I usually make a quilt based on one I've seen and liked, rarely do I use an exact pattern. I'm kind of a fly-by-the-seat of my pants" gal. That way I can say it's really my quilt. Once you've got the basics down and know how to make many of the quilt blocks out there, you can usually figure something out. I know some may need a pattern and that's OK too. We're all different & unique in how we get there. Our quilt shops have to make money to stay in business and need to sell patterns and believe me I've got enough patterns but just have gotten to the point where I can pretty well figure what and how I'm going to get there. Just have fun in the process.