How do I make a beautiful quilt? With Love. Of course, that answer popped out before I actually read your post, but I think it still might apply. I saw you made one for your gd, didn't you make that one with love? Thinking about how much you love her and wanting her to feel that love every time she wraps up with it? That is the way I make quilts(and with their tastes in mind, of course!)and I think they can see the love sewn into their quilts so they see the quilt through love colored glasses, they don't really see the mistakes. So, that is the way I try to look at my quilts. They instantly become prettier. Sorry this got so long, sorry for the run on sentence too!
Also, I just finished my second quilt and find using collections of fabric that are already color coordinated is one less thing I can mess up.