>>Hats, balls, and cushions are all great small projects. If you're a gamer, or know gamers, polyhedral dice are easy to make in a variety of sizes.<<

Oo, those are all good ideas :D

>>You can make stuff like flowers, leaves, and popcorns then assemble them; or make squares and rectangles until you get something the size of a quilt block or a cushion.<<

That sounds like a good idea. Indeed, I have a few crochet quilt ideas saved that seem to use the "make squares and rectangles and stick them together" method. That feels like a more realistic starting point for me, then I can get to the more abstract stuff later.