For the past few months the only time I have to spend in my sewing room is at night.  I'm a hack quilter at best so can you imagine if I tried to do any piecing at night with blurred vision and a foggy brain?!?  That's how one becomes very up close and personal with one's seam ripper!  I go to my quilt group meetings feeling like the slacker I am, only to leave inspired and motivated to get home and get to quilting!  Then reality slaps me upside my head and all I can do these days is think about the quilts I want to make! 

This is a pillow Diane made...she bought the panel and then sewed on the leather and suede -this is one of two.  Very clever, cool, completely wonderful.  Diane hosted us and she served us a wonderful lunch, it's always fun to go to her home!

Diane showed us a tutorial on Missouri Star Quilts for a new way of making stars - it's very interesting and if you haven't seen it, watch it, you'll be as impressed as we were!  Here's the link:  Stars and Stripes Quilt Tutorial  Our group is making a different star, however, which is our new project for American Hero Quilts.  The star we are making is pictured above and it's from Cluck Cluck Sew, here's the link for her tutorial:  No Point Stars.  Cluck Cluck Sew's pattern is great because you can trim the block down to whatever size you want, without losing the points!  Who knew?!?  When we get enough star blocks we will sew them up into a quilt and give to American Hero Quilts.

This is  Diane's house quilt - pretty dang wonderful!  I love the blue at the top and the white fabric behind the roofs - it makes all of the houses really stand out.  We had a bit of discussion about "white" in quilts - I'm all for it, I like that the white shows off the other fabrics.  I really need to get my house quilt done!  Oy vey.

Diane was helping a friend clean out her sewing room or maybe she was moving, can't remember, anyway, the friend was going to toss the machine embroidered rabbit fabric!!  Diane was at the right place at the right time and saved the bunny!!  She turned it into this cute pillow and then sewed on all of those tiny little buttons!!! 

 This little beauty was made by Helen with Timeless Treasures fabrics - not her "normal cup o' tea."  But if you'll notice, the blocks are definitely "Helen" blocks...she'll give this to one of the two great-grandchildren that will be born soon!  On another note, Helen told our group about a new quilting TV show on PBS, it's called Fresh Quilting  - be sure to check it out!

That's Barbara's arm holding up her latest quilt, called Clamshells.  This picture doesn't show the true colors, it's much happier in person!  This looks like so much work to me - anytime there's a curve it has to be pinned and y'all know I hate pinning!  But Barbara assured us it was easy...maybe for her!  Looks at all those fun fabrics!!

Janet bought this panel and then "chenilled" it and made it into a pillow.  I think it's pretty dang swell...people still say swell, right?  The pillow has been washed but it might take another few washings before the fabric is truly like a chenille. 

That's my hand holding the Chenille cutter that Janet used to make her pillow..it slips under the layers of fabrics and cuts them, without cutting through the bottom fabric - pretty cool!  Who thinks these things up?? 

Speaking of thinking things up, Stephanie has been collecting bottle caps for quite a while - she had enough caps for her art class students to make these incredible pictures/bottle cap paintings!  Who would ever think of doing something like this?!?!  Pretty cool, no?

They are rather quilt-like, too...I love these projects and I'm sure Stephanie's kids did, too! 

Stephanie's scrap quilt is officially done - quilted and bound - and it's wonderful!  Let me remind you that those blocks are made from scraps that people were going to throw away!  Stephanie rescued them and made this fabulous quilt...I'd like to say I now save my scraps because of this but...

Terry very generously volunteered to sew together the blocks our group made and then she quilted and bound this quilt.  It was headed for donation to our favorite charity but when I told the group about a dear friend who has some serious health issues and asked if we could give it to her, it was unanimous, they all instantly said yes.  I took the quilt to my friend, who is also friends with many in our quilt group and when she saw it she cried happy tears and immediately covered herself with the quilt.  I've been to visit her several times and each time she's had the quilt over her.  Hopefully she knows it was truly stitched with love. 

This is Terry's house quilt - another masterpiece!!!  I love the white, love the bright happy colors, too!  Terry asked us to use "Kaffe" fabrics...only see a few but it all works so nicely!  This is a really big quilt and Terry didn't use all of the houses she received in it - so she made a smaller version...

Sorry this is blurry - even so, you can tell just how wonderful this little quilt it!  I like the idea of giving a "house quilt" as a baby gift, especially if someone in my neighborhood had a baby, how sweet would that be???  From all the neighbors...if the neighbors quilted...if I quilted...

Terry made this quilt a while ago - she has been so good about finishing up projects!  I love the sweet simplicity of this quilt - and the colors remind me of sherbet...and who doesn't like that?!?

This is another quilt Terry pulled from her project pile and finished...wonder how many she has left to do??  I'm so impressed with all Terry manages to get done...I love the flowers in this quilt - years ago I made a flower quilt and I've been thinking of many another one...maybe in my next life.

This sweet little quilt is made with the left-over scraps from the quilt below...Kareena made it.  I'm so glad my grand-daughter Elsa is too young to read my blog because she would see this picture and want this quilt and the bigger one, too...she's a HUGE fan of anything pink!  If I was a really good grandma I'd make her one...like I said, in my next life!  Way to go Kareena!

Kareena's ombre pink crayon quilt...love, love, love this!  As in really love this.  Pink crayons are my favorite.  Just sayin'.

I didn't get a very good picture of this massive Halloween quilt Kareena is making.  She is going to have barbed-wire quilted into the quilt...pretty cool!  The pattern for the crows came from Martha Stewart, so you know it's a good thing.

Check out these coasters Denise made - they are beaded all the way around!  So cute!  Denise brought some other fabric coasters she made, the kind that go around the bottom of a wine glass, but I failed to get a picture of them!  So sorry!  

In my notes I wrote down that Denise made these cross-stitched pictures but then I wrote her grandma did...maybe she made them for her grandma??  I can barely keep things straight, even when I write then down!  But no matter, they are wonderful, whoever made them! 

I'll leave you with a picture of the pretty table Diane set for us and a picture of some of the food she made...chicken salad sandwiches with croissants, a delicious green salad, her signature tomato bisque soup and cheesecake with strawberries!  I think there was something else, too, she always takes good care of us!  Thanks Diane!