Box? what box? Even my first quilt top (Yellow Brick Road) I made up different blocks for it. I then took drawings of all the blocks made and put it in a CAD program to make sure not only did two seams never meet as I put the blocks together but that two colors never met.
Since then, I use patterns as concepts. Everyone throws another idea torch into my head and something weird comes out.
The ones I like are the designers who say "From Fabric A cut 2754 2.5 in squares". Like that is going to happen.
Closest I have come to following a pattern is Michelle Watts Southwest design quilts. They are too beautiful to mess around with.
tim in san jose