Quilting bee members circled M’Liss Hunter Feb. 25 as she laid out blocks of a quilt she was starting. It is called “One Block Wonder” and the challenge was to create a varied quilt pattern from a single piece of fabric, rather than the collection of related fabrics usually combined in a given quilt.

The piece in question featured black and white cats, red flowers, curves and all-over patterned areas. Members had seen a demonstration of how to cut three strips, then hundreds of triangles to piece together into blocks. A precise, mathematical mind would be a considerable help as the blocks emerge as designs, without pictorial content. Not quite like assembling a puzzle.

“I can’t get beyond the look of the original fabric,” one member commented.

Hunter talked of phasing one color into another. The starting point was a donated length of fabric that initially looked ugly to her (a small sample was saved for demonstration). But transformed into “One Block Wonder,” it was subtle and pleasing.

Walls and tables in the meeting room were filled with bright and varied quilts made by members, including Hunter’s whimsical “Monster Quilt,” also a work in progress — piecing was completed, but it awaited embroidered eyelashes, hair and other details.

The Highlands Ranch Quilting Bee has been meeting since 1995, a part of the 300-member Arapahoe County Quilter’s Guild, which has a number of bees, groups, under its umbrella — and a “Beekeeper,” who assists newcomers in connecting with a bee at a convenient time and location. (See www.acqcolorado.org).

These stitchers come from Highlands Ranch, Centennial, Littleton, Lakewood and look forward to meeting with the congenial group for instruction, an opportunity to make quilts that are given to charity and fellowship. Some, but not all, are members of the ACQ, according to chairman Lanie Tiffenbach, who, with Margarita Bosch, is an original bee member.

Some have been stitching for many years, while others have discovered the traditional craft more recently. Robbie Steinberg said Sandar Dallas’ novel “Alice’s Tulips,” inspired her, then she talked to neighbor Jo Jones’ husband at the mailbox and learned that his wife was a quilter. Bosch quietly added that quilting helped her get through the challenge of breast cancer. When she couldn’t sleep, she’d get up and piece blocks for a quilt.

The group meets from 1 to 3 p.m. on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month in a meeting room at the Highlands Ranch Library, 9292 Ridgeline Blvd. It is not limited to just quilters. There are members who knit, weave and cross stitch. Often there is a set program, where a member demonstrates a particular technique, pattern or project. On occasion, they meet at a member’s house for an all-day sewing bee with potluck lunch.

In the past, Tiffenbach says, they have had block exchanges, where each member sews a set of the same blocks, then exchanges with the others. The resulting blocks are then set into an individual pattern by each member, followed months later by a spirited meeting when they compare results.

Knitted helmets to fit under military helmets and soft cotton knit caps for cancer patients were also on the table, to be donated.

Many of the quilts created from donated fabric are given to charities such as Rocky Mountain Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House — a total of 55 last year. Several members gave quilts to “Quilts of Valor,” an organization started by a woman Iraqi war veteran, which sends quilts to wounded soldiers in a hospital in Germany.

Prospective members are welcome to join this active quilting bee. Contact Tiffenbach, 303-791-0086, tiffenbach@comcast.net — or just visit a meeting.