Your blocks are looking great!
@EclecticDreamer, I looked up the Midnight Howl block and I have to say, I prefer your creative backgrounds to the original.
@Immaculata, I hope this is your year to finally find a decent sewing machine at the national flea markets! 
Kimberbell has a Star Spangled Beauty ladder quilt design. I had seen pictures of it online and thought, “that’s neat, but it isn’t for me.” Then when I went to a quilt show in January, I saw it in person and fell in love!
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My goals this quarter currently all revolve around this quilt and I am happy to report that I have finished my first goal - I have cut the fabric for each individual block, I’ve lined all the background blocks with shape-flex, and I have also precut the batting for each block. That part of the process definitely feels more like work than fun, so I am glad to have it out of the way!
I, AudiobookLover, submit prep Star Spangled Beauty fabric for my goal list entry.
I’ve started stitching! Here are my first few blocks:
Heck yeah @AudiobookLover!
It was mine! Only sharing a tiny hint of it here so as to not to spoil the surprise for the people who are still waiting for post.
@AudiobookLover thank you so much. I feel seen and cared about, and the contents are amazing. Thanks all for the kind welcome back. I’m hoping to be able to do some sewing soon, and for now it’s lovely to live vicariously through your makes 
And I want to do a goal list, but keep it feeling doable for where I’m at right now and what I have coming up. So, these are my quarter 2 quiltalong goals:
-Uncover my sewing machine and set the area up for sewing*
-Make something that feels quilty
-Spend a chunk of time enjoying sewing
-Make progress on a quilty WIP
-Learn a new quilt skill or technique
*It is buried under papercraft stuff ATM!
I hope this list is OK. I feel motivated to start 
I am already involved in a BOM thing at my LQS, but I really want to get in on this too! At least part way in… time is at a premium! But it’s a chilly rainy day today, so what the heck - going to give the April block a go - maybe others too.
That’s a nice start! I love your quilts with applique and embroidery. They do look like a lot of work but the finished result is worth it.
I’ve just finished the April block! I used some fat quarters I grabbed from the dollar store.
Then I decided that the center needed something so I appliqued a little diamond.
And… I just did the January block as well:
I love this one.
And who else does this with their flying geese corner cut-offs?
These will get added to the next improv/chaos quilt I make.
I think this is the February block… losing track. I will try to do the March block today. Sundays are for sewing!
How pretty!
And, YIPEE! I got my prize packages from our most talented leader!! Pics later…I want to savor everything first!
That block came out beautifully @LindaEve!
And OMG, I received my prize packages from @AudiobookLover too! I’m sitting here just gobsmacked. Jim took Ada to the park, and I’m having a rare quiet afternoon alone in my studio, so I even got to unpack it by myself and savor every moment. I don’t even know what to say Summer. You absolutely outdid yourself. Everything is STUNNING, down to the packaging. You are an utter Rock Star. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU.
Pictures please!!
@LindaEve i do that with my cut-off’s too. I’ve got a baggie with 100’s of them (guestimating because i never counted them). Going to do something with them someday lol
That’s awesome. They are great for improv quilts. I also have a ton of them unsewn together in one of my many scrap bins. All those little triangles just floating about.
I just tried doing the paper-pieced blazing star for March and oh my god did I ever balls it up.
What a warped mess! AND I cut the pieces wrong, so that the dark and light blue don’t alternate as they should. Oh well, on to the strip-oieced one - that I am pretty sure will be straightforward.
Ok. It wasn’t straightforward but I made a go of it:
My first go at y seams. NEVER AGAIN! I did a lot of seam ripping.
No luck in the sewing machine department, but surprise, surprise, I did find fabric 
. The flea markets are mostly early in the morning so I’m spending the rest of the day setting up my ancient machine, my Vintage 1958 Husqvarna. I know how to operate it, but I use it much less than my Bernina because it’s more difficult to use and I haven’t found anyone who can do maintenance on it. But I’ve found some really great step-by-step videos on youtube and @Silky_Bee kindly let me know she has a service manual for it! I’m still going to try to get my Bernina fixed, but I’m seeing this as a good opportunity to learn more about my Husqvarna.
For reference, this was my local neighbourhood King’s Day celebration. A group of neighbours organized this at the playground:
The organizers put up the big white tent and rented a sound system and a bouncy castle. Everything else was set up by neighbours. You can just go there and pitch your tent or lay our your blanket, and sell whatever you want to get rid of from your attic. A lot of them are ran by kids, selling their own clothes and toys to save up money for new toys. It’s also common to sell homemade food like cupcakes, sausage rolls and lemonade or play a musical instrument for change. A few local food businesses showed up too (selling things like ice cream and coffee). I’m always a bit careful about buying food from random people, especially because the weather was nice and sunny, but some people also sell safe foods like ice-cold cans. There are small parties in every neighbourhood so it’s not really something that can be enforced, but I think in my city it’s illegal to sell meat products unless you’re a professional. I also went to the next neighbourhood’s event, which was a bit bigger but not as fun as the one in my own neighourhood.
Wow, @LindaEve, you’ve been flying through the blocks!
Thank you for sharing pics of the King’s Day celebration @Immaculata. It looks like a nice way to spend time out in the sunshine and in the company of friends and neighbors!
@Edel, I’ve seen some progress pics of your cyanotype beetle quilt in another thread. How’s that coming along? I can’t wait to see the finished quilt!
Regarding the BOMs, we still have the rest of the year to fill up! So, if you haven’t nominated a star block yet, please feel free to do so (and if you have already nominated one, you can nominate more, I just want to make sure everyone gets a chance to choose a block).
Plus, we have a Bingo prompt this quarter to ‘Nominate a star block for the BOM,’ so if you nominate a block now you can check off the prompt once/if it gets called!
Here are a couple of sites with a variety of star blocks to browse through:
Patchwork Square
Generations Quilt Patterns
Today’s Quiltalong Bingo prompt is:
Create a project using at least 50% stash
@AudiobookLover - I got my prize package and holy moly! It’s incredible!!! Thank you so much. You are sooooooo talented. I appreciate it all so much. I don’t want to ruin the surprise for anyone, but it’s incredible!
I just remembered that I haven’t posted my goal this quarter:
I also forgot to post my Bingo Cards!
The prize packs have all been received!
Thank you to the winners for your kind words regarding them 
, I am so glad you all liked the prizes!
