What about her school colors? I think she would like any color, really. She is not a child anymore, but a lady on her quest for "the rest of her life". All the colors can be a part of that life, but so could the other color choice. Good luck in choosing.

I would certainly check with her mom on color choices if you want it to be surprised. If not, taking her out shopping at LQS and see what her likes are. I usually pick a pick a pattern then find the fabric that inspires me to make the quilt. I have always loved purple and teal so I made this quilt for myself but still haven't had time to put the borders on. Quilt is called Island Chain.

I prefer batiks within a single color group or color theme. An individual Batik SKU won't have near as much color as say, a print SKU, so getting a wide variety of hues is difficult to harmonize. Chops will had more color variation and easier to get variety if you need it.

Not saying there aren't some great examples, it's just that I tend to see them as blenders.

That is a gorgeous quilt.

I like both. It really is what the person prefers some people have colors they absolutely hate and most jelly rolls ie balipops/tonga treats can have a huge mixture of colors that work well together and there are many strip patterns out there

I am making a blue and purple lovers knot by Eleanor burns and it is very lovely. And I have made a bargello with warm and cool batiks ranging from purple blue to pinkish orange and it is striking so really you can use any color combination depending on the pattern of choice

I haven't tried sorting my batiks, though I do plan a red/pink/purple for me. I like a mix with black sashing, especially for younger recipients. I have pulled a few from the design wall, but that's rare. The Drunkard's Path was lovely in mixed batiks without sashing.

I made a scrappy, multi-colored batik disappearing 9-patch using black in the middle of each block. It was lovely. Sorry to not have a pic to show.

I agree that it depends on the pattern and what colors she likes.

I've used batiks both ways and I love them all. I do feel there are good batiks and bad batiks, at least in my mind's eye, and they are not all equal. I do not care for batiks that are splattered with all colors. I think my favorite quilt (so far) is a bargello that I call Ocean Waves, made with all blues and teals.