My first quilt was New York Beauty by Karen Stone. I have made several of her paper pieced quilts, and now am working on Raindrops by Judy Niemeyer.
After six of these quilts, I now have curved piecing down pat. Finally! Not much ripping out on this one.
I would have to say I prefer modern quilts with jewel or bright colors. I really like working with the tighter weave of batiks.
My goal is to learn applique, make an art quilt, and take the time to figure out how to take pictures of my quilts and get them online for "show and tell"!