Every year, as Christmas approaches, I pull out my Christmas stash and make one or two new paper pieced block designs.  My Christmas quilt is definitely a slow going work in progress but I don’t mind. I do not have a pressing need for a completed Christmas quilt, but every year I get the urge to sew a little bit of Christmas-y something.  So, this pace is perfect.  It satisfies my holiday crafting need!

My Christmas fabrics include many older prints and some newer ones that have the right feel for my quilt.  I am going for a bit of a vintage Christmas look.  However, I am making several different sized blocks so I will definitely have a modern, alternate grid layout at the end.

I recently upgraded to EQ8, the newest version of the Electric Quilt design software.  This was the first block that I designed exclusively using EQ8.  The interface is very different from EQ7, more intuitive and more pleasing to the eye.  For those of us who are used to EQ7, it takes a little bit of time to get used to finding buttons in new locations but I am adapting easily.  Some of my favorite features thus far are:

The ability to “fussy cut” fabric when coloring your drawing.

The ability to remove piecing lines from your quilt top diagram with a single click.

Color coded foundation pattern pieces.

An updated fabric and color palette for coloring designs.

And…in EQ7, if you colored a block design, then went back and adjusted a piecing line, you would have to recolor.  No longer!  The colors stay in place.  This is a huge!

This was a fun block to design. I shaped the mug after my favorite tea mug and added whipped cream on top of the cocoa, just like my husband and children like!  An added peppermint stick would only delight them more but we don’t often do that!

If you are interested in making this block, the pdf pattern is available for immediate download in my pattern shop, Etsy shop and Craftsy shop.  Happy sewing!