"Modern" quilts are simply quilters having visions that others may or may not share (think of the impressionist painters!). I also admire "straight" quilts greatly, but if I have to make a huge # of the same square... well, I can't. I have 2 UFOs from the same class (one of 3 classes I've taken) and I quickly finished 1/4 of each... and had 90 more to do!!!! Friends tell me they find it very relaxing, but they must be type B personalities and I'm definitely type A.
I think about the person for whom a quilt is being designed and go from there. Sometimes I look at someone else's quilt and morph off from that to make my quilt (they'd never recognize it came from theirs) so I'm not particularly creative. Some of my quilts are blocks and some are landscapes, some are really just pictures, and some are something else. I know not everyone will like them, but I think the particular recipient has always.
Urrr, almost. A cousin won a quilt in a raffle to help a grandchild go on an international trip. After 2 years I have told him to give it back and we'll work out a design he and his wife will like. It was a pictorial of Yosemite and did have an unattractive area in it (which is being fixed) but they are conservative and want a pretty design. That's OK.
Isn't it great what a variety we are!!!! This way we may skip some quilting threads and actually find time to quilt!