Providing your friend is color blind, you could try this.
Look outside at all the colors, hues, values, and "blends" in the yard, the garden, a park, a beach, the woods. Mother Nature may not make quilts but she sure has the "color thing" nailed.
I'm sitting her at work looking out the window at trees which display at least a half dozen shades of green...against sand color buildings and t deep blue sky. Put those colors in a quilt and you'd have a real beauty.
I liked the idea of using paint chips. And where do you find those? In a paint store, hardware store, or big-box home improvement store. If any of those have a nursery / landscaping area, go look at all the flowers and colors arrayed on the tables.
If you're in the LQS, remember to take your selections to a window or place where there's natural light. Most LQS have those miserable fluorescent lights which have a "blue" cast to them.
It's summer!! Go look at the colors outside. In the winter, the colors are just as gorgeous...but with a different "value".
Mother Nature has the key to understanding color.