As always, it depends on a lot of things -- color and scale are big things. Any chance of a picture or a more details?
Personally, I love small woven ginghams but then I do like working with stripes and plaids. Not as fond of printed checks but they work too. I find them crisp and easy to use. Pinwheels and stars can be just plain perky or maybe a bit more masculine with some colors. On the other hand, the larger the scale the harder it gets for me. In that case I usually think towards borders and backs, but simple squares alternating with other plain or pieced fabric works too.
There are types of embroidery work done on gingham and smocking too. It's pretty fun and easy stuff to do, put together a class/workgroup and maybe make donation dresses out of the experience.