Back to Guild!.....and a circle review.

I know it's back-to-school week here in Ontario....but more importantly for us quilters it means back-to-guild month!

I attended one of my guilds yesterday and there was so much excitement and smiles and sharing. I almost didn't go since I hadn't slept well the night before....but I pushed myself out the door....with a bit of much-needed encouragement from my husband.

I'm so glad I went. Along with the chit-chat with friends not seen since the June meeting, there was an overview of what the year holds for us. I couldn't resist....I did sign up for the guild's BOM for this year.

My other guild is put off for a week this month because of the Labour Day Weekend....so next Monday I'll experience all the excited women again!

If you are a quilter that has never tried a guild....it's worth investigating. It's so inspiring to be surrounded by people with the same love for quilting!

This week I've tried a new technique (for me) of making perfect appliqued circles. As I mentioned in Sunday's post, you can check it out here on YouTube.

I needed about 27 circles and didn't have enough mylar templates so at first I used dimes as my template...

I had gone to the dollar store for elastic bands....you just need the very small ones. Instead of buying the big bag of assorted sizes, I bought the ones that are meant for putting ponytails in little girls' hair. This way I got a nice amount of just the size I actually need.

Turns out, dimes were too large, but note how perfect the circles are!!!...

.....so I switched to washers (the thimble wasn't actually needed, it's just in the picture to show scale)...

.....and prepared all the circles I needed...

....this step went fairly quickly.

Then I sprayed them with starch, and let them dry overnight.

This morning I carefully snipped the circles and washers off...

Luckily, the washers didn't rust. If I buy more in different sizes, though, I think I will pay the extra few pennies for stainless ones.

I used my little curved scissors for the snipping, which makes it a bit easier maybe.

I'm sure mylar templates would be even better since I think coins and washers make for a slightly thicker circle....but they work out pretty good in a pinch!

This morning I actually got a few stitched on...

Perfect!!! This is exciting for me, I guess, since circles has been the most difficult thing for me to master over the years. This technique is definitely going into my bag of tricks.

I am linking today with Lorna over at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social. She mentions she is doing a trunk show this week at the Halton Guild....wish I could go!

Have a great day.....and keep cool!