New to Digital Cartography? Software General Information

[ChickPea]

Do you not have a dropdown menu in the pattern fill area (this is on the Fill & Stroke panel)? There's a list of various patterns and sizes there. I mean, the default Inkscape patterns are not that exciting, but there should be more than one pattern. I have horizontal stripes in black & white of various sizes, plus some other bits and bobs like checkerboard, polka dot etc. You can resize/rotate each pattern on the canvas too.

And just for clarity, the bucket fill tool is completely apart from the fill & stroke tool. They operate differently and aren't a shortcut for each other (though I can see why you would think that). If your shape is closed (no gaps in the line), just click it once to select it, then click a random colour swatch at the bottom of the page, and your shape will be filled with the new colour instantly, without any faffing around.

[Antindies]

Excellent, thank you!

[Darkmage1337]

Interesting read.
What category would Wonderdraft fall under on this software program list?