I started out using simple patterns for quilts, and now I either play with graph paper until I doodle something I like, or I will start with a fabric and idea I like, and let the quilt build itself in my head as I come up with new ideas. My current project is a free pattern from Robin Pandolph for the center, and as I come up with ideas I will create it sort of like my own 'round robin'. I want to join a round robin, but I want to see what I come up with first.