A few weeks ago, someone asked about how work is judged at fairs, and I just got my scorecard back from the Indiana State Fair, and thought I’d share the criteria since there’s nothing embarrassing on it. (I tried to make my own mat and will not be doing that again. 😂)

Criteria:

Workmanship:- Yarn/thread is appropriate

- Tension is even

- Stitches in same direction

- Cleanliness

Finishing:

- Article blocked

- Good framing/mounting

Original Design:

- Effective use of Color

- Complexity of Design

- Eye Appeal

Additional notes and questions future stitchers may have:

- Would they look at the back? No - I booby-trapped the backside of my frame so I would know if had been opened. It was in place when I opened it up after getting the piece back this morning.

- Do you have to have a full-coverage piece to place? No - Indiana separates divisions by size of the final piece and only one division winner was full-coverage.

- I'm a judge for 4-H with other projects (foods and general crafts, mostly), and the only thing project leads tend to be universal sticklers on is following the rules as written for each competition. For example, if the rules state that a certain hanger must be used or the piece framed a certain way, be sure you do that. The judges may want to give you a place, but the project lead can DQ you for not following the rules. I had that happen twice this year.

Happy to answer other questions folks may have!

(Edits for formatting because Reddit markup hates me.)