Am I the only one who makes quilts using a pattern?
 

It seems everyone designs their own quilts. I have never done that. I know that you can use graph paper. Well, that would be too hard for me. I buy books, magazines and patterns and stick to them. I feel left behind. I would like to design my own quilt but without an equilter or graph paper or anything hard. What is an easy way to do it? Or should I just stick to patterns? I've been quilting a long, long time and shy away from hard quilts and have never made a Y seam before. I love applique but do a lot of piecing. Any help?

Just do whatever makes you happy and comfy! Personally, I love the "old" patterns; the older they are, the more I like them. It feels as if I'm going back in time, joining my quilting ancestors. If you want to design your own quilt, maybe you can just cut some squares and triangles, then arrange them in different patterns, on your cutting table. You could even do that with craft foam . . . or just pick up a bunch of tangrams and make designs with them. :)

Try a disappearing 9-patch using charm squares. After the blocks are done you can play with the layout. This will make the design your own. Or make your own sampler quilt using blocks you like that all finish up to the same size. I have Electric Quilt but still find myself just sketching out a design on plain paper when I have an idea. Keep it simple. Bet it will be easier than you think.

Well, I for one don't let myself be pressured into going into something that is outside my comfort zone anymore. I love patterns and clear directions. I enjoy looking at the artistic quilts, but love the established ones I can do. I am not artistic, but what I create is beautiful and loved by whomever I give one to.

I only use patterns--not smart enough to design my own. I really like the patterns from the 30's and 40's.

With only one exception, I have always used a pattern. There is nothing wrong with that. The one exception was a quilt for my brother. He wanted a king size and picked a fabric collection but gave no other direction. Since it was nautical I knew I wanted the center to be a star (compass-like) medallion (I wasn't quite up to a compass yet), and since there were novelty fabrics in the collection, I knew I wanted to highlight them. So I just went for it. I started with the star and built on from there, working around the center. I used graph paper to some extent to plan the outer borders to reach a certain desired size. Since he is a boat and flag lover, I also knew I wanted to incorporate nautical signal flags so I designed them to spell out "Dan Loves Bev" along the outer border. (pics attached - please try to ignore the carpet it is lying on! You can see that I used some blocks, like the center star and the sailboats in the corners, that I found in books, but otherwise, it was just improvised.) It was fun, but all my quilts since have been from patterns. I just don't always have the spark of creativity until I see what I want in a pattern. So, if you are anxious to try something on your own, just do it by picking something you love and are passionate about and dive in. You don't have to use equilter or anything else. Otherwise, there is no reason to change what you are doing.

If it makes you happy to use patters, do it. I don't trust my math skills to try and come up with patterns on my own so I stick to patterns that have been figures out for me. AND Bonus - they have the yardage figured out already as well. I use quilting as down time. I don't want to think to much. I just want to cut and sew. I'm more than happy to let someone else do the thinking and figure out the patterns for me.

I am also a pattern only person and am only too glad to pay others for their hard work in figuring out a beautiful pattern. My talents lie in great piecing ability not designing:)

I prefer to use a pattern myself. The only quilts I've "designed" were usually blocks or strips and blocks together which I don't really consider too much designing. If I use a pattern, the directions are right in front of me and I don't have to calculate how much fabric I need.