Good afternoon, everyone! Tomorrow is the first day of spring, and in honor of this exciting transition, here is March’s Rug of the Month! This piece was designed by Marcia Kent, and is named “Tulips”. It’s dimensions stand at 18 in. x 23 in, and it was made with #6 strips of recycled and as is wool.
Why did we chose this rug for March? In the words of Ania: “Right now, the bulbs are beginning to show up in our garden, the daffodils and tulip bulbs, in anticipation of spring. This is the exact time of year that it was when I initially hooked this rug!”
Below, find images of the rug, as well as some further words from Ania on her inspiration. Enjoy!
What convinced you that you wanted to hook this pattern?
This is one of my earlier patterns — it was the 4th rug I ever hooked. I’ve always liked tulips and it was the end of winter and I wanted to hook something spring-like. When I got this pattern from Marcia I thought it was whimsical and it also made me think of the Breck’s flower catalogue, where you can purchase spring bulbs from.
How did you approach elements like color planning for this project?
The catalogue was the inspiration for the colors I chose. I wanted an element of real life in the rug, not in terms of fine shading or accurate shading, but in terms of how life throws you curve balls — an unexpected happy surprise. That is why I hooked a red tulip among the orange and peaches ones, that red tulip is one of those little surprises in life that makes it all worth it!
The things that are unanticipated make life richer and allow for greater visual interest in rugs (and life). Always look for the unexpected things — and if they are not there then create them — and you be the spark for the feel good in others with your artwork!
What was the most difficult aspect to complete?
I wanted the rug to reflect what things look like in our garden, and so there are the aspects of moss on the ground and areas of dirt — made with a brown houndstooth skirt that I think worked well in the rug — that are less pretty but more real.
One thing I gave a lot of thought to was the border. Orange is my favorite color, and apricot tulips are my favorite in real life. So, it wasn’t a difficult decision to make the tulips in orange and yellow tones, but I also incorporated the orange into the border to further highlight those colors in the tulips. The border was a little bit different because of that — I worked on that a lot.
Do you have any other comments about this rug?
I like the way the leaf on the far left reaches out and over the border of the rug. It’s a quirky touch that I enjoyed. I find that leaf on top of the border grounds both the tulips and the soil. It makes me look out into my garden in anticipation of the tulips coming out.
I think I would like to hook this pattern again some time. It’s one of those patterns I’d like to do again. But maybe it’s because I have spring fever — along with how I’m an avid gardener and Easter is just around the corner. Life is good!
Feel free to leave any comments or questions below! Have a great start to spring 🙂
My Mother's a Hooker 