I also spend time with graph paper and pencils to design quilts and figure out blocks- it’s the only way I can keep a quilt framed within the size I want it to be. I’ve found a few ( on line) classes where you are taught to make templates but it seems like that is becoming harder to fine.
my son in Kentucky, who started sewing/ piecing in March after losing his job due to the pandemic has become quite good at figuring out blocks on graph paper and creating his own patterns when he spends a few hours figuring out how to make a block he often then creates a pattern for it so it’s easy next time.
he told me last week when he sketches out a new quilt then shows his wife she ( doesn’t get it- cannot envision what it will look like) he says he “ Sees in Color”