I think it works best if you include the recipient in the fabric and design choices. Some folks just plain do not like quilts, too! And taste in colour etc. is so individual.
FWIW my mom was a weaver and would often give us really awful woven items. I know she meant well and I really appreciated the thought behind the gifts, but after 2 years of dutifully wearing a woven coat in a dark pumpkin orange, one of my least favourite colours and one I look ghastly in, I finally decided the coat and I were not soulmates, and I donated it.
I agree with tallchick that most folks have NO IDEA what goes into making a quilt, and for that I blame the "quilt in a day/weekend/3 yards" advertisings. They do not get how many hours of your time the quilt represents. Let alone the costs.
Past that, once you give a gift, let go of what happens to the gift. The recipient appreciates the gifting, if not the gift.
And...my great aunt gave me a quilt years ago made of polyester squares of dark blue and turquoise, backed in flannel. It is not a particularly beautiful quilt but I loved who gave it to me...she was notoriously thrifty but was so thrilled to hear that at 20 I was learning to make quilts, so she impulsively gave me one (even let me choose from a few). That quilt was on my bed in the hospital for the births of my three daughters. I treasure it.
So...some folks really do treasure the quilts you give. You just have to find the folks!!
Past that maybe something smaller? I find mug rugs are always appreciated.