Might just show him patterns and ask which he likes best - but he has no idea I'm going to make this for him. He gives me lots of input when I'm quilting (and get stuck) so asking him a question won't seem out of the ordinary.

This is a pattern I bought some time ago and have purchased the fabric for. I hope to get to it soon. Thought you might like to take a look at the pattern.

http://quiltbug.com/images/patterns/third-weekend.jpg

What about an old fashion scrappy quilt. You could use as many of your fabric as you want and wyou dont have to worry about the placement of any fabric .