I have been waiting for a while to see this rug finished. About a year ago I wanted to share a photo of the rug in progress since it was obviously going to be a stunner. Well, Becky asked me to wait until it was finished. It was worth waiting. She sent this photo yesterday. And she sent this great narrative. So in her words...
For some time I had wanted to do a large “oriental” rug but was not able to get beyond the thought. While attending the “Off the Hook” hook-in and exhibit sponsored by the Atlanta Dogwood Guild back in 2012 at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center, I found “the rug” I wanted to undertake……”Sazerac” by Seaside Rug Hooking…..not an oriental, but fun. It was filled with lots of different whimsical motifs that I knew would keep my interest going and allow me to really play with color. I love color….almost to a fault! The brighter, the better! Color makes my heart sing!
So the journey began…..With the help of my regular rug hooking teacher, Linda Bell of Hiawassee, Georgia, we started pulling together wool from my “stash”. Linda dyed the background and border for me. I chose to use a #3 cut for the design and #5 for the border. I don’t know what I was thinking, but the result was what I wanted. The detail I could achieve using the smaller cut was important.
The easiest part of this rug was playing with color for the major motifs in the design and background. Once these were done, the plan was set for the repeats elsewhere in the rug. The hardest part was narrowing down the color choices and the time spent to complete the rug. There were other projects started and completed in between the beginning and completion of “Sazerac”. Finally in January 2016”Sazerac” was finished! My heart is singing indeed!!!
Becky Jackson
Lakemont, GA
