I would not consider Gypsy Wife a good pattern for a beginner. Not because it's difficult as far as sewing, but I found the instructions difficult to follow, and figured it was good that I could tell what I needed to do based on the picture. I really struggled with the layout after I had the blocks complete because of the lack of measurements - most often you have to do the math yourself to figure out what size block goes where.
I think it would be really neat to do this and use my own favorite blocks instead of the ones in the pattern. As long as you have the correct size blocks to combine with the strips.