If you're flying VFR, pilotage and (rough) dead reckoning should always be your primary form of navigation, backed up with things like VOR, GPS, iPad, etc. You don't necessarily have to have a VFR flight plotted out on a chart with an immaculate navlog like you did when you're doing you're private, but you should be able to figure out roughly what direction, which landmarks you'll pass, how much time it'll take, and how much fuel you're gonna use BEFORE you go, in addition to being able to make rough estimations in the air.
My interpretation of your flight club's rule is you aren't required to use an actual paper chart, but you cannot solely navigate by looking at how far away you are from your magenta line on your iPad. Use the chart on your iPad to find landmarks outside.