Originally Posted by b.zang

My one thought about letting someone else pick the pattern, is that most often the patterns are made up using certain colours. Someone who is new at picking might have trouble visualizing the pattern in different colours, or might be distracted by the colour combinations in the quilt.

The idea of picking one fabric then coordinating around it is a great idea. That's how I've done it, and I don't think anyone's been disappointed yet. That leaves me the decision of what pattern would best suit the initial choice as well.