it doesn't matter how many colors you put in your 9patches...there are so many in the panel...just take it to your stash and the store and try to see what matches nicely... I would eliminate the black as you might want that as you binding AND blacks are really hard to match... tho you could luck out... but the red, greens, yellows, golds, oranges, turquoise, and purples are so vibrant...and the print will make them all go together, so i would start with the ones that i could find that matched really well and go from there... you don't have to use all of them... but an assortment would follow more the style of the color use in the panel... it is so dominant, you just want 5 or 7 colors all mixed up in randomly colored 9 patches to look like they belong with what the fabric designer did... and at the same time, be bold enough to hold their own...if you cut 2.5 strips which finish at 2"....which means a 6" block... that's an extra foot on the quilt before you get to the borders.... then maybe do another 2.5 strip for the first border and some wider choices outside that...the same size strip border as the squares in the 9 patch is another unifying item... they did all the work for you...now you just have to go thru your stash and find something that compliments the drawing and the colors... if he loved it...let it be what he liked...

PS...if you decide to do a block all round for size adjustment, do a row of the blocks for sides, top and bottom and then trim the panel in unobtrusive places to make it fit perfectly rather than the other way round... as most prints are 18, 24, 30 and 36 inch repeats, this shouldn't be difficult to do... this print reminds me of Frida Kahlo's work... both in design and colors... good luck and let us see what you did...if you post the result here on this thread, then all of us who followed it will be sure to see it....

Maybe put a black edge, then fussy cut some squares ?3 inch/4 inch? of the fabrics, and the equivalent of these in black, then go around the edge again with that(like a weave). Then another plain black border. Then edge it in a red red fabric.
Love the fabric.

http://www.juliebdesigns.com/blog/20...-bright-quilt/
like this?
How lovely of you to do this for him.

a window frame around it then peiced blocks or segments of the pictorial elements in surrounding windows would be FABULOUS!
look up the book Attic Windows- for some inspiration...they work wonderfully for fabrics you want to use whole!

I would frame it with a thin strip of red material and then a wide black border. I can see why he doesn't want it cut.

I like this idea.

I've seen red roses and skull fabric that would look cool with that. I think I would do some blocks that would mimic some of the things in the fabric, ex. Courthouse steps could look like pyramid steps, hourglass block using gold in top part with skulls in bottom. I would also off-set the large fabric (maybe in bottom left corner) to give top a more planned layout. Hope this helps!

Good Idea...

Here is a quilt that I did with space fabric and offset stars as a border. Just an idea. Spotlight is also a great pattern for using panels or whole cloth.