Rug of the Month: January 2020

Happy New Year! One of Ania’s goals for the new year is to find new and artistic ways to approach her rug hooking. The project she chose for this month’s blog post helped inspire that goal. This month’s rug is from a pattern designed by Ania, called “H₂O Lily Pad.” It was hooked in #3 cut strips with a 3-D beaded flower. The dimensions are 10 in. x 10 in.

Take a look below to see the finished project, and to read about how Ania approached hooking it:

Ania’s completed “H₂O Lily Pad”

What inspired this pattern?

In August of 2019, my daughters and I took a walk in a Massachusetts state park not far from where we live, called Harold Parker. On our hike through the woods, we walked by multiple ponds that had water lilies blooming on them. They reminded me of Monet’s paintings, which I’ve always loved, of the lily ponds in Giverny.

I was immediately inspired to create a water lily pattern.

The lily pads that served as inspiration.

How did you decide to make a 3-D beaded flower, instead of a hooked or proddy flower?  

In a previous life, I made and sold beaded jewelry. As part of that, I made a lot of flowers and ornaments, and I still have a lot of the materials on hand. I decided I would use that experience to design a beaded flower to be a part of my rug.

I wanted to use stick pearls as the basis for my flower because of their warm color and their luminescence in how they reflect light. I made the flower separately from the rug, and then attached it by sewing it on.

The beaded flower was created with stick pearls.

How did you approach color planning this rug?

I decided I wasn’t going to dye any wool for this project, and that I would instead only use wool from my stash of materials left over from other projects. I also knew I wanted the water to be dark, to create maximum contrast for the lily pad, similar to what the water looked like on that August day.

I wanted it to look impressionistic, inspired by Monet again. I did that by concentrating more on the value than on the colors. For example, there is orange and fuchsia in the water. There’s also lavender in the leaf. You don’t see that when you look at the finished rug as a whole. Instead, the color choices create a dappled look that I really liked.

In this detail photo you can see the wide variety of colors that were used in the leaf and water.

Is there anything else you would like to say about this project?

I finished this by mounting it on a canvas. I wanted it to be a project that could be displayed on a mantle or hung on a wall. I hooked it so that I could sew the sides of it to the frame, and staple it in the back.

I also like that because it’s a square pattern and an aerial view, there’s no “right” way to look at it. You can shift how the rug is placed with the seasons!

This project inspired me, so much so that I decided water is going to play a big role in my rug hooking themes this year. I look forward to sharing with you where this inspiration takes me, on my rug hooking adventures this year.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below!