I recently finished my Majestic Mountains Quilt for a Quilts of Valor celebrity auction. I was invited to participate by Marianne Fons, who is on the board for Quilts of Valor and generally someone that you don’t say no to. When she asked, and I said yes, there was months to design and finish a mini quilt – no problem! The focus was to be on America the Beautiful and living here in the mountains, I’m always in awe of their vast presence in my life, so I knew exactly what I wanted to focus on, but took my time finding the right way to go about it.

Quilts of Valor - Quilt Auction - Majestic Mountains by Amy Ellis - AmysCreativeside.com

Finally, the week before the deadline, I realized paper piecing was the way to go, and put together this pattern for an 18″x24″ mini. Using gradients of grey and greens, with a pretty pond I was able to create depth, and height – especially when I added the quilting.

Quilts of Valor - Quilt Auction - Majestic Mountains by Amy Ellis - AmysCreativeside.com

In the sky area I had the computer add matchstick quilting every 1/8″ of an inch, and in the mountain I added random nearly vertical lines. I had purchased green thread to quilt the foothills, but found that I really liked the dimension of it unquilted as I got to that point.

Quilts of Valor - Quilt Auction - Majestic Mountains by Amy Ellis - AmysCreativeside.com

I used a variegated thread in the mountain space, that echoes the light to dark of the mountains, which adds the imperfections and color shifts usually found in the mountainside.

Quilts of Valor - Quilt Auction - Majestic Mountains by Amy Ellis - AmysCreativeside.com

A quick glimpse of our mountains – they are part of my everyday, and I love the view! I’ll be making this one again, my kids were all sad to see my Majestic Mountains quilt shipped off for the auction. I may also make the pattern available if there’s enough interest.

Happy quilting –

Amy

ETA – This mini quilt now has a pattern! Make your own version in one of two sizes, in the colors and prints you love.