what pattern are you thinking of making? a friend of mine did a steps to the altar quilt with maybe inch finished blocks- tons of little bitty pieces all in creams and beiges...came out beautiful(though I was thinking all purples or blues for 'my'neutrals LOL!) she long-armed quilted it with a bunch of words for them to find (she made a list of the words she quilted in like 'love', 'faithful' 'forever')
a surprise is awesome but I'd rather have a quilt that fits