Nu? Am I cheating if I toss a IV chord for all of Bar 2. How about a V7 for the last half of Bar 12?
Didn’t understand a word of that, but as a really bad drummer, 12 bar blues are all I can keep time to (sometimes).
Look for a sleepy horse, find an awake Zebra 
I’m admittedly not much of a blues player, but isn’t that just a common “quick four” variant of 12 bar blues?
For those that are having trouble parsing the question, 12 bar blues basically follows the chord progression I I I I IV IV I I V IV I I. If you are in the key of C, then I=C, IV=F, and V=G.
The “quick four” version starts off I IV I I instead of I I I I.
Why anyone would call that cheating is beyond me, but like I said I’m not much of a blues player.
I found this on youtube which explains what a 12 bar blues is a lot better than I can:
There’s nothing sacred about a 12 bar. It’s just a sort of summary of patterns used by blues players for many years. If you listen to the old bluesmen, they often didn’t stick to a rigid sequence, they would often throw in extra bars or leave some out.
Blues is more about the feel than the strict form. Toss in whatever you like! 
Substitute a minor V 7 for one bar of the I, then you’re really cooking!
The thread needs a theme song.
I admit to tossing in a iii in the 2nd bar too.
About all I can add is during a recent gig I found myself playing quite a bit of 12 bar blues (on upright bass.) How boring.
And predictable. That’s why it’s so popular at jams. You don’t really have to think about the chord progression. Well, maybe except for Stormy Monday.
I’ve played a variant that goes (in A): A D A A D D# A F# B E (then half measures:) A F# B E
I guess that’s I IV I I IV IV# I VI? II? V (half:) I VI II V
Fun once in a while. Just lay down a groove. But unless you have a versatile frontman who changes things up, IMO one after another gets mighty old mighty quick.
That is absolutely normal and standard.
You want a fun one that you might not recognize as a blues progression though it actually follows IIII IV IV II V IV I I ? LIsten to the verses of “Peg” by Steely Dan. That’s the blues progression, though voiced through the jazzy mind of Donald Fagan, so you get that major seventh extensions instead of the traditional minor/dominant seventh.
Like playing both kinds of music: Country AND Western… 
Steely Dan had some interesting variations on the blues, but of course as was their habit, they would go off into some gnarly chords after a bluesy start…
AH! Ninja’d by Pulykamell!
Pretty sure that progression is more than 12 bars tho. Great song.
No, the verse is straight-up 12 bar blues when you start with “I’ve seen your picture.”
ETA: From the horse’s mouth, too:
E E7 A Am EE C7 Bm7 E
I said the verse. I mean if Donald Fagan’s cite isn’t enough I don’t know what else to say.