Welcome from South Louisiana. The first pattern I made when I started was "Just Can't Cut It".
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/43136108902579589/
I didn't buy the pattern, because I have been sewing for a million years too. I looked at the block and saw that if I made it a finished 12" block, one side would be 2 6" finished sized squares (cut each square 6.5"), unfinished sewn together, 6.5" x 12 1/2". And the other side was 3 pieces that had to finish at 6x12. I cut them at 6.5" x 4.5" each and sewed them together. The neat thing was that I only had to have 5 colors. I could do that. It turned out nice and I got a lot of confidence with that project.