A gift October 27, 2005
Have you ever stitched something as a gift and later realized that receiver doesn’t respect your stitched gift a bit (for example it’s never on show, or you have other reason to suspect that it may even be nonexistent or at least placed in some dark storage room corner)? If so, what have you done? If you’ve been lucky enough to avoid such people what would you do if it’d happen to you?
The only thing I can think of happened quite a few years ago. Two of my cousins had wives who were expecting at the same time, so I bought identical birth announcement kits, which I stitched, and personalized for each one, finished them identically. One cousin responded with oohs and ahhs that I thought were above and beyond (though gratefully received) the effort that I’d expended. These were tiny kits, made tiny pictures, which I finished as little pillows with loops to hang them by. The other I never heard from. Hm. Not even an insincere thank you. Never could remember which was which, so neither has ever received anything hand stitched again. Knowing the wives better now, I think I know which is which, but no guarantees.
Everything else I’ve made for people has been done specifically for people who I know appreciate whatever kind of hand work I did for them (crocheted afghans, knit baby blankets or adult socks, cross stitched pictures, etc.) before I started the project. I’ve heard too many stories from people who spent hundreds of hours on something that they later found stuffed in the back of a friend’s or relative’s closet, or worse, up for sale on yard-sale day. Shudder.