I love samplers! You can vary the settings - they don't all have to be sashed (as you can see from the beautiful batik example). I have set them medallion-style, on point, with plain fabric between, etc. I also used "gradations" batik in various colors to put blocks of many colors together rainbow fashion. I like samplers, too, for practicing my machine quilting. They allow me to vary what I do in each block.