Many years ago I made a quilted vest that a friend requested. She didn't want it to be too bulky, so I omitted the batting, but I used a thin, preshrunk muslin foundation to work the design on. I marked the vest pattern pieces on the muslin, but cut them about an inch bigger all around to allow for any pulling up of the size due to the piecing. Then I chose paper foundation pieced blocks for the center of each front side and the back, and marked the lines on the muslim with pencil and then pieced them together with additional strips around the edges to get area large enough that I could lay out the pattern on it. The vest was lined in the way the pattern showed, covering the foundation work, and then I did just a little outline quilting.
I wish I had a picture of it, but that was before digital cameras when taking pictures didn't come to mind except for special occasions. I hardly remember it except that it had pineapple blocks and my friend wanted brown and peach tones.
You could do some seminole type strips for the areas beyond a center design, or really any type of border. Jackets also lend themselves well to doing some applique or embroidery work on the blocks.
Have fun! Be sure to show us your finished jacket.