My husband has very decided opinions about what he likes in quilts, and unfortunately, I learned that lesson the hard way. He doesn't love my quilts just because I made them--he appreciates the time and love I put into them, but he won't use something that doesn't meet his needs or appeal to his aesthetic, and that's just who he is.
I was thinking about this issue myself this weekend, because I just now finished a quilt I started for him 10 years ago :-) We were still dating when I started it, and it was supposed to be a surprise. I picked green and yellow fabrics, thinking those were cheerful but gender neutral. I had finished the top when I found out that he hates yellow. I fessed up to the surprise and unfortunate choice of color, and he said he'd love a quilt, but he wanted to pick the colors.
I've made 3 quilts for him since then, and one for a friend of his, and I found that he doesn't mind florals if they're tone on tone and "classy" (think botanical line drawing/illustrations), doesn't like batiks at all ("they're just splotchy" lol), and prefers jewel tones. He also likes his quilts fluffy to the point of being more comforter then quilt, but he's asked me to make a few "quilts with the white spaces" like his grandma had.
I don't give surprise quilts anymore, too much work to not have the recipient absolutely love it. I'm just sorry it took me so long to finish the green/yellow quilt; it's MINE now and I love it :-D