AZ Jane, you are dangerous. Awhile back, you posted the pink quilt with the bee, which I promptly fell in love with and made in purple. Now, I happen across this one, which will go on the list of quilts I have to make. These are striking.

You could make him a simple quilt with squares of his favorite hobbies or interests or keep it plain with solids in muted colors. You could also make him a t-shirt quilt if he has t shirts to use.
A log cabin would be really nice

I made our eldest son a trip around the world in chocolate, wedge wood blue and a landscape with tree in similar colors.

How about a Carpenter's Star? Use more masculine colors, it would look lovely. It's easy to make, tool

I like the Carpenter's Star idea. You might also check out Jinny Beyer's website (free patterns)--I did the Navaho star (my fabric choices) for my son's wedding quilt cause he didn't want anything too "old lady" or traditional--this looks much harder that it really is--it's just 2 bargello blocks that you twist and turn--the mitered borders were a little tough but also first time I did mitered borders!