As a botanical illustrator, I draw a lot of florals. 

After a while it can feel a bit repetitive. I thought to myself, what would it looked like if I combined my passions--cooking and drawing--and treated them with as much beauty and romanticism as I typically treat my floral subject matter.

It started with a clove of garlic. And it was GORGEOUS.
The work was calling to be created. One ingredient at a time, all while feverishly exchanging ideas with my favorite copywriter, I began to bring this pasta pattern to life.

I illustrated all of my favorite pasta ingredients including several shapes of noodles, shallots, tomatoes, garlic and cloves, Maldon salt, anchovies, basil, oregano and parmesan. 

I reached out to my friend Dan Lee (@dandrawnwords) to tackle the lettering. Dan and I worked together on a project a few years ago: here and I knew he was the perfect person to interpret the noodle-inspired brief.

Below, see Dan's initial sketches above the final lettered artwork.  

I was delighted to enlist the help of Lyndsay Rush Sanders (@rushbomb) yet again, for a project that was near and dear to our pasta-loving hearts. (Lyndsay and I worked together during Valentine's Day 2021: here)

She came up with nearly 100 taglines for this ridiculous little passion project, but ultimately we decided on just three of our favorites. 

Because why not create a completely over-the-top pasta pattern? 
The pattern was completed in Adobe Photoshop using a 20x20" pattern tile at 300dpi.

Below, see the pattern building process in-progress and finalized.

More of Maggie's work can be found on instagram: @littlepatterns

or at littlepatterns.com