Suggestion
 

My 12 year old granddaughter has a lap quilt on her Christmas list. Any suggestions on what would be a good pattern for a 12 year old.

Thanks.

One with cats.

Suggest you use her favorite colors and theme it towards one of her interests. And, because Christmas is so close, an easy pattern!

what is she interested in? SO many panels available and because that is area you don't have to piece you can do something really interesting around the edges?

At 12, make her a grown up twin size quilt. Like others stick with her interests. Fleece on the back makes a cuddly quilt, no batting.

Disappearing nine patch, with large squares, and feature her favourite things/colours in the larger pieces.

Villa Rosa has a pattern called Ascot, that works well with focus fabrics. Made one with polka dot fabric and it was super cute and a bit modern. Easy too:)

I would tell her that you want to make her a quilt for Christmas and you would like to pick out the colors and the pattern with her. So she has a choice. You can show her a few patterns that you think she would like and let her choose the one she likes best. Also let her choose the color. All part of the gift. Then you make the quilt and gift her with it at Christmas. It will still be a surprise but she will have no idea exactly what the combination she choose will turn out to be..
I did that with my granddaughter when she was 10 and asked me to make her a quilt. We had a great time shopping for colors and looking at patterns. We did it online snuggled up on the sofa. I made the quilt, wrapped it up ( along with a matching pillowcase) and gave to her at Christmas. She was thrilled and uses it to this day to cuddle under. Even though she knew the color would be purple and the pattern was Wall Flowers by Missouri star. She is now 15 and it is still one of her prized gifts of all time.

I think a Pinwheel block quilt would be perfect for her quilt. Missouri Star Quilt Company has a video for a quick and easy way to make a pinwheel. You can use precuts to speed up the process. One solid and one print. Oh what fun she would have to choose the prints for her quilt. To be sure she likes the look of the pinwheel quilt, you can show her the video or google pinwheel quilt. Whatever you two decide be sure to have FUN!

My go to for preteens is a panel that features their favorite interest ( ie: horse, cats, skating?) and build a quilt around that. My grandd also expressed an interest in sewing ( finally!) so l scheduled a few visits where we worked on her horse quilt together. I had a suitable panel, and she shopped my stash for prints and solids to use. She did the piecing , but lost interest in the " sewing part". I finished by doing the quilting and binding. She loves the quilt, and though she found that sewing " isn't her thing", she now has a usable life skill as well as her cherished horse quilt.