I totally understand that feeling of "blah" when you're working with colours you don't usually pick because it's for someone else. But the last time I did it, I pulled the finished quilt off the frame to bind it, threw it across my couch, and nearly fell over from the shock of how good it looked. Up until the point it was done I was really unenthusiastic, but seeing it finished I soooo didn't want to give it up.
I do the "one block" thing too.... I'll go into my room thinking I'll just do one block. That way it doesn't seem such a huge task.
:-)