I quilt mostly for charity so I do think about that. I will choose colors and prints for little boys differently that girls. I make quilts for Veterans and use mainly red white and blue---no big flowery prints---small ones ok.

I throw it all in there! I think brights (even pink) look great with some of the muddier color batiks. But then my scrappys always have a good bit of white or off white fabrics for contrast. So a pink here or there works.

When I make scrappy quilts, the focus tends to be more on the design and not the fabrics. So yes, I will use fabrics that some consider "girly", with pinkish tones and flowery prints. Example: my pineapple quilt. This has a couple of pink-toned fabrics, and most of them have flowery prints. However, the prints are small and the overall color of the quilt reads taupes.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/attachm...d=494506&stc=1

Interestingly, my 20 year old son asked for this quilt when it was done. As you can see, it has a lot of pastel peachy-pinks. He said it is soothing.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/attachm...d=494509&stc=1

I usually decide on a recipient during the quilting process, rather than when constructing the top. Sometimes the quilt doesn't end up to be right for the person I had in mind when I started piecing it. I haven't ever promised a quilt before finishing the top, for that reason.

I only make specific quilts for males I know. All others may be for women to be given away or donated. I am using what I have on hand. I love most all colors and have a wide variety of what I like.

Don't know about quilts - but my husband and my son will NOT pick a coffee cup that is brightly colored or has flowers on it. My cabinet is full of mismatched coffee cups - DH usually picks a dark blue cup and my son always picks the cup with the LION on it.

Thanks so very much for all your thoughts and comments. Lots of great information.

I made a quilt top for my first grandchild (before we knew the sex of the baby) and my daughter did NOT want any pink in it. Well she did find out the sex and turned out pink was going to work out just fine in there. If you'll notice I said quilt top...I machine embroidered 20 Winnie the Pooh blocks...it's still a quilt top, DG is too big for it now...lol...so that ufo I will someday get done for my first great grand!!!

My point is I'm sure the 2 grandsons (my daughter's sons) won't get pink in their quilts either!

Thanks again for all of your advice and opinions.
Linda

As a guy, I see nothing wrong with adding a little pink to a quilt, particularly if it is a scrappy one. Now that I've discovered the wonderful world of batiks, throwing in a little pink is never a problem. In fact, some really bright, garish pinks have found their way into my quilts. No one who has received one has ever seemed to notice the pinks. I try to make the overall design the feature of the quilt. I once read an article on quilting that said EVERY quilt should contain a bit of black. I haven't gone that far yet, but the idea is intriguing.

I'm a prolific scrap quilter, and do a lot of charity quilts. One thing I 've found, is that given a choice, a lot of men CHOOSE what you might think are "girly" quilts if you are using that criteria. For example, on delivering one of my batches of soldier quilts, one of the older vets almost snatched one of the "prettier" quilts up, saying "Oh! That looks just like the kind my wife used to make!!! Can I have THIS one??" Well, of COURSE he could! I was happy as a clam, and so was he! He grinned and petted that quilt the whole time I was there. And on the other side of the coin, one of the women vets chose a fairly masculine looking quilt done in all brown shades and she was thrilled! So, my point is, you can't go by the colors or fabrics to say who will like what. Unless you're making a quilt for a specific person, you just never know what will please people. Everyone is different.

men like flowers, and there is usually pink stashed somewhere in a quilt, so I don't worry about colors. What ever comes out of the bucket, is what goes in. LOL