Sometimes the stars align for a quilt block to turn out really awesome. This was one of those times...
After The Stash Bash, I joked with Kristi of Schnitzel & Boo that I would love for her to make me a Cargo Duffle. Some fun banter ensued, and we decided to do a fun little swap amongst ourselves. Except with both of us being pretty creative people, we both decided to make up a draw up fresh, original patterns for each other.
Sometimes, I take my computer to my son's gymnastics classes. Inevitably, I find myself fooling around in Electric Quilt, coming up with "someday" patterns and such, but two weeks ago I came up with something I couldn't shake. It was one of those things that I couldn't stop thinking about and had to make. Right away. So for the last week, I've been working on a this new block, which I'm calling Drop Dead Gorgeous.

After designing the block, I decided it would make a great mini for Kristi's sewing area, so I asked her about her favorite colors. She described her favorite colors as "girly but edgy," and I knew exactly what fabrics to go for in my stash...
And I got right to pressing and cutting. And measuring. And sewing. And ripping a lot of paper :) I quilted it using some assorted matching Aurifil 50 wt threads in white, gray, fuchsia, and lime green, and I love the texture that shows through on the backing.
Every little bit of the work was worth it because I just adore how her mini turned out, and I think she's pretty happy with it too, now that it's arrived at her house safely.
The pattern is now available via my Pattern Shop as well as Craftsy. Even if you've never paper pieced before, you can tackle this pattern. Yes, there are a lot of pieces of fabric involved (124 pieces, to be exact), but it's broken up into bite-size, manageable chunks that you can do. And if you're an experienced paper piecer, you can totally rock this pattern. The eleven page pattern is for a 16" block, and includes all of the cutting instructions, piecing instructions, colorful photographs and diagrams to assist you in your piecing, as well as line drawings of the block where you can experiment with your color placement to find the right mix of colors that makes you excited to work on this block.
Kara and Lisa sewed through this pattern for me to test it out over the long holiday weekend and they both made fabulous blocks!

If you make something using this pattern, please do share it with me! You can share it with me on Flickr in my Flickr group or on Instagram by tagging me (@dontcallmebetsy) or using the hashtag #dontcallmebetsy