You mention the idea of a sampler quilt... heres a link to the one I made my Gran for last christmas
http://www.quiltingboard.com/posts/list/5324.page
I was able to choose the blocks so they had a special meaning. The first quilt I did was a sampler, on a course.
I dont know if theres a quilt shop local to you that could advise you, or maybe someone on here lives close to you?