I've made several blocks in blues and tan muslin and some in browns/rusts with the same muslin.
If you scroll through bearisgray's PDA, you can see some of them.
I made the blue ones with just the blue and tan like most of the blocks in Jane's quilt, and the browns/rusts with the tan and sometimes another shade to show off the design better. I like the look of some of the three-fabric blocks a lot better.
I think tiny prints work better because the pieces are so small. If using a larger print, placement of the pieces really does matter.