My Albatross

Here's the thing about handmade gifts - you have to be prepared for the reaction, and it will seldom be the one you anticipate.  I've seen a range, from joyful to luke-warm to no response at all.  I suppose it's the same for any gift, but it somehow becomes more personal when it's something you've invested your free time and energy into.  A new reaction for me though, is the 'custom order'.

Remember this?



Let me start by saying it was very joyfully received and has found a welcome place.  However, a day later it was followed with a message: "You know that thing you made.  It's great.  What I need is something big enough to cover the whole table. 48" and can you stick an elastic in it so that it tucks underneath."

We'll just skip past the colourful series of thoughts that went through my mind and move on to part where I gracefully take up the challenge.  While we're tracking, let's fast-forward even beyond the logistics of sourcing out batting and material wide enough to get started on this ridiculous thing that I was beginning to resent more with each passing effort (since there was no way I'd be making another patchwork - plain Jane and that would be it).  So here I am over the past several weeks, finally getting around to cutting this beast and pinning it together (and resenting it more...and more).  And after no less than a dozen attempts, the stitching just isn't coming together.  Is it because it's unwieldy?  Is it because the material isn't designed for quilting and is bunching against the feed dogs?  Is it just because the very sight of the big ivory beast sends me spiraling into a whirlwind of frustration?



Whatever the reason, I'm casting this albatross off my neck.  Craft time is supposed to be something I enjoy (or at the very least, is spent on something I want to make).  I'm going to say what I should have been forthright enough to have said from the very beginning. "Sorry.  No custom orders."