I'd started to hand applique a quilt for my younger sister, spent last Xmas with her, and was working on something else. She looked at it, said "I don't like patchwork. Have no interest in it at all". Didn't tell her I was making one for her. I will finish it though, and I'll give it to her granddaughter - then tell her it was originally being made for her.
On the other side of the coin, my eldest DGS was born in NZ but has lived in Australia since he was 2. Because he was proud of his NZ heritage (and rightly so) I wanted to make to make him a NZ themed quilt for his 18th birthday. When I gave it to him he almost burst into tears. He couldn't stop saying "Thank you Nanna, I love it!". It hasn't been off his bed since, even used to allow his pup to sleep on it when he first got him, (dog now sleeps outside) but no one else is allowed to touch it. He even sleeps with it on his bed when it is 40C outside! This from a DGS who rarely shows emotion.