What a surprise to find your question - just as I sat down and signed in. It's a coincidence because I just drove home, with "how can I make a green quilt, to cut down on my incredible stash of green?" on my mind. My mind said - try a 2"square nine patch (all green - scrappy) and then an 8" neutral made into a snowball block. Using greens for the corners, of course.
I thought that with the larger neutral, the actual quilting (say, a feathered wreath) could bring one's eyes to the neutral patch, with the nine-patch squares, being a compliment to the neutral instead of overpowering ... make sense? I don't know, but it did to me. I think I'll try it. Or something on that order.