I have to admit that when I first began quilting, I chose mostly traditional blocks, but coordinated in the colors I chose. Then, I was hosting our bi-annual family reunion, and I came up with this brilliant (?) idea of making a quilt that we could raffle off. The previous reunion my DB and SIL suggested that each family pick a color and wear T-shirts in that color so that our uncle from CA who had not met the majority of us could tell who belonged to who. Well, I received fabrics in those colors, green, red, yellow, purple, blue, teal, and black. I picked the album block, and made one block for each family - it was definitely a challenge and definitely took me out of my comfort zone. The quilt was a hit, my oldest brother won the quilt and I was encouraged to continue making quilts. After one more family colors quilt, I picked red/white/blue, green, black and white, blue, etc. and I now really enjoy the challenge of picking a color, a quilt block pattern/design and we end the reunion with the drawing for the quilt. I'm so glad that I started this tradition, as now something I made will be passed on, and my niece tells me that she's not ready to let me retire just yet - although this last reunion she graciously quilted the quilt on her long arm. I guess this says I love traditions with a challenge.