I will be the first to admit that my emotions are raw. Moving Mom from my childhood home, seeing my Dad have issues with his health, watching our 13 year old pupster begin to fail, exhaustion, cabin fever and stress have all taken their toll on my state of mind. I also am a sensitive kind of chick anyway ~ crying at sappy movies/commercials or while reading books/news reports is the norm at my house. I can tear up with the best of them.
If you have been reading my blog for the last year (THANK YOU!), then you know that I did something that I don't normally do. I stitched on projects and then gave them away to people who mean alot to me. That leads us to the questions in the title of this post. What happens when your hours and hours of stitching and pocketfuls of $$ that went into those gifts aren't met with the fanfare that you expect? To be fair, I think they liked the gifts, but I am sure that they don't have any idea how much went into them. I'm not even sure they knew they were hand made. Am I justified to be frustrated and sad OR should I just pull up my big girl panties and move on?
Let me know what you think. Seriously. It will help me get these unsettled feelings off my shoulders and back into the archives of my brain where they belong. Thanks.
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7 comments:
my stitch group has the same dilemma and we have talked about it a lot. we decided to take the attitude that we will enjoy the stitching and admire the beauty of our work and let that be our satisfaction. we realize that we may not recognize how much work an attorney friend of ours may put into doing a will or what a teacher goes thru to do lesson plans or what an ice skater does to make her dance look so effortless so we just take the position that our gift-recipients are inthe same position - they do not realize have any idea of our labor of love value and we must just accept it and forgive them. and take inner pride and jou in the fun we had making it. that's the only thing we could come up with ti keep our sanity and not be resentful. but we do understnd where you are coming from 100%!
Thanks Monica, that really does help put it all into perspective. You have a very wise stitching group.
I very rarely give anything away that I've stitched. Remember that LOVE pillow I did a couple of years ago? It was absolutely over the top with color and trim, and when I went to the wedding of the person for whom it was intended, the wedding was BROWN!!! I kid you not. I'm sure it's in a closet some place. So, except for my granddaughter and soon to be born grandson, I won't be doing much stitching to give away!! BTW, I'm a cry-er, too.
Well Jane, that is the pits! If you ever go to that chick's house and find it in a closet, bring it home. I know lots of people who would love to have it. It was spectacular.
Thanks for the reality check. I think I will go back to my ways of only stitching for myself. I KNOW I will appreciate it and will probably cry over how pretty it is. HA! :-)
I'm never sure about the stitching I give away either, but I do think my sons and their wifes appreciate the time and work that go into my needlework, even if they do not realize the co$t that goes into each of these pieces. My friends that are stitchers of course appreciate every stitch. And those other friends (the non stitchers)well you just have to hope they like the work and keep it safe. But remember to these friends it is just a gift and may end up in the next garage sale. Sad but true.
I give away quite a bit of my stitching. I try to make sure it is someone who will appreciate and understand my hard work but pretty much once I give it away, I move on from it.
Over the years I stitched many pieces for my parents. After my mother's death, my father's new wife gave away (donated to a thrift store) many of the pieces I stitched. I've had to learn to let that go and not hold hard feelings. Now I don't give many pieces away.
This year I stitched a quick Charland kit as a surprise valentine for my husband who was overwhelmed by my gift. He has repeatedly apologized for not giving me "special" gift that day. I will definitely stitch more gifts for him!
Anne
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