I am also looking at making one for my MIL's 80th birthday.
These are some ideas I have come up with so far, I think this is a single irish chain pattern
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-37126-1.htm
I think this is a nice idea too with plenty of room for photos, quotes or feature fabric,
http://www.eeschenck.com/i/0/pattern...ory_Quilts.pdf
Or these patterns by Lisa Moore would work really well with photos instead of feature fabric, there are quite a few here that would work.
http://quiltswithatwist.com/store/re...hp?category=15
Hope these help