So you submitted a quilt to show—congrats! That’s a big step for any artist, and one that can be full of trepidation.

Yvonne Fuchs recently wrote about celebrating quilt submissions, and that got me thinking about sharing the process I use to document and track my show entries. It’s something I’ve refined over the years, and hopefully you’ll find it helpful. I’ll explain in more detail below, but first: 

Why enter shows?

The answers to this question are as varied and diverse as quilters themselves, but here are a few that ring true for me.

• Showing a quilt satisfies a basic human need of having our work validated by our peers. Many quilters are perfectly content to share their work in an informal show-and-tell setting or with family and friends, but juried shows and exhibitions offer another benefit, which is:

• They expose us to a wide range of styles and techniques, and they can broaden the way we think about quilts and quilt makers.

• Juried shows offer an opportunity to have your work evaluated by other artists and professionals in the field. Their feedback can help shape your quilting practice and move it forward.

• Showing quilts in galleries and museums helps to break down barriers (both real and perceived) between the Fine Art and Craft worlds.

• Quilt shows are a sort of time capsule—a means of documenting the wide variety of quilts being made at specific points in time. (This way of thinking was shared with me by Holly Ittel, the Exhibitions and Quilt National Director at the Dairy Barn Arts Center in Ohio, and it makes perfect sense.) That said, I’d love to see more shows offer official catalogs for posterity.

I also want to take a minute to acknowledge some quilt show cons: the entry and shipping fees are prohibitive for a lot of people; it can be expensive and/or difficult to photograph your work; some shows operate with an outdated definition of quilts, which may not include the styles and techniques you prefer. For all of those reasons (and more), this process can be exclusionary, and I think it’s important to acknowledge that and work to make more shows accessible to more quilters.

My quilt show experience

I started entering quilt shows in 2017. While the body of work I made over the last four years is relatively small (23 quilts in total), I had enough pieces to submit 117 entries to various calls during that time. My overall acceptance rate is around 50 percent. 

Some of those calls were for quilt shows, others for museum and art gallery exhibitions. Some were free to enter, others quite costly. Some shows need your quilts months in advance, others only keep them on hand for a couple weeks. So how do I keep track of all the details? 

Around the time I entered my first show, Maria Shell shared a series of blog posts from 2013 called “Show Your Work”, which detailed her process of entering and tracking show entries. She admits it’s pretty analog (there are markers and binders and long rolls of paper involved), but the information helped shape my own process.

Finally, the details

My tracking system is mostly digital and relies heavily on Google’s Docs and Sheets apps, but I utilize one old-school feature—I print out every call in its entirety. It’s easier for me to keep track of various rules (and note any changes throughout the years) when I can hold a physical copy in my hands. I write a list of potential entries at the top of the first page and file any receipts, tracking numbers, and additional information with each entry.

Then I turn to the computer. Often, the deadlines for various shows overlap and it’s possible to accidentally double-book a single quilt. For me, the best way to avoid this is to keep a running spreadsheet that includes the following information:

• Each quilt’s name, dimensions, materials, and insurance value (if it’s been appraised)

• Each show’s name, location, and dates

• Entry fees

• Any applicable show categories

• Deadlines for submissions, notifications, and quilt deliveries

• Prizes won

• The sale price of each quilt and any commission fees kept by the venue

• Quilt return dates

A second tab of the same spreadsheet shows a color-coded calendar view of each accepted quilt’s travels. With this, I can quickly see where a quilt is at any given time and when it will be available for a future show.

As for photos and artist statements, each quilt has its own file on my computer. Every quilt’s folder contains process photos, show entry photos, and a document of artist statements with varying word counts. I also create a folder for each show submission, organized by year. Because shows often have different requirements for photo sizes and names, I export show-specific photo files to these folders. This is also where I keep relevant contracts, insurance information, other show documents, and any press coverage.

One last note that’s tangentially related to show entries: I also keep a running Google Doc with photos and details of every quilt I make. This includes the quilt’s name, dimensions, start and finish dates, batting type, material and thread info, inspiration, and any techniques or patterns used.

WHEW! That’s a lot of information to digest, but hopefully you found a few helpful bits you can incorporate into your own process.

Is your tracking system different than mine? What are your quilt show pros and cons? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section!