New beginnings

Well, so much has happened since my last post I hardly know where to begin.  My middle daughter, Victoria (Tori) graduated from high school, I was contacted by the (huge) group of Radiologists I used to work for and offered my old job back after almost exactly 1 year of being unemployed-which was incredibly humbling and character building for us all- hurray!!!, bought a new car so the girls would have access to my old one (since I would no longer be at their beck and call for rides) and as per my agreement with the local shelter I purchased her from-had Schatzi spayed, vaccinated and micro chipped.  This last item has turned out to be the most challenging-Schatzi is a regular Houdini when it comes to removing the e-collar (cone) the vet provided with instructions for her to wear it for the next 2 weeks. I find this wildly unrealistic (if you knew Schatzi, you would too) but we are doing our best.  When she does manage to get it off it takes 3 of us to put it back on.  Tori was looking after her last Friday but had to leave briefly to pick her sister up from school and during her absence Schatzi managed to take the collar off and remove her own stitches.  When the girls returned and discovered, to their genuine horror, what had happened they called me-on my way home from my new/old job, which I LOVE-and we met up at the vet.  Schatzi is fine-restitched and now on a sedative to keep her a little more calm during the healing process, but she is used to at least 1 walk a day, usually 2, and that has always included a run down to the lake where her favorite pass time is endlessly retrieving balls thrown far out into the water.  To say that she is restless (even sedated) would be an understatement. We WILL get thru this.
My plan is to continue with my pattern business AND work full time, but I have had to put designing on the back burner until things are a little more calm here at home and I am more settled in back at work.  Much has changed and there is quite a bit more responsibility, but the days fly by and honestly, I couldn't be happier. 
So, here's to new beginnings, for me and more importantly, for the recent graduate,Tori, who I couldn't be more proud of.  She, like her sisters, is smart, sweet and beautiful.  I hold my breath and watch their stories unfold, enjoying every single moment, and absolutely cannot believe I had any part in creating something so wonderful.

Well after all that (see last post) I ended up starting over anyway as when I finished the first purse I decided I needed to make a couple of minor changes to the pattern (top flared out just a little too much) and while I was at it, a couiple of color changes as well.  Very happy with the finished product and will post a picture after I finish blogging this.  I'm eager to start on the next project:  another purse, in a completely different style, but equally cute, I think.

Decisions, decisions...

So, I'm about 80% finished with this purse and I start thinking that I wish I had tan dyed the background wool more, and it's REALLY bothering me.  It's important to me that it look just right, so I wrestled with 1:  completely starting over (do I have time?) or 2:  taking this almost finished purse and giving it a good dunking in the dye pot (very scary) .  I asked myself:  Would it really make THAT much difference if it stays this light color (yes), will the lighter embroidery threads become too dark (probably), can I fix them if they do (purse is stitched with lining firmly in place and any new embroidery will show on the inside of the purse), does that bother me (yes).  Can I live with that (?).  I  made up my mind that I had to do one or the other and knowing I was prepared to start over if necessary,  I got the dye bath ready, took a deep breath, and went for it.  Here's how it went:  The purse is still wet, but I like the color ALOT better.  Bee's wings and some flower details will have to be restitched, but that's easy and will hardly show on the inside (but it still bothers me).  I wont know for sure if all is well until it's dry, but all in all, I feel like I made the right decision... I think.

I was trying to think of ways to drive traffic to my blog and thought I would try to contact Jan Patek who had kindly linked her old website to mine back when I had my Rabbit's Gift website, so I looked her up on Facebook and sent her a message.  I was feeling good about it until I realized I had messaged her and sent the friend request from my 20 year old daughters fb page (that had been left up) instead of mine.  I was horrified, as the colorful shenanigans that scroll across my newsfeed from Jessica's page were not the image I wanted to portray, especially since I was asking for a huge favor.   So Jan, if you happen to read this, sorry for the mix up-and please know, she really is a good girl! (most of the time).

New Purse pattern coming along nicely!

Have been super busy with the new purse pattern!  I think it's coming along very nicely, am hoping to have things wrapped up by Monday, but it's going to be close!  Wow, that's more than a little redundant, I'll do better next time...I'm also thinking I use too many exclamation points.

Back to work.

Had a WONDERFUL weekend, hope ya'll did too.  Love, love, love the colors I came up with for the new project-a felted wool applique purse with embroidery embellishments that I'm very excited about- AND had a great time at my sister Cathy's Easter get together on Sunday.  I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard, we should definitely do that more often.  I have the sweetest, funniest sisters on the planet. and I don't think I tell them often enough how I treasure them and their equally delightful daughters. Thanks to my niece Michelle, for the gift of the beautiful silk scarf she brought me from her visit to Cambodia, and to everyone else in attendance for making it so much fun.  I love you guys.
Now, I'm off to get started on that purse!

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Claire Denny and I am a pattern designer.  I work primarily in felted wool which I hand dye.  I've been designing patterns for quilt shops for some time now, several years ago under the name Rabbit's Gift and currently as Claire Denny Pattern Company.  The years in between the past and present designing endeavors were spent raising 3 wonderful daughters-Jessica, Tori, and Alex, going through an amicable divorce (we remain good friends),  reentering the workforce after too long an absence (terrifying!) and finally coming full circle back to designing, which is my passion.  In this blog I hope to  post current and upcoming projects and share tips on wool dying and wool applique.  My patterns are currently available through United Notions, shop owners will find them here:   www.unitednotions.com  under Claire Denny Pattern Company in the "Pattern" section of the "Notions" tab. 
This page is a work in progress, so bear with me while I get the hang of things, and please, your comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!