Eileen's Gift Wisdom

Recently, a friend of mine spent a lot of time and energy making the PERFECT gift...but the reception was very disappointing. (I'd name names, but then somebody's feelings would be hurt...)

We've all experienced the not-quite-right-gift-reaction....

To make my friend feel better -- I shared the wisdom of Eileen Roche.  Editor of Designs in Machine Embroidery magazine.  My friend Eileen is an experienced GIFT GIVER...and somehow, she has come to the perfect ZEN attitude about making gifts for people.  She has a very unique point of view...and I have completely adopted her philosophy.

AND, like all good advice -- if you will only TAKE IT -- it could change your life...

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Eileen says, 

"Here’s how I look at sewing gifts for other people. I pour my heart into it, pick the project and the materials with that specific person in mind and then I throw myself into it. I think about them the entire time. And when it’s complete, I am done – I mean, I could literally, throw it away because I know I already got what I wanted to get. I wanted to honor them with my time, talent and thoughts. I wanted to spend time focusing on them, kind of ‘spending time’ with them (although they’re not there). In my mind, the process is the gift. 

So don’t look at the time and energy that you spent as a waste, look at it as a gift to yourself. The gift of thinking, imagining, fantasizing about how much they will love your gift. The fact that they didn’t, well -- screw it. That’s their loss, just a total loss, it’s not your loss."

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That is some of the best advice I ever got....and I'm sharing it with you. Because, my guess is -- ONE DAY, YOU'RE GONNA NEED IT...

If you love machine embroidery, be sure to check out Eileen's Machine Embroidery blog