I have made many baby quilts. For casual acquaintances and/or co-workers I try to surprise them so I ask no questions.
If I happen to hear what the nursery theme is I try to use the same colors but not necessarily the same theme. I have made rag quilts, red/white/black (the couple had not even decided on a theme but they liked the quilt so much that's what they ended up doing with the nursery), classic Winnie the Pooh, frog quilt in bright blues/green/yellow, strippy scrap in purples/lavenders/pinks/mauves with appliqued hearts.
When my niece had her babies I went whole hog. Her first son's nursery was done in turtles. So I scoured the internet for turtle patterns and made an applique quilt in blues and greens.
It was completely serendipitous that the fabrics coordinated perfectly with the bedding, almost as if I had had swatches with me. The second one (who's just a day or two shy of being 1mo old) was an adventure. She couldn't make up her mind what to do the nursery in so she kind of turned it over to me and my sister. That baby got the red/white/blue punch buggy quilt I recently posted a picture of.
I will probably not have any grandchilden but if a miracle happens and/or my niece has a third baby and it's a girl durn skippy I will be making something pink and frilly and feminine.
Yee haw!