State and County Fair Competitions
Swash Zone #2 Hanging at 2024 California Mid-State Fair (San Luis Obispo County Fair). Judges Choice Award
I love seeing the beautiful work at Quilt Con and Quilt Festivals, but submitting something to a prestigious show and putting yourself out there can be really intimidating. During 2025 Quilt Con Acceptances/Rejections, I saw comments where quilters said “I would never submit to Quilt Con, because…”: “…my style is too traditional” or “…my work doesn’t fit into the MQG’s definition of ‘modern’”, “…the selection process feels arbitrary*”, “…it would devastate me to get a rejection email.” None of us are alone in thinking this way.
It’s vulnerable to enter a piece of work that I put my time, heart, and soul into for it to maybe get the dreaded “Thanks, but not this time” response. Fortunately, I’ve had a few quilts make their way to these big shows, but I still get a lot of “No thank you” emails and they are still hard to receive.
If you’re equally as intimidated by the whole thing, but still want to share your work (and I think you totally should, because making something from scratch is AMAZING!), County and State Fairs are a great way to show your quilts, contribute to your community, potentially win awards (if you’re into that), and build confidence. I live in California so things may be different in your state, but I’ll outline my experience in 2024 and 2025 where I submitted quilts to both my County fair (Mid-State Fair) and the California State Fair.
General Process
Deadlines: Usually you can find a state or county website for the fair - check these sometime late winter or spring for submission information and deadlines.
Know the Rules: For the fairs I participate in, there are competition handbooks that outline the guidelines and rules for each category. For instance, the quilt category may have multiple subcategories like Large, medium, small quilts, community quilts, original quilts, and may even have extra categories for techniques. Most will require a hanging sleeve and perhaps have labelling requirements.
Submitting: Usually this is an online portal and you may not need extensive information to submit your work. Sometimes you need to submit photos of your submissions, sometimes not. I have not had to write an artist statement to accompany my works, usually a brief description.
Exhibiting at the show: What is drop-off, pick-up, or shipping like? Will all pieces be displayed or only some? This info will likely be in the handbook.
Special Exhibits: Sometimes the fairs host special challenges with special prizes. For instance, there was an X-games theme challenge at the 2025 CA State Fair where fiber art submissions could depict action sports featured in the X-games.
Local County Fair: The Mid-State Fair
Overall submission cost $7, regardless of how many quilts you submit - this seemed super economical and accessible. In 2024, I submitted three quilts to the competition - all three were accepted. In 2025, I submitted four quilts. These were quilts I love but didn’t fit the guidelines to submit to Quilt Con or similar show: I followed a pattern, size requirements were too big, I didn’t think they were ‘modern’ enough, or I didn’t think it was my ‘best’ work. The county fair is 30 minutes from where I live - bonus points because I didn’t have to ship my quilts AND I was close enough to see them!
In 2024 and 2025, all my quilts won awards, for which I received $10 for each first-place ribbon. Swash Zone #2, won Judges Choice Award in 2024.
State Fair: California
The California State Fair is open to all California residents, so it’s more competitive than the county fair since it’s open to a larger population. Only award winning quilts are on display due to the higher number of submissions. In 2024, I submitted two quilts ($14 fee for each) that I felt were a confident representation of some of my best work: U No. 1, a wall quilt that won Pantone Quilt Challenge 2023 and 8 of Diamonds which was also shown at Quilt Con 2024. In 2025 I submitted 3 quilts. The State Expo center being 6 hours from my home, I paid to ship my quilts to and from the show.
Both of the quilts I submitted in 2024 were displayed: U No. 1 winning second place in wall quilts, and 8 of Diamonds winning fourth place in modern quilts. In 2025, one of the three quilts I submitted was on display: Verona , receiving “Honorable Mention” in the Wall Quilt category.
There are so many beautiful artists and makers who’s work we don’t get to see at major shows, but you might just see a few in your local community! And perhaps it could be you too - What do you have to loose?
*Quilt Con and other shows judging process and criteria are clearly described on their websites.