There are such opportunities with sampler quilts. I have made several and studied them at quilt shows. Some have a color continuity whether it is one fabric coordinated into every block. Others feature a mixture of techniques such as pieced blocks, applique, paper piecing, etc. One that I saw one time that was really an eye catcher was a single pattern in the blocks but a different color scheme in every block; eg. monochromatic, analogous, complementary, etc. So, the long and short of it is that a sampler is whatever you want it to be. Sometimes, it is the border treatment that pulls it all together. Have fun with it.