I did about 50+ blocks and tried to stay close to the original colors with reproduction fabrics or "old fashioned" looking prints. It was kind of starting to get stressful to do that so I put it away for awhile (like 6 years, lol). My background is a creamy solid. Since I started DJ, I've become MUCH more relaxed in fabric choices thanks to Bonnie Hunter. I may go back to DJ and stick with original colors but just use whatever is in the stash - reproduction or not. For many of the blocks, even a fat eighth is a lot of fabric. If you like reproductions, I would check around on line and see if there are some nice fat eighth bundles, or if you are in a guild or quilting group see if you can exchange some fabrics or gather scraps from friends. BTW, I have the book, but when I was really getting into it I bought the CD. That's how I learned to paperpiece. :-)