilting is embellishment, too? What is
embellishment? In a competition like that how much weight do the judges
place on the stated category, or did those particular judges just like
flashier, more modern style? Deedee

In article ,
(Virginia Hughes) wrote:

A friend and I went over the week-end to the Pacific International Quilt
Festival in Santa Clara CA. One category for an award was Best Use of
Embellishment, Traditional Diviision. The winner was a machine-appiqued
version of a Baltimore album quilt with red and yellow baskets and
flowers done partly in black cotton fabric with bright multi-colored
tiny polka dots and partly on black fabric with bright multi squiiggly
lines. There was also a plain black fabric interior border which was
stipple-quilted in black. The squiggly lined black was quilted in
multi-color thread. The polka dots had tiny crystals glued on some of
them. There were beads sewn around the edge perpendicular to the
binding.
There was another smaller crazy quilt entry in velvets, satins, and
some prints, done all by hand with various hand stitches and/or beads
on every seam, silk ribbon embroidery, stem-stitch embroidered figures
on some patches, wired ribbon flowers, charms, buttons, yo-o's, etc. It
was highly decorated, but we did not think it was overly cluttered.
We did not understand why the winner beat the other one, which had
so much more work on it, all by hand and obviously over many, many more
hours. (Both were neatly done with no evident flaws.) My friend
maintained that colored quilting is embellishment. I said would that
mean that the black quilting is embellishment, too? What is
embellishment? In a competition like that how much weight do the judges
place on the stated category, or did those particular judges just like
flashier, more modern style? Deedee

The crystals would be the embellishment.

Was the crazy quilt an entry or part of one of the exhibits? If an
exhibit than without also being entered in the competition it would not
have been judged.

Hard to tell without seeing the quilts - if indeed, they would have been
in competition with each other - there's a lot of things to consider
when judging quilts.

marcella

"Virginia Hughes" wrote in message
...
My friend
maintained that colored quilting is embellishment. I said would that
mean that the black quilting is embellishment, too? What is
embellishment?

IMHO, it was the crystals and beads that were the embellishment, not the
quilting. Embellishment is usually "extra" stuff -- crystals, beads,
buttons, ribbons, couching, etc.

In a competition like that how much weight do the judges
place on the stated category, or did those particular judges just like
flashier, more modern style?

That depends on the individual quilt show. The big shows like PIQF have
judging guidelines which tell the judges what to look for. One common system
is to award points for certain things. The following is a hypothetical
example -- 10 points for the appliqué workmanship, 10 points for the
composition, 5 points for fabric choice, 20 points for quality of quilting,
5 points for binding, etc. There are other systems, too, and I don't know
(or much care) which one PIQF uses.

Some shows give more credit for hand work, some do not. Again, I don't know
the specifics for PIQF, but I have shown a number of quilts there, and I've
never gotten the impression that's something they're particularly looking
for. (But I've always entered in "Innovative", not "Traditional".) Other
shows are different. That's why it's nice to have lots and lots of quilt
shows.

--
Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
Queen of Fabric Tramps
http://www.kayneyquilting.com ,
remove the obvious to reply

The crazy quilt was in the same competition. It seemed to have people
around it all the time pointing at various areas of decoration because
there were so many of them, all different. Some of the silk ribbon was
way wider than any I've ever seen before. One poinsettia was of ribbon
at least half an inch wide actually stitched through the fabric, and a
pair of folded roses were of almost an inch wide ribbon. That all of
this was beaten by such simple embellishment as glued-on crystals and
beads around the edge was hard for us to grasp. Even if judges get bored
with traditional techniques and traditional styles, aren't they supposed
to judge them objectively on how well they are done and with what
variety? Just because two simple embellishments are put onto black
backgrounds with flashy bright colors shouldn't equate with months and
months of detailed work, we thought. Strange. Deedee

Sorry for my senior moment there. I was helping my sister with a poem
for her poetry board and when we finished I came straight here without
switching users. Poetry is her art and she wouldn't know embellishment
from batting. Virginia.

"Deirdre Day" wrote in message
...
The crazy quilt was in the same competition. It seemed to have people
around it all the time pointing at various areas of decoration because
there were so many of them, all different. Some of the silk ribbon was
way wider than any I've ever seen before. One poinsettia was of ribbon
at least half an inch wide actually stitched through the fabric, and a
pair of folded roses were of almost an inch wide ribbon. That all of
this was beaten by such simple embellishment as glued-on crystals and
beads around the edge was hard for us to grasp. Even if judges get bored
with traditional techniques and traditional styles, aren't they supposed
to judge them objectively on how well they are done and with what
variety? Just because two simple embellishments are put onto black
backgrounds with flashy bright colors shouldn't equate with months and
months of detailed work, we thought. Strange. Deedee


Each show sets the criteria for judging which they then give to the judges.
In some shows creativity, originality, uniqueness or overall impression may
count more than specific technique(s). In other shows or categories specific
techniques may be weighed more heavily.


Ellen