I tend to go to both extremes. I walk into a LQS and see all the pretty quilts/wall hangings they have up, especially for seasonal things--Valentines for instance :) Isn't that why they do that! There is an old saying "there's a sucker born every minute" well that's me! I buy the fabric and the pattern. I follow the pattern for the 1st one, then my creative side (what little there is of it) will take over I will switch fabric, move pieces about etc. I also graph out patterns to make a quilt. I find I need to have "something" in my hand to lay the pieces out correctly! I can actually mess that up too! I do envy the quilters who can see a qult and remember it long enough to duplicate it without benifit of patterns...I have a ton and enjoy looking for more. I have also seen quilts that I know I would never make and then see it again in another color and fall in love with it! Go figure! That's why I love quilting.