I think a sampler as a first quilt is a great way to go. It was one of my first and I learned so much. When I look at it now and see the quilting on the squares, You can tell which ones were the first, I had big stitches and hey now thats coming into style. It was a quilt as you go and it still is looking pretty good but faded. I want to make another sampler sometime cause that was over 20 years ago.Your color choice for the quilt probably says what colors were in vogue at that time. It's a pretty quilt and it has a story to tell. You gotta love that.