Boo,
I usually follow the traditional patterns too. I love tradition, don't you? Then I discovered Yvonne Porcella's book, Magical Four-Patch and Nine-Patch QUilts. Wow! It just let me cut loose. I made a black and white quilt that started with a nine patch and just grew! I added strips and then added some other blocks, some plain squares, decided to add a little bit of color. I just kept adding blocks and strips to my design wall until I had a quilt the size I wanted. Most of them were attached by then so it was a simple matter to finish it up. I ended up not following Yvonne Porcella's directions but she gave me the nerve to start without a pattern!
This spring my sisters and I made a quilt for our aunt. We all made traditional blocks and then put them together. The blocks were many sizes so we had to add more blocks to fill in. It turned out to be a beautiful scrappy quilt. That's another way to take off without real plan.
Bottom line, you just need to jump in!