I think the idea of changing to a darker border and sashing sounds good to me. Betcha he likes the quilt when it is done!

Sorry to go off on a tangent but I have to ask- is this washable? I thought ties were dry clean only?

When making a boy or man's quilt, I don't use pink or purple and absolutely no flowers. Everything else is good.
You appliques will be just fine and blue is for boys or men.

I think you need to be careful on fabric choice, some of those look too whimsical and juvenile. I would use colors of blues, greens, and golds (batiks) for the fish. Rainbow Trout fish have a lot of color. Another good source is to look online at different fish for ideas of color.

Applique is looking good, I would use different fabric (darker) for the sashing/borders. It seems a bit juvenile for that hold of a man. Good luck.

I decided to keep the fish which I am now appliqueing on my machine and go with darker boarders. I like the idea of a bow tie quilt and might make one at a later date, but he loves to fish and he is going through depression and has off and on all his life and to me bright colors are more cheerful. I guess it boils down to what you know about the person and your own personal tastes. Thanks so much for all your help, I wouldn't have changed the boarders without it and it is going to look much better with the warm green. I will post a picture of the top when I have it put together.

It does make a difference when you know the person you are sewing for. Be sure to tell him he needs a quilt to wrap up in when he is feeling down - the quilt will wrap him in love.

My Dad was always cold at night - I made him a chenille cuddler - he used it every night after that and was never cold again. I told him it was all the love stitched into it that kept him warm.

Your appliques are great! Hope he loves it!

With my guys (I have 5 sons and a daughter) I've learned to ask what colors/pattern they want. Sometimes I can predict what they will like and other times they pick something I would not have guessed they would like.