I put myself (& my quilt) out there and it came back to me with extra sparkle!
I was excited to get my quilt back, safe and sound, with feedback on my first juried quilt.

I had never entered a quilt show before.  Most of the quilts I have seen at shows had extreme “Wow!” factor either from the piecing / design aspect or for the intricate quilting.  It was hard to garner enough confidence to put myself out there.
(Thanks to everyone who encouraged me.)
In the end, the best part of entering in the show was the feedback I received from the judges.  The judges for the HMQS in Salt Lake this year were experienced longarm quilters, and I am excited to have some constructive feedback on how to improve my quilting skills!

My takeaways:

• Thread design and color can make a quilt “pop
• Don’t be afraid to use color!
• Spend some more time on sashing and borders.
• Take the extra time to square my quilt up better
• Stitching in the ditch might help avoid distortion.  On this quilt, doing this with a black thread might have worked and not hurt the thread pattern on the backside?
• I need to continue working on distribution of stitching to enhance quilt designs.

My Quilt:    https://duelingthread.com/2016/04/24/night-stars-a-backwards-glance/

So, for those of you who have never entered a show, I am going to share my comment sheet so that you can see what feedback the accomplished quilters gave me!  I am excited to see how I can strengthen my weak areas.  Who knows, maybe what I learn will help you too!